Engine Tune-Up Service. Unit 3: Primary Circuit. Review Exercise Book. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacon, E. Miles

This book of pretests and review exercises is designed to accompany the Engine Tune-Up Service Student Guide for Unit 3, Primary Circuit, available separately as CE 031 211. Focus of the exercises and pretests is testing the primary ignition circuit. Pretests and performance checklists are provided for each of the eight performance objectives…

Engine Tune-Up Service. Unit 5: Fuel and Carburetion Systems. Student Guide. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodson, Ludy

This student guide is for Unit 5, Fuel and Carburetion Systems, in the Engine Tune-Up Service portion of the Automotive Mechanics Curriculum. It deals with inspecting and servicing the fuel and carburetion systems. A companion review exercise book and posttests are available separately as CE 031 218-219. An introduction tells how this unit fits…

Engine Tune-Up Service. Unit 5: Fuel and Carburetion Systems. Posttests. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Morse, David T.

This book of posttests is designed to accompany the Engine Tune-Up Service Student Guide for Unit 5, Fuel and Carburetion Systems; available separately as CE 031 217. Focus of the posttests is the inspecting and servicing of the fuel and carburetion systems. One multiple choice posttest is provided that covers the 10 performance objectives…

Engine Tune-up Service. Unit 6: Emission Control Systems. Review Exercise Book. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacon, E. Miles

This book of pretests and review exercises is designed to accompany the Engine Tune-Up Service Student Guide for Unit 6, Emission Control Systems, available separately as CE 031 220. Focus of the exercises and pretests is inspecting, testing, and servicing emission control systems. Pretests and performance checklists are provided for each of the…

Engine Tune-up Service. Unit 6: Emission Control Systems. Student Guide. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacon, E. Miles

This student guide is for Unit 6, Emission Control Systems, in the Engine Tune-Up Service portion of the Automotive Mechanics Curriculum. It deals with inspecting, testing, and servicing an emission control system. A companion review exercise book and posttests are available separately as CE 031 221-222. An introduction tells how this unit fits…

Engine Tune-Up Service. Unit 4: Secondary Circuit. Student Guide. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bacon, E. Miles

This student guide is for Unit 4, Secondary Circuit, in the Engine Tune-Up Service portion of the Automotive Mechanics Curriculum. It deals with how to test and service the secondary ignition circuit. A companion review exercise book and posttests are available separately as CE 031 215-216. An introduction tells how this unit fits into the total…

Engine Tune-Up Service. Unit 1: Battery and Cranking System. Posttests. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodson-Roberts, Ludy; And Others

This book of posttests is designed to accompany the Engine Tune-Up Service Student Guide for Unit 1, Battery and Cranking System. Focus of the posttests is the testing of the battery and cranking system. Four multiple choice posttests are provided, one for each of the performance objectives contained in the unit. (No answer keys are provided.)…

Engine Tune-Up Service. Unit 1: Battery and Cranking System. Review Exercise Book. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodson-Roberts, Ludy; And Others

This book of pretests and review exercises is designed to accompany the Engine Tune-Up Service Student Guide for Unit 1, Battery and Cranking System. Focus of the exercises and pretests is testing the battery and cranking system. Pretests and performance checklists are provided for each of the four performance objectives contained in the unit.…

Engine Tune-Up Service. Unit 5: Fuel and Carburetion Systems. Review Exercise Book. Automotive Mechanics Curriculum.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goodson, Ludy

This book of pretests and review exercises is designed to accompany the Engine Tune-Up Service Student Guide for Unit 5, Fuel and Carburetion Systems, available separately as CE 031 217. Focus of the exercises and pretests is inspecting and servicing the fuel and carburetion systems. Pretests and performance checklists are provided for each of the…

Development of a robust framework for controlling high performance turbofan engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miklosovic, Robert

This research involves the development of a robust framework for controlling complex and uncertain multivariable systems. Where mathematical modeling is often tedious or inaccurate, the new method uses an extended state observer (ESO) to estimate and cancel dynamic information in real time and dynamically decouple the system. As a result, controller design and tuning become transparent as the number of required model parameters is reduced. Much research has been devoted towards the application of modern multivariable control techniques on aircraft engines. However, few, if any, have been implemented on an operational aircraft, partially due to the difficulty in tuning the controller for satisfactory performance. The new technique is applied to a modern two-spool, high-pressure ratio, low-bypass turbofan with mixed-flow afterburning. A realistic Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation (MAPSS) package, developed by NASA, is used to demonstrate the new design process and compare its performance with that of a supplied nominal controller. This approach is expected to reduce gain scheduling over the full operating envelope of the engine and allow a controller to be tuned for engine-to-engine variations.

Optimal Tuner Selection for Kalman-Filter-Based Aircraft Engine Performance Estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Donald L.; Garg, Sanjay

2011-01-01

An emerging approach in the field of aircraft engine controls and system health management is the inclusion of real-time, onboard models for the inflight estimation of engine performance variations. This technology, typically based on Kalman-filter concepts, enables the estimation of unmeasured engine performance parameters that can be directly utilized by controls, prognostics, and health-management applications. A challenge that complicates this practice is the fact that an aircraft engine s performance is affected by its level of degradation, generally described in terms of unmeasurable health parameters such as efficiencies and flow capacities related to each major engine module. Through Kalman-filter-based estimation techniques, the level of engine performance degradation can be estimated, given that there are at least as many sensors as health parameters to be estimated. However, in an aircraft engine, the number of sensors available is typically less than the number of health parameters, presenting an under-determined estimation problem. A common approach to address this shortcoming is to estimate a subset of the health parameters, referred to as model tuning parameters. The problem/objective is to optimally select the model tuning parameters to minimize Kalman-filterbased estimation error. A tuner selection technique has been developed that specifically addresses the under-determined estimation problem, where there are more unknown parameters than available sensor measurements. A systematic approach is applied to produce a model tuning parameter vector of appropriate dimension to enable estimation by a Kalman filter, while minimizing the estimation error in the parameters of interest. Tuning parameter selection is performed using a multi-variable iterative search routine that seeks to minimize the theoretical mean-squared estimation error of the Kalman filter. This approach can significantly reduce the error in onboard aircraft engine parameter estimation applications such as model-based diagnostic, controls, and life usage calculations. The advantage of the innovation is the significant reduction in estimation errors that it can provide relative to the conventional approach of selecting a subset of health parameters to serve as the model tuning parameter vector. Because this technique needs only to be performed during the system design process, it places no additional computation burden on the onboard Kalman filter implementation. The technique has been developed for aircraft engine onboard estimation applications, as this application typically presents an under-determined estimation problem. However, this generic technique could be applied to other industries using gas turbine engine technology.

A tuning algorithm for model predictive controllers based on genetic algorithms and fuzzy decision making.

PubMed

van der Lee, J H; Svrcek, W Y; Young, B R

2008-01-01

Model Predictive Control is a valuable tool for the process control engineer in a wide variety of applications. Because of this the structure of an MPC can vary dramatically from application to application. There have been a number of works dedicated to MPC tuning for specific cases. Since MPCs can differ significantly, this means that these tuning methods become inapplicable and a trial and error tuning approach must be used. This can be quite time consuming and can result in non-optimum tuning. In an attempt to resolve this, a generalized automated tuning algorithm for MPCs was developed. This approach is numerically based and combines a genetic algorithm with multi-objective fuzzy decision-making. The key advantages to this approach are that genetic algorithms are not problem specific and only need to be adapted to account for the number and ranges of tuning parameters for a given MPC. As well, multi-objective fuzzy decision-making can handle qualitative statements of what optimum control is, in addition to being able to use multiple inputs to determine tuning parameters that best match the desired results. This is particularly useful for multi-input, multi-output (MIMO) cases where the definition of "optimum" control is subject to the opinion of the control engineer tuning the system. A case study will be presented in order to illustrate the use of the tuning algorithm. This will include how different definitions of "optimum" control can arise, and how they are accounted for in the multi-objective decision making algorithm. The resulting tuning parameters from each of the definition sets will be compared, and in doing so show that the tuning parameters vary in order to meet each definition of optimum control, thus showing the generalized automated tuning algorithm approach for tuning MPCs is feasible.

Model-Based Self-Tuning Multiscale Method for Combustion Control

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Le, Dzu, K.; DeLaat, John C.; Chang, Clarence T.; Vrnak, Daniel R.

2006-01-01

A multi-scale representation of the combustor dynamics was used to create a self-tuning, scalable controller to suppress multiple instability modes in a liquid-fueled aero engine-derived combustor operating at engine-like conditions. Its self-tuning features designed to handle the uncertainties in the combustor dynamics and time-delays are essential for control performance and robustness. The controller was implemented to modulate a high-frequency fuel valve with feedback from dynamic pressure sensors. This scalable algorithm suppressed pressure oscillations of different instability modes by as much as 90 percent without the peak-splitting effect. The self-tuning logic guided the adjustment of controller parameters and converged quickly toward phase-lock for optimal suppression of the instabilities. The forced-response characteristics of the control model compare well with those of the test rig on both the frequency-domain and the time-domain.

Tuning Transpiration by Interfacial Solar Absorber-Leaf Engineering.

PubMed

Zhuang, Shendong; Zhou, Lin; Xu, Weichao; Xu, Ning; Hu, Xiaozhen; Li, Xiuqiang; Lv, Guangxin; Zheng, Qinghui; Zhu, Shining; Wang, Zhenlin; Zhu, Jia

2018-02-01

Plant transpiration, a process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts especially leaves, consumes a large component of the total continental precipitation (≈48%) and significantly influences global water distribution and climate. To date, various chemical and/or biological explorations have been made to tune the transpiration but with uncertain environmental risks. In recent years, interfacial solar steam/vapor generation is attracting a lot of attention for achieving high energy transfer efficiency. Various optical and thermal designs at the solar absorber-water interface for potential applications in water purification, seawater desalination, and power generation appear. In this work, the concept of interfacial solar vapor generation is extended to tunable plant transpiration by showing for the first time that the transpiration efficiency can also be enhanced or suppressed through engineering the solar absorber-leaf interface. By tuning the solar absorption of membrane in direct touch with green leaf, surface temperature of green leaf will change accordingly because of photothermal effect, thus the transpiration efficiency as well as temperature and relative humidity in the surrounding environment will be tuned. This tunable transpiration by interfacial absorber-leaf engineering can open an alternative avenue to regulate local atmospheric temperature, humidity, and eventually hydrologic cycle.

Advanced Control Considerations for Turbofan Engine Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connolly, Joseph W.; Csank, Jeffrey T.; Chicatelli, Amy

2016-01-01

This paper covers the application of a model-based engine control (MBEC) methodology featuring a self tuning on-board model for an aircraft turbofan engine simulation. The nonlinear engine model is capable of modeling realistic engine performance, allowing for a verification of the advanced control methodology over a wide range of operating points and life cycle conditions. The on-board model is a piece-wise linear model derived from the nonlinear engine model and updated using an optimal tuner Kalman Filter estimation routine, which enables the on-board model to self-tune to account for engine performance variations. MBEC is used here to show how advanced control architectures can improve efficiency during the design phase of a turbofan engine by reducing conservative operability margins. The operability margins that can be reduced, such as stall margin, can expand the engine design space and offer potential for efficiency improvements. Application of MBEC architecture to a nonlinear engine simulation is shown to reduce the thrust specific fuel consumption by approximately 1% over the baseline design, while maintaining safe operation of the engine across the flight envelope.

Self-Tuning Impact Damper for Rotating Blades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pufy, Kirsten P. (Inventor); Brown, Gerald V. (Inventor); Bagley, Ronald L. (Inventor)

2004-01-01

A self-tuning impact damper is disclosed that absorbs and dissipates vibration energy in the blades of rotors in compressors and/or turbines thereby dramatically extending their service life and operational readiness. The self-tuning impact damper uses the rotor speed to tune the resonant frequency of a rattling mass to an engine order excitation frequency. The rating mass dissipates energy through collisions between the rattling mass and the walls of a cavity of the self-tuning impact damper, as well as though friction between the rattling mass and the base of the cavity. In one embodiment, the self-tuning impact damper has a ball-in-trough configuration with tire ball serving as the rattling mass.

Active noise control using noise source having adaptive resonant frequency tuning through variable ring loading

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajiyah, Harindra (Inventor); Pla, Frederic G. (Inventor); Hedeen, Robert A. (Inventor); Renshaw, Anthony A. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

A noise source for an aircraft engine active noise cancellation system in which the resonant frequency of noise radiating structure is tuned to permit noise cancellation over a wide range of frequencies. The resonant frequency of the noise radiating structure is tuned by a plurality of drivers arranged to contact the noise radiating structure. Excitation of the drivers causes expansion or contraction of the drivers, thereby varying the edge loading applied to the noise radiating structure. The drivers are actuated by a controller which receives input of a feedback signal proportional to displacement of the noise radiating element and a signal corresponding to the blade passage frequency of the engine's fan. In response, the controller determines a control signal which is sent to the drivers, causing them to expand or contract. The noise radiating structure may be either the outer shroud of the engine or a ring mounted flush with an inner wall of the shroud or disposed in the interior of the shroud.

Tuning Transpiration by Interfacial Solar Absorber‐Leaf Engineering

PubMed Central

Zhuang, Shendong; Zhou, Lin; Xu, Weichao; Xu, Ning; Hu, Xiaozhen; Li, Xiuqiang; Lv, Guangxin; Zheng, Qinghui; Zhu, Shining

2017-01-01

Abstract Plant transpiration, a process of water movement through a plant and its evaporation from aerial parts especially leaves, consumes a large component of the total continental precipitation (≈48%) and significantly influences global water distribution and climate. To date, various chemical and/or biological explorations have been made to tune the transpiration but with uncertain environmental risks. In recent years, interfacial solar steam/vapor generation is attracting a lot of attention for achieving high energy transfer efficiency. Various optical and thermal designs at the solar absorber–water interface for potential applications in water purification, seawater desalination, and power generation appear. In this work, the concept of interfacial solar vapor generation is extended to tunable plant transpiration by showing for the first time that the transpiration efficiency can also be enhanced or suppressed through engineering the solar absorber–leaf interface. By tuning the solar absorption of membrane in direct touch with green leaf, surface temperature of green leaf will change accordingly because of photothermal effect, thus the transpiration efficiency as well as temperature and relative humidity in the surrounding environment will be tuned. This tunable transpiration by interfacial absorber‐leaf engineering can open an alternative avenue to regulate local atmospheric temperature, humidity, and eventually hydrologic cycle. PMID:29619300

Control of Torsional Vibrations by Pendulum Masses

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stieglitz, Albert

1942-01-01

Various versions of pendulum masses have been developed abroad within the past few years by means of which resonant vibrations of rotating shafts can be eliminated at a given tuning. They are already successfully employed on radial engines in the form of pendulous counterweights. Compared with the commonly known torsional vibration dampers, the pendulum masses have the advantage of being structurally very simple, requiring no internal damping and being capable of completely eliminating certain vibrations. Unexplained, so far, remains the problem of behavior of pendulum masses in other critical zones to which they are not tuned, their dynamic behavior at some tuning other than in resonance, and their effect within a compound vibration system and at simultaneous application of several differently tuned pendulous masses. These problems are analyzed in the present report. The results constitute an enlargement of the scope of application of pendulum masses, especially for in-line engines. Among other things it is found that the natural frequency of a system can be raised by means of a correspondingly tuned pendulum mass. The formulas necessary for the design of any practical version are developed, and a pendulum mass having two different natural frequencies simultaneously is described.

Tuning to the band gap by complex defects engineering: insights from hybrid functional calculations in CuInS2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Pei; Shi, Li-Jie; Zhang, Jian-Min; Liu, Gui-Bin; Yang, Shengyuan A.; Guo, Wei; Yao, Yugui

2018-01-01

Tuning band gaps of semiconductors in terms of defect control is essential for the optical and electronic properties of photon emission or photon harvesting devices. By using first-principles calculations, we study the stability condition of bulk CuInS2 and formation energies of point and complex defects in CuInS2 with hybrid exchange-correlation functionals. We find that at Cu-rich and In-poor conditions, 2Cui  +  CuIn is the main complex defect, while InCu  +  2VCu is the main complex defect at In-rich and Cu-poor conditions. Such stable complex defects provide the feasibility of tuning band gaps by varying the [Cu]/[In] molar ratios. These results present how the off-stoichiometry CuInS2 crystal structures, and electronic and optical properties can be optimized by tuning the [Cu]/[In] ratio and Fermi level, and highlight the importance of complex defects in achieving better photoelectric performance in CuInS2. Such band gap tuning in terms of complex defect engineering is a general approach and thus applicable to other photo-harvest or light-emission semiconductors.

U.S. Coast Guard pollution abatement program - Two-stroke cycle outboard engine emissions

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1975-09-01

This report documents the results of emissions tests performed on three old and two new outboard engines. Tests of the emissions were made before and after water contact. Older engines were tested in as-received condition, tuned to factory specificat...

Antenna Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) Ccontrollers: Properties, Limits of Performance, and Tuning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gawronski, Wodek K.

2004-01-01

The LQG controllers significantly improve antenna tracking precision, but their tuning is a trial-and-error process. A control engineer has two tools to tune an LQG controller: the choice of coordinate system of the controller, and the selection of weights of the LQG performance index. The paper selects the coordinates of the open-loop model that simplify the shaping of the closed-loop performance. and analyzes the impact of thc weights on the antenna closed-loop bandwidth, disturbance rejection properties, and antenna acceleration. Finally, it presents the LQG controller tuning procedure that rationally shapes the closed-loop performance.

On a Self-Tuning Impact Vibration Damper for Rotating Turbomachinery

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duffy, Kirsten P.; Bagley, Ronald L.; Mehmed, Oral; Choi, Ben (Technical Monitor)

2000-01-01

A self-tuning impact damper is investigated analytically and experimentally as a device to inhibit vibration and increase the fatigue life of rotating components in turbomachinery. High centrifugal loads in rotors can inactivate traditional impact dampers because of friction or misalignment of the damper in the g-field. Giving an impact damper characteristics of an acceleration tuned-mass damper enables the resulting device to maintain damper mass motion and effectiveness during high-g loading. Experimental results presented here verify that this self-tuning impact damper can be designed to follow an engine order line. damping rotor component resonance crossings.

Spin Testing for Durability Began on a Self-Tuning Impact Damper for Turbomachinery Blades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Duffy, Kirsten; Mehmed, Oral

2003-01-01

NASA and Pratt & Whitney will collaborate under a Space Act Agreement to perform spin testing of the impact damper to verify damping effectiveness and durability. Pratt & Whitney will provide the turbine blade and damper hardware for the tests. NASA will provide the facility and perform the tests. Effectiveness and durability will be investigated during and after sustained sweeps of rotor speed through resonance. Tests of a platform wedge damper are also planned to compare its effectiveness with that of the impact damper. Results from baseline tests without dampers will be used to measure damping effectiveness. The self-tuning impact damper combines two damping methods-the tuned mass damper and the impact damper. It consists of a ball located within a cavity in the blade. This ball rolls back and forth on a spherical trough under centrifugal load (tuned mass damper) and can strike the walls of the cavity (impact damper). The ball s rolling natural frequency is proportional to the rotor speed and can be designed to follow an engine-order line (integer multiple of rotor speed). Aerodynamic forcing frequencies typically follow these engineorder lines, and a damper tuned to the engine order will most effectively reduce blade vibrations when the resonant frequency equals the engine-order forcing frequency. This damper has been tested in flat plates and turbine blades in the Dynamic Spin Facility. During testing, a pair of plates or blades rotates in vacuum. Excitation is provided by one of three methods--eddy-current engine-order excitation (ECE), electromechanical shakers, and magnetic bearing excitation. The eddy-current system consists of magnets located circumferentially around the rotor. As a blade passes a magnet, a force is imparted on the blade. The number of magnets used can be varied to change the desired engine order of the excitation. The magnets are remotely raised or lowered to change the magnitude of the force on the blades. The other two methods apply force to the rotating shaft itself at frequencies independent of the rotor speed. During testing, blade vibration is monitored with strain gauges and laser displacement probes.

Application of an Optimal Tuner Selection Approach for On-Board Self-Tuning Engine Models

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Donald L.; Armstrong, Jeffrey B.; Garg, Sanjay

2012-01-01

An enhanced design methodology for minimizing the error in on-line Kalman filter-based aircraft engine performance estimation applications is presented in this paper. It specific-ally addresses the under-determined estimation problem, in which there are more unknown parameters than available sensor measurements. This work builds upon an existing technique for systematically selecting a model tuning parameter vector of appropriate dimension to enable estimation by a Kalman filter, while minimizing the estimation error in the parameters of interest. While the existing technique was optimized for open-loop engine operation at a fixed design point, in this paper an alternative formulation is presented that enables the technique to be optimized for an engine operating under closed-loop control throughout the flight envelope. The theoretical Kalman filter mean squared estimation error at a steady-state closed-loop operating point is derived, and the tuner selection approach applied to minimize this error is discussed. A technique for constructing a globally optimal tuning parameter vector, which enables full-envelope application of the technology, is also presented, along with design steps for adjusting the dynamic response of the Kalman filter state estimates. Results from the application of the technique to linear and nonlinear aircraft engine simulations are presented and compared to the conventional approach of tuner selection. The new methodology is shown to yield a significant improvement in on-line Kalman filter estimation accuracy.

Final Report A Multi-Language Environment For Programmable Code Optimization and Empirical Tuning

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Yi, Qing; Whaley, Richard Clint; Qasem, Apan

This report summarizes our effort and results of building an integrated optimization environment to effectively combine the programmable control and the empirical tuning of source-to-source compiler optimizations within the framework of multiple existing languages, specifically C, C++, and Fortran. The environment contains two main components: the ROSE analysis engine, which is based on the ROSE C/C++/Fortran2003 source-to-source compiler developed by Co-PI Dr.Quinlan et. al at DOE/LLNL, and the POET transformation engine, which is based on an interpreted program transformation language developed by Dr. Yi at University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA). The ROSE analysis engine performs advanced compiler analysis,more » identifies profitable code transformations, and then produces output in POET, a language designed to provide programmable control of compiler optimizations to application developers and to support the parameterization of architecture-sensitive optimizations so that their configurations can be empirically tuned later. This POET output can then be ported to different machines together with the user application, where a POET-based search engine empirically reconfigures the parameterized optimizations until satisfactory performance is found. Computational specialists can write POET scripts to directly control the optimization of their code. Application developers can interact with ROSE to obtain optimization feedback as well as provide domain-specific knowledge and high-level optimization strategies. The optimization environment is expected to support different levels of automation and programmer intervention, from fully-automated tuning to semi-automated development and to manual programmable control.« less

Engineering Promoter Architecture in Oleaginous Yeast Yarrowia lipolytica.

PubMed

Shabbir Hussain, Murtaza; Gambill, Lauren; Smith, Spencer; Blenner, Mark A

2016-03-18

Eukaryotic promoters have a complex architecture to control both the strength and timing of gene transcription spanning up to thousands of bases from the initiation site. This complexity makes rational fine-tuning of promoters in fungi difficult to predict; however, this very same complexity enables multiple possible strategies for engineering promoter strength. Here, we studied promoter architecture in the oleaginous yeast, Yarrowia lipolytica. While recent studies have focused on upstream activating sequences, we systematically examined various components common in fungal promoters. Here, we examine several promoter components including upstream activating sequences, proximal promoter sequences, core promoters, and the TATA box in autonomously replicating expression plasmids and integrated into the genome. Our findings show that promoter strength can be fine-tuned through the engineering of the TATA box sequence, core promoter, and upstream activating sequences. Additionally, we identified a previously unreported oleic acid responsive transcription enhancement in the XPR2 upstream activating sequences, which illustrates the complexity of fungal promoters. The promoters engineered here provide new genetic tools for metabolic engineering in Y. lipolytica and provide promoter engineering strategies that may be useful in engineering other non-model fungal systems.

Model-Based Control of a Nonlinear Aircraft Engine Simulation using an Optimal Tuner Kalman Filter Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connolly, Joseph W.; Csank, Jeffrey Thomas; Chicatelli, Amy; Kilver, Jacob

2013-01-01

This paper covers the development of a model-based engine control (MBEC) methodology featuring a self tuning on-board model applied to an aircraft turbofan engine simulation. Here, the Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation 40,000 (CMAPSS40k) serves as the MBEC application engine. CMAPSS40k is capable of modeling realistic engine performance, allowing for a verification of the MBEC over a wide range of operating points. The on-board model is a piece-wise linear model derived from CMAPSS40k and updated using an optimal tuner Kalman Filter (OTKF) estimation routine, which enables the on-board model to self-tune to account for engine performance variations. The focus here is on developing a methodology for MBEC with direct control of estimated parameters of interest such as thrust and stall margins. Investigations using the MBEC to provide a stall margin limit for the controller protection logic are presented that could provide benefits over a simple acceleration schedule that is currently used in traditional engine control architectures.

Diesel engine torsional vibration control coupling with speed control system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Yibin; Li, Wanyou; Yu, Shuwen; Han, Xiao; Yuan, Yunbo; Wang, Zhipeng; Ma, Xiuzhen

2017-09-01

The coupling problems between shafting torsional vibration and speed control system of diesel engine are very common. Neglecting the coupling problems sometimes lead to serious oscillation and vibration during the operation of engines. For example, during the propulsion shafting operation of a diesel engine, the oscillation of engine speed and the severe vibration of gear box occur which cause the engine is unable to operate. To find the cause of the malfunctions, a simulation model coupling the speed control system with the torsional vibration of deformable shafting is proposed and investigated. In the coupling model, the shafting is simplified to be a deformable one which consists of several inertias and shaft sections and with characteristics of torsional vibration. The results of instantaneous rotation speed from this proposed model agree with the test results very well and are successful in reflecting the real oscillation state of the engine operation. Furthermore, using the proposed model, the speed control parameters can be tuned up to predict the diesel engine a stable and safe running. The results from the tests on the diesel engine with a set of tuned control parameters are consistent with the simulation results very well.

Multiple Learning Strategies Project. Small Engine Repair. Visually Impaired.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Foster, Don; And Others

This instructional package designed for visually impaired students, focuses on the vocational area of small engine repair. Contained in this document are forty learning modules organized into fourteen units: engine block; starters; fuel tank, lines, filters and pumps; carburetors; electrical; test equipment; motorcycle; machining; tune-ups; short…

10th Annual Systems Engineering Conference - Focusing on Improving Performance of Defense Systems Programs. Volume 1. Tuesday Presentations

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-10-25

Exchange Platforms Publishers Resellers iTunes Non-Profit/ Government/ Self- Managed Library of Congress Library Consortia Fed. Tech Transfer Sites Univ...Thompson Dialog – Thomson MicroPatent – Thomson Pharma – WIPO Digital Patent Library* (*nonprofit organization) • iTunes • IP Exchange Platforms...Elsevier SciDirect – Nat’l Acad. Press – Lexis, Westlaw – Newspaper web sites • iTunes • Resellers of Copyrighted Material – JSTOR – EBSCOHost

Engineering the on-axis intensity of Bessel beam by a feedback tuning loop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Runze; Yu, Xianghua; Yang, Yanlong; Peng, Tong; Yao, Baoli; Zhang, Chunmin; Ye, Tong

2018-02-01

The Bessel beam belongs to a typical class of non-diffractive optical fields that are characterized by their invariant focal profiles along the propagation direction. However, ideal Bessel beams only rigorously exist in theory; Bessel beams generated in the lab are quasi-Bessel beams with finite focal extensions and varying intensity profiles along the propagation axis. The ability to engineer the on-axis intensity profile to the desired shape is essential for many applications. Here we demonstrate an iterative optimization-based approach to engineering the on-axis intensity of Bessel beams. The genetic algorithm is used to demonstrate this approach. Starting with a traditional axicon phase mask, in the design process, the computed on-axis beam profile is fed into a feedback tuning loop of an iterative optimization process, which searches for an optimal radial phase distribution that can generate a generalized Bessel beam with the desired onaxis intensity profile. The experimental implementation involves a fine-tuning process that adjusts the originally targeted profile so that the optimization process can optimize the phase mask to yield an improved on-axis profile. Our proposed method has been demonstrated in engineering several zeroth-order Bessel beams with customized on-axis profiles. High accuracy and high energy throughput merit its use in many applications.

An Integrated Approach for Aircraft Engine Performance Estimation and Fault Diagnostics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

imon, Donald L.; Armstrong, Jeffrey B.

2012-01-01

A Kalman filter-based approach for integrated on-line aircraft engine performance estimation and gas path fault diagnostics is presented. This technique is specifically designed for underdetermined estimation problems where there are more unknown system parameters representing deterioration and faults than available sensor measurements. A previously developed methodology is applied to optimally design a Kalman filter to estimate a vector of tuning parameters, appropriately sized to enable estimation. The estimated tuning parameters can then be transformed into a larger vector of health parameters representing system performance deterioration and fault effects. The results of this study show that basing fault isolation decisions solely on the estimated health parameter vector does not provide ideal results. Furthermore, expanding the number of the health parameters to address additional gas path faults causes a decrease in the estimation accuracy of those health parameters representative of turbomachinery performance deterioration. However, improved fault isolation performance is demonstrated through direct analysis of the estimated tuning parameters produced by the Kalman filter. This was found to provide equivalent or superior accuracy compared to the conventional fault isolation approach based on the analysis of sensed engine outputs, while simplifying online implementation requirements. Results from the application of these techniques to an aircraft engine simulation are presented and discussed.

Proposed Missions and Organization of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command

DTIC Science & Technology

2005-01-01

successfully employed in many industries and by many companies, including Pittsburgh Steel, IBM, Unilever , and Ford. Each of these organizations fine- tuned...employed by many companies, such as Pittsburgh Steel, IBM, Unilever , and Ford, which have fine-tuned the matrix to suit their particular goals and

Fuzzy Logic-Based Audio Pattern Recognition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malcangi, M.

2008-11-01

Audio and audio-pattern recognition is becoming one of the most important technologies to automatically control embedded systems. Fuzzy logic may be the most important enabling methodology due to its ability to rapidly and economically model such application. An audio and audio-pattern recognition engine based on fuzzy logic has been developed for use in very low-cost and deeply embedded systems to automate human-to-machine and machine-to-machine interaction. This engine consists of simple digital signal-processing algorithms for feature extraction and normalization, and a set of pattern-recognition rules manually tuned or automatically tuned by a self-learning process.

Fine-Tuning Tomato Agronomic Properties by Computational Genome Redesign

PubMed Central

Carrera, Javier; Fernández del Carmen, Asun; Fernández-Muñoz, Rafael; Rambla, Jose Luis; Pons, Clara; Jaramillo, Alfonso; Elena, Santiago F.; Granell, Antonio

2012-01-01

Considering cells as biofactories, we aimed to optimize its internal processes by using the same engineering principles that large industries are implementing nowadays: lean manufacturing. We have applied reverse engineering computational methods to transcriptomic, metabolomic and phenomic data obtained from a collection of tomato recombinant inbreed lines to formulate a kinetic and constraint-based model that efficiently describes the cellular metabolism from expression of a minimal core of genes. Based on predicted metabolic profiles, a close association with agronomic and organoleptic properties of the ripe fruit was revealed with high statistical confidence. Inspired in a synthetic biology approach, the model was used for exploring the landscape of all possible local transcriptional changes with the aim of engineering tomato fruits with fine-tuned biotechnological properties. The method was validated by the ability of the proposed genomes, engineered for modified desired agronomic traits, to recapitulate experimental correlations between associated metabolites. PMID:22685389

Construction Mechanic, Engine Tune-Up II (Diesel), 8-8. Military Curriculum Materials for Vocational and Technical Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ohio State Univ., Columbus. National Center for Research in Vocational Education.

This course, adapted from military curriculum materials for vocational and technical education, teaches students to restore diesel engine performance to the manufacturer's specifications through troubleshooting and analyzing diesel engine fuel systems and to make minor and major adjustments to those components that directly affect engine…

Multiple Learning Strategies Project. Small Engine Repair Service. [Regular Vocational. Vol. 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pitts, Jim; And Others

This instructional package is one of two designed for use by regular vocational students in the vocational area of small engine repair service. Contained in this document are forty-nine learning modules organized into eleven units: test equipment; motorcycle; engine removal and replacement; machining; tune-ups; short blocks; storage; filling out…

Choice of Tuning Parameters on 3D IC Engine Simulations Using G-Equation

DOE PAGES

Liu, Jinlong; Szybist, James; Dumitrescu, Cosmin

2018-04-03

3D CFD spark-ignition IC engine simulations are extremely complex for the regular user. Truly-predictive CFD simulations for the turbulent flame combustion that solve fully coupled transport/chemistry equations may require large computational capabilities unavailable to regular CFD users. A solution is to use a simpler phenomenological model such as the G-equation that decouples transport/chemistry result. Such simulation can still provide acceptable and faster results at the expense of predictive capabilities. While the G-equation is well understood within the experienced modeling community, the goal of this paper is to document some of them for a novice or less experienced CFD user whomore » may not be aware that phenomenological models of turbulent flame combustion usually require heavy tuning and calibration from the user to mimic experimental observations. This study used ANSYS® Forte, Version 17.2, and the built-in G-equation model, to investigate two tuning constants that influence flame propagation in 3D CFD SI engine simulations: the stretch factor coefficient, Cms and the flame development coefficient, Cm2. After identifying several Cm2-Cms pairs that matched experimental data at one operating conditions, simulation results showed that engine models that used different Cm2-Cms sets predicted similar combustion performance, when the spark timing, engine load, and engine speed were changed from the operating condition used to validate the CFD simulation. A dramatic shift was observed when engine speed was doubled, which suggested that the flame stretch coefficient, Cms, had a much larger influence at higher engine speeds compared to the flame development coefficient, Cm2. Therefore, the Cm2-Cms sets that predicted a higher turbulent flame under higher in-cylinder pressure and temperature increased the peak pressure and efficiency. This suggest that the choice of the Cm2-Cms will affect the G-equation-based simulation accuracy when engine speed increases from the one used to validate the model. As a result, for the less-experienced CFD user and in the absence of enough experimental data that would help retune the tuning parameters at various operating conditions, the purpose of a good G-equation-based 3D engine simulation is to guide and/or complement experimental investigations, not the other way around. Only a truly-predictive simulation that fully couples the turbulence/chemistry equations can help reduce the amount of experimental work.« less

Choice of Tuning Parameters on 3D IC Engine Simulations Using G-Equation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Liu, Jinlong; Szybist, James; Dumitrescu, Cosmin

3D CFD spark-ignition IC engine simulations are extremely complex for the regular user. Truly-predictive CFD simulations for the turbulent flame combustion that solve fully coupled transport/chemistry equations may require large computational capabilities unavailable to regular CFD users. A solution is to use a simpler phenomenological model such as the G-equation that decouples transport/chemistry result. Such simulation can still provide acceptable and faster results at the expense of predictive capabilities. While the G-equation is well understood within the experienced modeling community, the goal of this paper is to document some of them for a novice or less experienced CFD user whomore » may not be aware that phenomenological models of turbulent flame combustion usually require heavy tuning and calibration from the user to mimic experimental observations. This study used ANSYS® Forte, Version 17.2, and the built-in G-equation model, to investigate two tuning constants that influence flame propagation in 3D CFD SI engine simulations: the stretch factor coefficient, Cms and the flame development coefficient, Cm2. After identifying several Cm2-Cms pairs that matched experimental data at one operating conditions, simulation results showed that engine models that used different Cm2-Cms sets predicted similar combustion performance, when the spark timing, engine load, and engine speed were changed from the operating condition used to validate the CFD simulation. A dramatic shift was observed when engine speed was doubled, which suggested that the flame stretch coefficient, Cms, had a much larger influence at higher engine speeds compared to the flame development coefficient, Cm2. Therefore, the Cm2-Cms sets that predicted a higher turbulent flame under higher in-cylinder pressure and temperature increased the peak pressure and efficiency. This suggest that the choice of the Cm2-Cms will affect the G-equation-based simulation accuracy when engine speed increases from the one used to validate the model. As a result, for the less-experienced CFD user and in the absence of enough experimental data that would help retune the tuning parameters at various operating conditions, the purpose of a good G-equation-based 3D engine simulation is to guide and/or complement experimental investigations, not the other way around. Only a truly-predictive simulation that fully couples the turbulence/chemistry equations can help reduce the amount of experimental work.« less

Optimized tuner selection for engine performance estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Donald L. (Inventor); Garg, Sanjay (Inventor)

2013-01-01

A methodology for minimizing the error in on-line Kalman filter-based aircraft engine performance estimation applications is presented. This technique specifically addresses the underdetermined estimation problem, where there are more unknown parameters than available sensor measurements. A systematic approach is applied to produce a model tuning parameter vector of appropriate dimension to enable estimation by a Kalman filter, while minimizing the estimation error in the parameters of interest. Tuning parameter selection is performed using a multi-variable iterative search routine which seeks to minimize the theoretical mean-squared estimation error. Theoretical Kalman filter estimation error bias and variance values are derived at steady-state operating conditions, and the tuner selection routine is applied to minimize these values. The new methodology yields an improvement in on-line engine performance estimation accuracy.

Tailoring entanglement through domain engineering in a lithium niobate waveguide

PubMed Central

Ming, Yang; Tan, Ai-Hong; Wu, Zi-Jian; Chen, Zhao-Xian; Xu, Fei; Lu, Yan-Qing

2014-01-01

We propose to integrate the electro-optic (EO) tuning function into on-chip domain engineered lithium niobate (LN) waveguide. Due to the versatility of LN, both the spontaneously parametric down conversion (SPDC) and EO interaction could be realized simultaneously. Photon pairs are generated through SPDC, and the formation of entangled state is modulated by EO processes. An EO tunable polarization-entangled photon state is proposed. Orthogonally-polarized and parallel-polarized entanglements of photon pairs are instantly switchable by tuning the applied field. The characteristics of the source are theoretically investigated showing adjustable bandwidths and high entanglement degrees. Moreover, other kinds of reconfigurable entanglement are also achievable based on suitable domain-design. We believe tailoring entanglement based on domain engineering is a very promising solution for next generation function-integrated quantum circuits. PMID:24770555

Small Engine Repair Modules (Workbook) = Reparacion de Motores Pequenos (Guia de Trabajo)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

New York State Dept. of Correctional Services, Albany.

This package contains an English-Language set of task procedure sheets dealing with small-engine repair and a Spanish translation of the same material. Addressed in the individual sections of the manual are the following aspects of engine tune-up, reconditioning, and troubleshooting: servicing air cleaners; cleaning gas tanks, fuel lines, and fuel…

Band gap tuning of epitaxial SrTiO{sub 3-δ}/Si(001) thin films through strain engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cottier, Ryan J.; Steinle, Nathan A.; Currie, Daniel A.

2015-11-30

We investigate the effect of strain and oxygen vacancies (V{sub O}) on the crystal and optical properties of oxygen deficient, ultra-thin (4–30 nm) films of SrTiO{sub 3-δ} (STO) grown heteroepitaxially on p-Si(001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy. We demonstrate that STO band gap tuning can be achieved through strain engineering and show that the energy shift of the direct energy gap transition of SrTiO{sub 3-δ}/Si films has a quantifiable dimensional and doping dependence that correlates well with the changes in crystal structure.

Self Assembly and Interface Engineering of Organic Functional Materials for High Performance Polymer Solar Cells

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jen, Alex

2010-03-01

The performance of polymer solar cells are strongly dependent on the efficiency of light harvesting, exciton dissociation, charge transport, and charge collection at the metal/organic, metal/metal oxide, and organic/metal oxide interfaces. To improve the device performance, two parallel approaches were used: 1) developing novel low band gap conjugated polymers with good charge-transporting properties and 2) modifying the interfaces between the organic/metal oxide and organic/metal layers with functional self-assembling monolayers to tune their energy barriers. Moreover, the molecule engineering approach was also used to tune the energy level, charge mobility, and morphology of organic semiconductors.

A Tuning-AHELO Conceptual Framework of Expected Desired/Learning Outcomes in Engineering. OECD Education Working Papers, Number 60

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

OECD Publishing (NJ1), 2011

2011-01-01

The OECD Secretariat, at the invitation of the AHELO Group of National Experts, contracted the Tuning Association to undertake initial development work on learning outcomes to be used for valid and reliable assessments of students from diverse institutions and countries. The two disciplines selected for the AEHLO Feasibility Study are engineering…

Design and engineering of intracellular-metabolite-sensing/regulation gene circuits in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Wang, Meng; Li, Sijin; Zhao, Huimin

2016-01-01

The development of high-throughput phenotyping tools is lagging far behind the rapid advances of genotype generation methods. To bridge this gap, we report a new strategy for design, construction, and fine-tuning of intracellular-metabolite-sensing/regulation gene circuits by repurposing bacterial transcription factors and eukaryotic promoters. As proof of concept, we systematically investigated the design and engineering of bacterial repressor-based xylose-sensing/regulation gene circuits in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We demonstrated that numerous properties, such as induction ratio and dose-response curve, can be fine-tuned at three different nodes, including repressor expression level, operator position, and operator sequence. By applying these gene circuits, we developed a cell sorting based, rapid and robust high-throughput screening method for xylose transporter engineering and obtained a sugar transporter HXT14 mutant with 6.5-fold improvement in xylose transportation capacity. This strategy should be generally applicable and highly useful for evolutionary engineering of proteins, pathways, and genomes in S. cerevisiae. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The Simulation of Magnetorheological Elastomers Adaptive Tuned Dynamic Vibration Absorber for Automobile Engine Vibration Control

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, X. C.; Zhang, X. Z.; Li, W. H.; Liu, B.; Gong, X. L.; Zhang, P. Q.

The aim of this article is to investigate the use of a Dynamic Vibration Absorber to control vibration of engine by using simulation. Traditional means of vibration control have involved the use of passive and more recently, active methods. This study is different in that it involves an adaptive component in the design of vibration absorber using magnetorheological elastomers (MREs) as the adaptive spring. MREs are kind of novel smart material whose shear modulus can be controlled by applied magnetic field. In this paper, the vibration mode of a simple model of automobile engine is simulated by Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis. Based on the analysis, the MREs Adaptive Tuned Dynamic Vibration Absorber (ATDVA) is presented to reduce the vibration of the engine. Simulation result indicate that the control frequency of ATDVA can be changed by modifing the shear modulus of MREs and the vibraion reduction efficiency of ATDVA are also evaluated by FEM analysis.

Active noise control using noise source having adaptive resonant frequency tuning through stress variation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Pla, Frederic G. (Inventor); Renshaw, Anthony A. (Inventor); Rajiyah, Harindra (Inventor); Hedeen, Robert A. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

A noise source for an aircraft engine active noise cancellation system in which the resonant frequency of a noise radiating element is tuned to permit noise cancellation over a wide range of frequencies. The resonant frequency of the noise radiating element is tuned by an expandable ring embedded in the noise radiating element. Excitation of the ring causes expansion or contraction of the ring, thereby varying the stress in the noise radiating element. The ring is actuated by a controller which receives input of a feedback signal proportional to displacement of the noise radiating element and a signal corresponding to the blade passage frequency of the engine's fan. In response, the controller determines a control signal which is sent to the ring, causing the ring to expand or contract. Instead of a single ring embedded in the noise radiating panel, a first expandable ring can be bonded to one side of the noise radiating element, and a second expandable ring can be bonded to the other side.

Structure-guided wavelength tuning in far-red fluorescent proteins

PubMed Central

Ng, Ho-Leung; Lin, Michael Z.

2017-01-01

In recent years, protein engineers have succeeded in tuning the excitation spectra of natural fluorescent proteins from green wavelengths into orange and red wavelengths, resulting in the creation of a series of fluorescent proteins with emission in the far-red portions of the optical spectrum. These results have arisen from the synergistic combination of structural knowledge of fluorescent proteins, chemical intuition, and high-throughput screening methods. Here we review structural features found in autocatalytic far-red fluorescent proteins, and discuss how they add to our understanding of the biophysical mechanisms of wavelength tuning in biological chromophores. PMID:27468111

Energy consumption optimization of the total-FETI solver by changing the CPU frequency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Horak, David; Riha, Lubomir; Sojka, Radim; Kruzik, Jakub; Beseda, Martin; Cermak, Martin; Schuchart, Joseph

2017-07-01

The energy consumption of supercomputers is one of the critical problems for the upcoming Exascale supercomputing era. The awareness of power and energy consumption is required on both software and hardware side. This paper deals with the energy consumption evaluation of the Finite Element Tearing and Interconnect (FETI) based solvers of linear systems, which is an established method for solving real-world engineering problems. We have evaluated the effect of the CPU frequency on the energy consumption of the FETI solver using a linear elasticity 3D cube synthetic benchmark. In this problem, we have evaluated the effect of frequency tuning on the energy consumption of the essential processing kernels of the FETI method. The paper provides results for two types of frequency tuning: (1) static tuning and (2) dynamic tuning. For static tuning experiments, the frequency is set before execution and kept constant during the runtime. For dynamic tuning, the frequency is changed during the program execution to adapt the system to the actual needs of the application. The paper shows that static tuning brings up 12% energy savings when compared to default CPU settings (the highest clock rate). The dynamic tuning improves this further by up to 3%.

The Business Case for Automated Software Engineering

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Menzies, Tim; Elrawas, Oussama; Hihn, Jairus M.; Feather, Martin S.; Madachy, Ray; Boehm, Barry

2007-01-01

Adoption of advanced automated SE (ASE) tools would be more favored if a business case could be made that these tools are more valuable than alternate methods. In theory, software prediction models can be used to make that case. In practice, this is complicated by the 'local tuning' problem. Normally. predictors for software effort and defects and threat use local data to tune their predictions. Such local tuning data is often unavailable. This paper shows that assessing the relative merits of different SE methods need not require precise local tunings. STAR 1 is a simulated annealer plus a Bayesian post-processor that explores the space of possible local tunings within software prediction models. STAR 1 ranks project decisions by their effects on effort and defects and threats. In experiments with NASA systems. STARI found one project where ASE were essential for minimizing effort/ defect/ threats; and another project were ASE tools were merely optional.

Anisotropic-Strain-Induced Band Gap Engineering in Nanowire-Based Quantum Dots.

PubMed

Francaviglia, Luca; Giunto, Andrea; Kim, Wonjong; Romero-Gomez, Pablo; Vukajlovic-Plestina, Jelena; Friedl, Martin; Potts, Heidi; Güniat, Lucas; Tütüncüoglu, Gözde; Fontcuberta I Morral, Anna

2018-04-11

Tuning light emission in bulk and quantum structures by strain constitutes a complementary method to engineer functional properties of semiconductors. Here, we demonstrate the tuning of light emission of GaAs nanowires and their quantum dots up to 115 meV by applying strain through an oxide envelope. We prove that the strain is highly anisotropic and clearly results in a component along the NW longitudinal axis, showing good agreement with the equations of uniaxial stress. We further demonstrate that the strain strongly depends on the oxide thickness, the oxide intrinsic strain, and the oxide microstructure. We also show that ensemble measurements are fully consistent with characterizations at the single-NW level, further elucidating the general character of the findings. This work provides the basic elements for strain-induced band gap engineering and opens new avenues in applications where a band-edge shift is necessary.

Achieving Optimal Self-Adaptivity for Dynamic Tuning of Organic Semiconductors through Resonance Engineering.

PubMed

Tao, Ye; Xu, Lijia; Zhang, Zhen; Chen, Runfeng; Li, Huanhuan; Xu, Hui; Zheng, Chao; Huang, Wei

2016-08-03

Current static-state explorations of organic semiconductors for optimal material properties and device performance are hindered by limited insights into the dynamically changed molecular states and charge transport and energy transfer processes upon device operation. Here, we propose a simple yet successful strategy, resonance variation-based dynamic adaptation (RVDA), to realize optimized self-adaptive properties in donor-resonance-acceptor molecules by engineering the resonance variation for dynamic tuning of organic semiconductors. Organic light-emitting diodes hosted by these RVDA materials exhibit remarkably high performance, with external quantum efficiencies up to 21.7% and favorable device stability. Our approach, which supports simultaneous realization of dynamically adapted and selectively enhanced properties via resonance engineering, illustrates a feasible design map for the preparation of smart organic semiconductors capable of dynamic structure and property modulations, promoting the studies of organic electronics from static to dynamic.

International Co-Operation in Control Engineering Education Using Online Experiments

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Henry, Jim; Schaedel, Herbert M.

2005-01-01

This paper describes the international co-operation experience in teaching control engineering with laboratories being conducted remotely by students via the Internet. This paper describes how the students ran the experiments and their personal experiences with the laboratory. A tool for process identification and controller tuning based on…

A part toolbox to tune genetic expression in Bacillus subtilis

PubMed Central

Guiziou, Sarah; Sauveplane, Vincent; Chang, Hung-Ju; Clerté, Caroline; Declerck, Nathalie; Jules, Matthieu; Bonnet, Jerome

2016-01-01

Libraries of well-characterised components regulating gene expression levels are essential to many synthetic biology applications. While widely available for the Gram-negative model bacterium Escherichia coli, such libraries are lacking for the Gram-positive model Bacillus subtilis, a key organism for basic research and biotechnological applications. Here, we engineered a genetic toolbox comprising libraries of promoters, Ribosome Binding Sites (RBS), and protein degradation tags to precisely tune gene expression in B. subtilis. We first designed a modular Expression Operating Unit (EOU) facilitating parts assembly and modifications and providing a standard genetic context for gene circuits implementation. We then selected native, constitutive promoters of B. subtilis and efficient RBS sequences from which we engineered three promoters and three RBS sequence libraries exhibiting ∼14 000-fold dynamic range in gene expression levels. We also designed a collection of SsrA proteolysis tags of variable strength. Finally, by using fluorescence fluctuation methods coupled with two-photon microscopy, we quantified the absolute concentration of GFP in a subset of strains from the library. Our complete promoters and RBS sequences library comprising over 135 constructs enables tuning of GFP concentration over five orders of magnitude, from 0.05 to 700 μM. This toolbox of regulatory components will support many research and engineering applications in B. subtilis. PMID:27402159

Simultaneous gains tuning in boiler/turbine PID-based controller clusters using iterative feedback tuning methodology.

PubMed

Zhang, Shu; Taft, Cyrus W; Bentsman, Joseph; Hussey, Aaron; Petrus, Bryan

2012-09-01

Tuning a complex multi-loop PID based control system requires considerable experience. In today's power industry the number of available qualified tuners is dwindling and there is a great need for better tuning tools to maintain and improve the performance of complex multivariable processes. Multi-loop PID tuning is the procedure for the online tuning of a cluster of PID controllers operating in a closed loop with a multivariable process. This paper presents the first application of the simultaneous tuning technique to the multi-input-multi-output (MIMO) PID based nonlinear controller in the power plant control context, with the closed-loop system consisting of a MIMO nonlinear boiler/turbine model and a nonlinear cluster of six PID-type controllers. Although simplified, the dynamics and cross-coupling of the process and the PID cluster are similar to those used in a real power plant. The particular technique selected, iterative feedback tuning (IFT), utilizes the linearized version of the PID cluster for signal conditioning, but the data collection and tuning is carried out on the full nonlinear closed-loop system. Based on the figure of merit for the control system performance, the IFT is shown to deliver performance favorably comparable to that attained through the empirical tuning carried out by an experienced control engineer. Copyright © 2012 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lossless Brownian Information Engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Paneru, Govind; Lee, Dong Yun; Tlusty, Tsvi; Pak, Hyuk Kyu

2018-01-01

We report on a lossless information engine that converts nearly all available information from an error-free feedback protocol into mechanical work. Combining high-precision detection at a resolution of 1 nm with ultrafast feedback control, the engine is tuned to extract the maximum work from information on the position of a Brownian particle. We show that the work produced by the engine achieves a bound set by a generalized second law of thermodynamics, demonstrating for the first time the sharpness of this bound. We validate a generalized Jarzynski equality for error-free feedback-controlled information engines.

Lossless Brownian Information Engine.

PubMed

Paneru, Govind; Lee, Dong Yun; Tlusty, Tsvi; Pak, Hyuk Kyu

2018-01-12

We report on a lossless information engine that converts nearly all available information from an error-free feedback protocol into mechanical work. Combining high-precision detection at a resolution of 1 nm with ultrafast feedback control, the engine is tuned to extract the maximum work from information on the position of a Brownian particle. We show that the work produced by the engine achieves a bound set by a generalized second law of thermodynamics, demonstrating for the first time the sharpness of this bound. We validate a generalized Jarzynski equality for error-free feedback-controlled information engines.

Rational Modular RNA Engineering Based on In Vivo Profiling of Structural Accessibility.

PubMed

Leistra, Abigail N; Amador, Paul; Buvanendiran, Aishwarya; Moon-Walker, Alex; Contreras, Lydia M

2017-12-15

Bacterial small RNAs (sRNAs) have been established as powerful parts for controlling gene expression. However, development and application of engineered sRNAs has primarily focused on regulating novel synthetic targets. In this work, we demonstrate a rational modular RNA engineering approach that uses in vivo structural accessibility measurements to tune the regulatory activity of a multisubstrate sRNA for differential control of its native target network. Employing the CsrB global sRNA regulator as a model system, we use published in vivo structural accessibility data to infer the contribution of its local structures (substructures) to function and select a subset for engineering. We then modularly recombine the selected substructures, differentially representing those of presumed high or low functional contribution, to build a library of 21 CsrB variants. Using fluorescent translational reporter assays, we demonstrate that the CsrB variants achieve a 5-fold gradient of control of well-characterized Csr network targets. Interestingly, results suggest that less conserved local structures within long, multisubstrate sRNAs may represent better targets for rational engineering than their well-conserved counterparts. Lastly, mapping the impact of sRNA variants on a signature Csr network phenotype indicates the potential of this approach for tuning the activity of global sRNA regulators in the context of metabolic engineering applications.

Coulomb engineering of the bandgap and excitons in two-dimensional materials

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Raja, Archana; Chaves, Andrey; Yu, Jaeeun

Here, the ability to control the size of the electronic bandgap is an integral part of solid-state technology. Atomically thin two-dimensional crystals offer a new approach for tuning the energies of the electronic states based on the unusual strength of the Coulomb interaction in these materials and its environmental sensitivity. Here, we show that by engineering the surrounding dielectric environment, one can tune the electronic bandgap and the exciton binding energy in monolayers of WS 2 and WSe 2 by hundreds of meV. We exploit this behaviour to present an in-plane dielectric heterostructure with a spatially dependent bandgap, as anmore » initial step towards the creation of diverse lateral junctions with nanoscale resolution.« less

Coulomb engineering of the bandgap and excitons in two-dimensional materials

DOE PAGES

Raja, Archana; Chaves, Andrey; Yu, Jaeeun; ...

2017-05-04

Here, the ability to control the size of the electronic bandgap is an integral part of solid-state technology. Atomically thin two-dimensional crystals offer a new approach for tuning the energies of the electronic states based on the unusual strength of the Coulomb interaction in these materials and its environmental sensitivity. Here, we show that by engineering the surrounding dielectric environment, one can tune the electronic bandgap and the exciton binding energy in monolayers of WS 2 and WSe 2 by hundreds of meV. We exploit this behaviour to present an in-plane dielectric heterostructure with a spatially dependent bandgap, as anmore » initial step towards the creation of diverse lateral junctions with nanoscale resolution.« less

Coulomb engineering of the bandgap and excitons in two-dimensional materials

PubMed Central

Raja, Archana; Chaves, Andrey; Yu, Jaeeun; Arefe, Ghidewon; Hill, Heather M.; Rigosi, Albert F.; Berkelbach, Timothy C.; Nagler, Philipp; Schüller, Christian; Korn, Tobias; Nuckolls, Colin; Hone, James; Brus, Louis E.; Heinz, Tony F.; Reichman, David R.; Chernikov, Alexey

2017-01-01

The ability to control the size of the electronic bandgap is an integral part of solid-state technology. Atomically thin two-dimensional crystals offer a new approach for tuning the energies of the electronic states based on the unusual strength of the Coulomb interaction in these materials and its environmental sensitivity. Here, we show that by engineering the surrounding dielectric environment, one can tune the electronic bandgap and the exciton binding energy in monolayers of WS2 and WSe2 by hundreds of meV. We exploit this behaviour to present an in-plane dielectric heterostructure with a spatially dependent bandgap, as an initial step towards the creation of diverse lateral junctions with nanoscale resolution. PMID:28469178

Genome-Wide Tuning of Protein Expression Levels to Rapidly Engineer Microbial Traits.

PubMed

Freed, Emily F; Winkler, James D; Weiss, Sophie J; Garst, Andrew D; Mutalik, Vivek K; Arkin, Adam P; Knight, Rob; Gill, Ryan T

2015-11-20

The reliable engineering of biological systems requires quantitative mapping of predictable and context-independent expression over a broad range of protein expression levels. However, current techniques for modifying expression levels are cumbersome and are not amenable to high-throughput approaches. Here we present major improvements to current techniques through the design and construction of E. coli genome-wide libraries using synthetic DNA cassettes that can tune expression over a ∼10(4) range. The cassettes also contain molecular barcodes that are optimized for next-generation sequencing, enabling rapid and quantitative tracking of alleles that have the highest fitness advantage. We show these libraries can be used to determine which genes and expression levels confer greater fitness to E. coli under different growth conditions.

Optimal Tuner Selection for Kalman Filter-Based Aircraft Engine Performance Estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Donald L.; Garg, Sanjay

2010-01-01

A linear point design methodology for minimizing the error in on-line Kalman filter-based aircraft engine performance estimation applications is presented. This technique specifically addresses the underdetermined estimation problem, where there are more unknown parameters than available sensor measurements. A systematic approach is applied to produce a model tuning parameter vector of appropriate dimension to enable estimation by a Kalman filter, while minimizing the estimation error in the parameters of interest. Tuning parameter selection is performed using a multi-variable iterative search routine which seeks to minimize the theoretical mean-squared estimation error. This paper derives theoretical Kalman filter estimation error bias and variance values at steady-state operating conditions, and presents the tuner selection routine applied to minimize these values. Results from the application of the technique to an aircraft engine simulation are presented and compared to the conventional approach of tuner selection. Experimental simulation results are found to be in agreement with theoretical predictions. The new methodology is shown to yield a significant improvement in on-line engine performance estimation accuracy

Frequency Tuning of Vibration Absorber Using Topology Optimization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harel, Swapnil Subhash

A tuned mass absorber is a system for reducing the amplitude in one oscillator by coupling it to a second oscillator. If tuned correctly, the maximum amplitude of the first oscillator in response to a periodic driver will be lowered, and much of the vibration will be 'transferred' to the second oscillator. The tuned vibration absorber (TVA) has been utilized for vibration control purposes in many sectors of Civil/Automotive/Aerospace Engineering for many decades since its inception. Time and again we come across a situation in which a vibratory system is required to run near resonance. In the past, approaches have been made to design such auxiliary spring mass tuned absorbers for the safety of the structures. This research focuses on the development and optimization of continuously tuned mass absorbers as a substitute to the discretely tuned mass absorbers (spring- mass system). After conducting the study of structural behavior, the boundary condition and frequency to which the absorber is to be tuned are determined. The Modal analysis approach is used to determine mode shapes and frequencies. The absorber is designed and optimized using the topology optimization tool, which simultaneously designs, optimizes and tunes the absorber to the desired frequency. The tuned, optimized absorber, after post processing, is attached to the target structure. The number of the absorbers are increased to amplify bandwidth and thereby upgrade the safety of structure for a wide range of frequency. The frequency response analysis is carried out using various combinations of structure and number of absorber cell.

Active noise control using noise source having adaptive resonant frequency tuning through stiffness variation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rajiyah, Harindra (Inventor); Hedeen, Robert A. (Inventor); Pla, Frederic G. (Inventor); Renshaw, Anthony A. (Inventor)

1995-01-01

A noise source for an aircraft engine active noise cancellation system in which the resonant frequency of a noise radiating element is tuned to permit noise cancellation over a wide range of frequencies. The resonant frequency of the noise radiating element is tuned by a plurality of force transmitting mechanisms which contact the noise radiating element. Each one of the force transmitting mechanisms includes an expandable element and a spring in contact with the noise radiating element so that excitation of the element varies the spring force applied to the noise radiating element. The elements are actuated by a controller which receives input of a signal proportional to displacement of the noise radiating element and a signal corresponding to the blade passage frequency of the engine's fan. In response, the controller determines a control signal which is sent to the elements and causes the spring force applied to the noise radiating element to be varied. The force transmitting mechanisms can be arranged to either produce bending or linear stiffness variations in the noise radiating element.

Tunable single-to-dual channel wavelength conversion in an ultra-wideband SC-PPLN.

PubMed

Ahlawat, Meenu; Bostani, Ameneh; Tehranchi, Amirhossein; Kashyap, Raman

2013-11-18

We experimentally demonstrate tunable dual channel broadcasting of a signal over the C-band for wavelength division multiplexed (WDM) optical networks. This is based on cascaded χ(2) nonlinear mixing processes in a specially engineered, 20-mm-long step-chirped periodically poled lithium niobate with a broad 28-nm second harmonic (SH) bandwidth in the 1.55-μm spectral range. A 10-GHz picosecond mode-locked laser was used as a signal along with a CW pump to generate two pulsed idlers, which are simultaneously tuned across the C-band by detuning of the pump wavelength within the broad SH bandwidth. Variable-input, variable-output scheme of tuned idlers is successfully achieved by tuning the signal wavelength. Pump or signal wavelength tuning of ~10 nm results in the idlers spreading across 30 nm in the C-band.

Fine-tuning gene networks using simple sequence repeats

PubMed Central

Egbert, Robert G.; Klavins, Eric

2012-01-01

The parameters in a complex synthetic gene network must be extensively tuned before the network functions as designed. Here, we introduce a simple and general approach to rapidly tune gene networks in Escherichia coli using hypermutable simple sequence repeats embedded in the spacer region of the ribosome binding site. By varying repeat length, we generated expression libraries that incrementally and predictably sample gene expression levels over a 1,000-fold range. We demonstrate the utility of the approach by creating a bistable switch library that programmatically samples the expression space to balance the two states of the switch, and we illustrate the need for tuning by showing that the switch’s behavior is sensitive to host context. Further, we show that mutation rates of the repeats are controllable in vivo for stability or for targeted mutagenesis—suggesting a new approach to optimizing gene networks via directed evolution. This tuning methodology should accelerate the process of engineering functionally complex gene networks. PMID:22927382

Bending strain engineering in quantum spin hall system for controlling spin currents

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Bing; Jin, Kyung-Hwan; Cui, Bin

Quantum spin Hall system can exhibit exotic spin transport phenomena, mediated by its topological edge states. The concept of bending strain engineering to tune the spin transport properties of a quantum spin Hall system is demonstrated. Here, we show that bending strain can be used to control the spin orientation of counter-propagating edge states of a quantum spin system to generate a non-zero spin current. This physics mechanism can be applied to effectively tune the spin current and pure spin current decoupled from charge current in a quantum spin Hall system by control of its bending curvature. Moreover, the curvedmore » quantum spin Hall system can be achieved by the concept of topological nanomechanical architecture in a controllable way, as demonstrated by the material example of Bi/Cl/Si(111) nanofilm. This concept of bending strain engineering of spins via topological nanomechanical architecture affords a promising route towards the realization of topological nano-mechanospintronics.« less

Bending strain engineering in quantum spin hall system for controlling spin currents

DOE PAGES

Huang, Bing; Jin, Kyung-Hwan; Cui, Bin; ...

2017-06-16

Quantum spin Hall system can exhibit exotic spin transport phenomena, mediated by its topological edge states. The concept of bending strain engineering to tune the spin transport properties of a quantum spin Hall system is demonstrated. Here, we show that bending strain can be used to control the spin orientation of counter-propagating edge states of a quantum spin system to generate a non-zero spin current. This physics mechanism can be applied to effectively tune the spin current and pure spin current decoupled from charge current in a quantum spin Hall system by control of its bending curvature. Moreover, the curvedmore » quantum spin Hall system can be achieved by the concept of topological nanomechanical architecture in a controllable way, as demonstrated by the material example of Bi/Cl/Si(111) nanofilm. This concept of bending strain engineering of spins via topological nanomechanical architecture affords a promising route towards the realization of topological nano-mechanospintronics.« less

Case-based Reasoning for Automotive Engine Performance Tune-up

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vong, C. M.; Huang, H.; Wong, P. K.

2010-05-01

The automotive engine performance tune-up is greatly affected by the calibration of its electronic control unit (ECU). The ECU calibration is traditionally done by trial-and-error method. This traditional method consumes a large amount of time and money because of a large number of dynamometer tests. To resolve this problem, case based reasoning (CBR) is employed, so that an existing and effective ECU setup can be adapted to fit another similar class of engines. The adaptation procedure is done through a more sophisticated step called case-based adaptation (CBA) [1, 2]. CBA is an effective knowledge management tool, which can interactively learn the expert adaptation knowledge. The paper briefly reviews the methodologies of CBR and CBA. Then the application to ECU calibration is described via a case study. With CBR and CBA, the efficiency of calibrating an ECU can be enhanced. A prototype system has also been developed to verify the usefulness of CBR in ECU calibration.

Bottom-up photonic crystal approach with top-down defect and heterostructure fine-tuning.

PubMed

Ding, Tao; Song, Kai; Clays, Koen; Tung, Chen-Ho

2010-03-16

We combine the most efficient (chemical) approach toward three-dimensional photonic crystals with the most convenient (physical) technique for creating non-close-packed crystalline structures. Self-assembly of colloidal particles in artificial opals is followed by a carefully tuned plasma etching treatment. By covering the resulting top layer of more open structure with original dense opal, embedded defect layers and heterostructures can be conveniently designed for advanced photonic band gap and band edge engineering.

Development and tuning of an original search engine for patent libraries in medicinal chemistry.

PubMed

Pasche, Emilie; Gobeill, Julien; Kreim, Olivier; Oezdemir-Zaech, Fatma; Vachon, Therese; Lovis, Christian; Ruch, Patrick

2014-01-01

The large increase in the size of patent collections has led to the need of efficient search strategies. But the development of advanced text-mining applications dedicated to patents of the biomedical field remains rare, in particular to address the needs of the pharmaceutical & biotech industry, which intensively uses patent libraries for competitive intelligence and drug development. We describe here the development of an advanced retrieval engine to search information in patent collections in the field of medicinal chemistry. We investigate and combine different strategies and evaluate their respective impact on the performance of the search engine applied to various search tasks, which covers the putatively most frequent search behaviours of intellectual property officers in medical chemistry: 1) a prior art search task; 2) a technical survey task; and 3) a variant of the technical survey task, sometimes called known-item search task, where a single patent is targeted. The optimal tuning of our engine resulted in a top-precision of 6.76% for the prior art search task, 23.28% for the technical survey task and 46.02% for the variant of the technical survey task. We observed that co-citation boosting was an appropriate strategy to improve prior art search tasks, while IPC classification of queries was improving retrieval effectiveness for technical survey tasks. Surprisingly, the use of the full body of the patent was always detrimental for search effectiveness. It was also observed that normalizing biomedical entities using curated dictionaries had simply no impact on the search tasks we evaluate. The search engine was finally implemented as a web-application within Novartis Pharma. The application is briefly described in the report. We have presented the development of a search engine dedicated to patent search, based on state of the art methods applied to patent corpora. We have shown that a proper tuning of the system to adapt to the various search tasks clearly increases the effectiveness of the system. We conclude that different search tasks demand different information retrieval engines' settings in order to yield optimal end-user retrieval.

Development and tuning of an original search engine for patent libraries in medicinal chemistry

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background The large increase in the size of patent collections has led to the need of efficient search strategies. But the development of advanced text-mining applications dedicated to patents of the biomedical field remains rare, in particular to address the needs of the pharmaceutical & biotech industry, which intensively uses patent libraries for competitive intelligence and drug development. Methods We describe here the development of an advanced retrieval engine to search information in patent collections in the field of medicinal chemistry. We investigate and combine different strategies and evaluate their respective impact on the performance of the search engine applied to various search tasks, which covers the putatively most frequent search behaviours of intellectual property officers in medical chemistry: 1) a prior art search task; 2) a technical survey task; and 3) a variant of the technical survey task, sometimes called known-item search task, where a single patent is targeted. Results The optimal tuning of our engine resulted in a top-precision of 6.76% for the prior art search task, 23.28% for the technical survey task and 46.02% for the variant of the technical survey task. We observed that co-citation boosting was an appropriate strategy to improve prior art search tasks, while IPC classification of queries was improving retrieval effectiveness for technical survey tasks. Surprisingly, the use of the full body of the patent was always detrimental for search effectiveness. It was also observed that normalizing biomedical entities using curated dictionaries had simply no impact on the search tasks we evaluate. The search engine was finally implemented as a web-application within Novartis Pharma. The application is briefly described in the report. Conclusions We have presented the development of a search engine dedicated to patent search, based on state of the art methods applied to patent corpora. We have shown that a proper tuning of the system to adapt to the various search tasks clearly increases the effectiveness of the system. We conclude that different search tasks demand different information retrieval engines' settings in order to yield optimal end-user retrieval. PMID:24564220

One step DNA assembly for combinatorial metabolic engineering.

PubMed

Coussement, Pieter; Maertens, Jo; Beauprez, Joeri; Van Bellegem, Wouter; De Mey, Marjan

2014-05-01

The rapid and efficient assembly of multi-step metabolic pathways for generating microbial strains with desirable phenotypes is a critical procedure for metabolic engineering, and remains a significant challenge in synthetic biology. Although several DNA assembly methods have been developed and applied for metabolic pathway engineering, many of them are limited by their suitability for combinatorial pathway assembly. The introduction of transcriptional (promoters), translational (ribosome binding site (RBS)) and enzyme (mutant genes) variability to modulate pathway expression levels is essential for generating balanced metabolic pathways and maximizing the productivity of a strain. We report a novel, highly reliable and rapid single strand assembly (SSA) method for pathway engineering. The method was successfully optimized and applied to create constructs containing promoter, RBS and/or mutant enzyme libraries. To demonstrate its efficiency and reliability, the method was applied to fine-tune multi-gene pathways. Two promoter libraries were simultaneously introduced in front of two target genes, enabling orthogonal expression as demonstrated by principal component analysis. This shows that SSA will increase our ability to tune multi-gene pathways at all control levels for the biotechnological production of complex metabolites, achievable through the combinatorial modulation of transcription, translation and enzyme activity. Copyright © 2014 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Enhanced Self Tuning On-Board Real-Time Model (eSTORM) for Aircraft Engine Performance Health Tracking

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Volponi, Al; Simon, Donald L. (Technical Monitor)

2008-01-01

A key technological concept for producing reliable engine diagnostics and prognostics exploits the benefits of fusing sensor data, information, and/or processing algorithms. This report describes the development of a hybrid engine model for a propulsion gas turbine engine, which is the result of fusing two diverse modeling methodologies: a physics-based model approach and an empirical model approach. The report describes the process and methods involved in deriving and implementing a hybrid model configuration for a commercial turbofan engine. Among the intended uses for such a model is to enable real-time, on-board tracking of engine module performance changes and engine parameter synthesis for fault detection and accommodation.

Beyond Fine Tuning: Adding capacity to leverage few labels

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hodas, Nathan O.; Shaffer, Kyle J.; Yankov, Artem

2017-12-09

In this paper we present a technique to train neural network models on small amounts of data. Current methods for training neural networks on small amounts of rich data typically rely on strategies such as fine-tuning a pre-trained neural networks or the use of domain-specific hand-engineered features. Here we take the approach of treating network layers, or entire networks, as modules and combine pre-trained modules with untrained modules, to learn the shift in distributions between data sets. The central impact of using a modular approach comes from adding new representations to a network, as opposed to replacing representations via fine-tuning.more » Using this technique, we are able surpass results using standard fine-tuning transfer learning approaches, and we are also able to significantly increase performance over such approaches when using smaller amounts of data.« less

KSC-2013-3534

NASA Image and Video Library

2013-09-11

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Engineers fine-tune a remote-controlled helicopter before it takes off. The helicopter is equipped with a unique set of sensors and software and was assembled by a team of engineers from NASA's Johnson Space Center for a competition at the agency's Kennedy Space Center. Teams from Johnson, Kennedy and Marshall Space Flight Center competed in an unmanned aerial systems event to evaluate designs and work by engineers learning new specialties. The competition took place at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy. Photo credit: NASA/Dmitri Gerondidakis

Tuned intake air system for a rotary engine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Corbett, W.D.

This patent describes a rotary internal combustion engine for an outboard board motor. It comprises a plenum chamber attached to the rear of the engine; and the plenum chamber including an inner wall attached to the exhaust manifold; an inlet conduit connecting the cooling air exit passage and the inlet air opening; an outlet conduit connecting the outlet air opening and the combustion air inlet; and the outlet conduit terminating in a combustion air outlet in the inner wall of the plenum chamber.

Tuning the Energy Gap of SiCH3 Nanomaterials Under Elastic Strain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ma, Shengqian; Li, Feng; Geng, Jiguo; Zhu, Mei; Li, Suyan; Han, Juguang

2018-05-01

SiCH3 nanomaterials have been studied using the density functional theory. When the nanosheets and nanoribbons (armchair and zigzag) are introduced, their energy gap is modulated under elastic strain and width. The results show that the band gap of SiCH3 nanomaterials can be easily tuned using elastic strains and widths. Surprisingly, the band gap can be modulated along two directions, namely, compressing and stretching. The band gap decreases when increasing stretching strain or decreasing compressing strain. In addition, the band gap decreases when increasing the nanoribbon width. For energy gap engineering, the band gap can be tuned by strains and widths. Therefore, the SiCH3 nanomaterials play important roles in potential applications for strain sensors, electronics, and optical electronics.

Cooperative photoinduced metastable phase control in strained manganite films

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Jingdi; Tan, Xuelian; Liu, Mengkun; Teitelbaum, S. W.; Post, K. W.; Jin, Feng; Nelson, K. A.; Basov, D. N.; Wu, Wenbin; Averitt, R. D.

2016-09-01

A major challenge in condensed-matter physics is active control of quantum phases. Dynamic control with pulsed electromagnetic fields can overcome energetic barriers, enabling access to transient or metastable states that are not thermally accessible. Here we demonstrate strain-engineered tuning of La2/3Ca1/3MnO3 into an emergent charge-ordered insulating phase with extreme photo-susceptibility, where even a single optical pulse can initiate a transition to a long-lived metastable hidden metallic phase. Comprehensive single-shot pulsed excitation measurements demonstrate that the transition is cooperative and ultrafast, requiring a critical absorbed photon density to activate local charge excitations that mediate magnetic-lattice coupling that, in turn, stabilize the metallic phase. These results reveal that strain engineering can tune emergent functionality towards proximal macroscopic states to enable dynamic ultrafast optical phase switching and control.

Tuning the thermal conductivity of solar cell polymers through side chain engineering.

PubMed

Guo, Zhi; Lee, Doyun; Liu, Yi; Sun, Fangyuan; Sliwinski, Anna; Gao, Haifeng; Burns, Peter C; Huang, Libai; Luo, Tengfei

2014-05-07

Thermal transport is critical to the performance and reliability of polymer-based energy devices, ranging from solar cells to thermoelectrics. This work shows that the thermal conductivity of a low band gap conjugated polymer, poly(4,8-bis-alkyloxybenzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene-2,6-diyl-alt-(alkylthieno[3,4-b]thiophene-2-carboxylate)-2,6-diyl) (PBDTTT), for photovoltaic applications can be actively tuned through side chain engineering. Compared to the original polymer modified with short branched side chains, the engineered polymer using all linear and long side chains shows a 160% increase in thermal conductivity. The thermal conductivity of the polymer exhibits a good correlation with the side chain lengths as well as the crystallinity of the polymer characterized using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) experiments. Molecular dynamics simulations and atomic force microscopy are used to further probe the molecular level local order of different polymers. It is found that the linear side chain modified polymer can facilitate the formation of more ordered structures, as compared to the branched side chain modified ones. The effective medium theory modelling also reveals that the long linear side chain enables a larger heat carrier propagation length and the crystalline phase in the bulk polymer increases the overall thermal conductivity. It is concluded that both the length of the side chains and the induced polymer crystallization are important for thermal transport. These results offer important guidance for actively tuning the thermal conductivity of conjugated polymers through molecular level design.

Demonstration of a wireless, self-powered, electroacoustic liner system.

PubMed

Phipps, Alex; Liu, Fei; Cattafesta, Louis; Sheplak, Mark; Nishida, Toshikazu

2009-02-01

This paper demonstrates the system operation of a self-powered active liner for the suppression of aircraft engine noise. The fundamental element of the active liner system is an electromechanical Helmholtz resonator (EMHR), which consists of a Helmholtz resonator with one of its rigid walls replaced with a circular piezoceramic composite plate. For this system demonstration, two EMHR elements are used, one for acoustic impedance tuning and one for energy harvesting. The EMHR used for acoustic impedance tuning is shunted with a variable resistive load, while the EMHR used for energy harvesting is shunted to a flyback power converter and storage element. The desired acoustic impedance conditions are determined externally, and wirelessly transmitted to the liner system. The power for the receiver and the impedance tuning circuitry in the liner are supplied by the harvested energy. Tuning of the active liner is demonstrated at three different sound pressure levels (148, 151, and 153 dB) in order to show the robustness of the energy harvesting and storage system. An acoustic tuning range of approximately 200 Hz is demonstrated for each of the three available power levels.

Optimization of a nanotechnology based antimicrobial platform for food safety applications using Engineered Water Nanostructures (EWNS)

PubMed Central

Pyrgiotakis, Georgios; Vedantam, Pallavi; Cirenza, Caroline; McDevitt, James; Eleftheriadou, Mary; Leonard, Stephen S.; Demokritou, Philip

2016-01-01

A chemical free, nanotechnology-based, antimicrobial platform using Engineered Water Nanostructures (EWNS) was recently developed. EWNS have high surface charge, are loaded with reactive oxygen species (ROS), and can interact-with, and inactivate an array of microorganisms, including foodborne pathogens. Here, it was demonstrated that their properties during synthesis can be fine tuned and optimized to further enhance their antimicrobial potential. A lab based EWNS platform was developed to enable fine-tuning of EWNS properties by modifying synthesis parameters. Characterization of EWNS properties (charge, size and ROS content) was performed using state-of-the art analytical methods. Further their microbial inactivation potential was evaluated with food related microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Listeria innocua, Mycobacterium parafortuitum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculated onto the surface of organic grape tomatoes. The results presented here indicate that EWNS properties can be fine-tuned during synthesis resulting in a multifold increase of the inactivation efficacy. More specifically, the surface charge quadrupled and the ROS content increased. Microbial removal rates were microorganism dependent and ranged between 1.0 to 3.8 logs after 45 mins of exposure to an EWNS aerosol dose of 40,000 #/cm3. PMID:26875817

Optimization of a nanotechnology based antimicrobial platform for food safety applications using Engineered Water Nanostructures (EWNS)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pyrgiotakis, Georgios; Vedantam, Pallavi; Cirenza, Caroline; McDevitt, James; Eleftheriadou, Mary; Leonard, Stephen S.; Demokritou, Philip

2016-02-01

A chemical free, nanotechnology-based, antimicrobial platform using Engineered Water Nanostructures (EWNS) was recently developed. EWNS have high surface charge, are loaded with reactive oxygen species (ROS), and can interact-with, and inactivate an array of microorganisms, including foodborne pathogens. Here, it was demonstrated that their properties during synthesis can be fine tuned and optimized to further enhance their antimicrobial potential. A lab based EWNS platform was developed to enable fine-tuning of EWNS properties by modifying synthesis parameters. Characterization of EWNS properties (charge, size and ROS content) was performed using state-of-the art analytical methods. Further their microbial inactivation potential was evaluated with food related microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Listeria innocua, Mycobacterium parafortuitum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculated onto the surface of organic grape tomatoes. The results presented here indicate that EWNS properties can be fine-tuned during synthesis resulting in a multifold increase of the inactivation efficacy. More specifically, the surface charge quadrupled and the ROS content increased. Microbial removal rates were microorganism dependent and ranged between 1.0 to 3.8 logs after 45 mins of exposure to an EWNS aerosol dose of 40,000 #/cm3.

Optimization of a nanotechnology based antimicrobial platform for food safety applications using Engineered Water Nanostructures (EWNS).

PubMed

Pyrgiotakis, Georgios; Vedantam, Pallavi; Cirenza, Caroline; McDevitt, James; Eleftheriadou, Mary; Leonard, Stephen S; Demokritou, Philip

2016-02-15

A chemical free, nanotechnology-based, antimicrobial platform using Engineered Water Nanostructures (EWNS) was recently developed. EWNS have high surface charge, are loaded with reactive oxygen species (ROS), and can interact-with, and inactivate an array of microorganisms, including foodborne pathogens. Here, it was demonstrated that their properties during synthesis can be fine tuned and optimized to further enhance their antimicrobial potential. A lab based EWNS platform was developed to enable fine-tuning of EWNS properties by modifying synthesis parameters. Characterization of EWNS properties (charge, size and ROS content) was performed using state-of-the art analytical methods. Further their microbial inactivation potential was evaluated with food related microorganisms such as Escherichia coli, Salmonella enterica, Listeria innocua, Mycobacterium parafortuitum, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae inoculated onto the surface of organic grape tomatoes. The results presented here indicate that EWNS properties can be fine-tuned during synthesis resulting in a multifold increase of the inactivation efficacy. More specifically, the surface charge quadrupled and the ROS content increased. Microbial removal rates were microorganism dependent and ranged between 1.0 to 3.8 logs after 45 mins of exposure to an EWNS aerosol dose of 40,000 #/cm(3).

Biocompatible magnetic core-shell nanocomposites for engineered magnetic tissues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rodriguez-Arco, Laura; Rodriguez, Ismael A.; Carriel, Victor; Bonhome-Espinosa, Ana B.; Campos, Fernando; Kuzhir, Pavel; Duran, Juan D. G.; Lopez-Lopez, Modesto T.

2016-04-01

The inclusion of magnetic nanoparticles into biopolymer matrixes enables the preparation of magnetic field-responsive engineered tissues. Here we describe a synthetic route to prepare biocompatible core-shell nanostructures consisting of a polymeric core and a magnetic shell, which are used for this purpose. We show that using a core-shell architecture is doubly advantageous. First, gravitational settling for core-shell nanocomposites is slower because of the reduction of the composite average density connected to the light polymer core. Second, the magnetic response of core-shell nanocomposites can be tuned by changing the thickness of the magnetic layer. The incorporation of the composites into biopolymer hydrogels containing cells results in magnetic field-responsive engineered tissues whose mechanical properties can be controlled by external magnetic forces. Indeed, we obtain a significant increase of the viscoelastic moduli of the engineered tissues when exposed to an external magnetic field. Because the composites are functionalized with polyethylene glycol, the prepared bio-artificial tissue-like constructs also display excellent ex vivo cell viability and proliferation. When implanted in vivo, the engineered tissues show good biocompatibility and outstanding interaction with the host tissue. Actually, they only cause a localized transitory inflammatory reaction at the implantation site, without any effect on other organs. Altogether, our results suggest that the inclusion of magnetic core-shell nanocomposites into biomaterials would enable tissue engineering of artificial substitutes whose mechanical properties could be tuned to match those of the potential target tissue. In a wider perspective, the good biocompatibility and magnetic behavior of the composites could be beneficial for many other applications.The inclusion of magnetic nanoparticles into biopolymer matrixes enables the preparation of magnetic field-responsive engineered tissues. Here we describe a synthetic route to prepare biocompatible core-shell nanostructures consisting of a polymeric core and a magnetic shell, which are used for this purpose. We show that using a core-shell architecture is doubly advantageous. First, gravitational settling for core-shell nanocomposites is slower because of the reduction of the composite average density connected to the light polymer core. Second, the magnetic response of core-shell nanocomposites can be tuned by changing the thickness of the magnetic layer. The incorporation of the composites into biopolymer hydrogels containing cells results in magnetic field-responsive engineered tissues whose mechanical properties can be controlled by external magnetic forces. Indeed, we obtain a significant increase of the viscoelastic moduli of the engineered tissues when exposed to an external magnetic field. Because the composites are functionalized with polyethylene glycol, the prepared bio-artificial tissue-like constructs also display excellent ex vivo cell viability and proliferation. When implanted in vivo, the engineered tissues show good biocompatibility and outstanding interaction with the host tissue. Actually, they only cause a localized transitory inflammatory reaction at the implantation site, without any effect on other organs. Altogether, our results suggest that the inclusion of magnetic core-shell nanocomposites into biomaterials would enable tissue engineering of artificial substitutes whose mechanical properties could be tuned to match those of the potential target tissue. In a wider perspective, the good biocompatibility and magnetic behavior of the composites could be beneficial for many other applications. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr00224b

Control scheme for power modulation of a free piston Stirling engine

DOEpatents

Dhar, Manmohan

1989-01-01

The present invention relates to a control scheme for power modulation of a free-piston Stirling engine-linear alternator power generator system. The present invention includes connecting an autotransformer in series with a tuning capacitance between a linear alternator and a utility grid to maintain a constant displacement to piston stroke ratio and their relative phase angle over a wide range of operating conditions.

Engineering microbial factories for synthesis of value-added products

PubMed Central

Du, Jing; Shao, Zengyi; Zhao, Huimin

2011-01-01

Microorganisms have become an increasingly important platform for the production of drugs, chemicals, and biofuels from renewable resources. Advances in protein engineering, metabolic engineering, and synthetic biology enable redesigning microbial cellular networks and fine-tuning physiological capabilities, thus generating industrially viable strains for the production of natural and unnatural value-added compounds. In this review, we describe the recent progress on engineering microbial factories for synthesis of valued-added products including alkaloids, terpenoids, flavonoids, polyketides, non-ribosomal peptides, biofuels, and chemicals. Related topics on lignocellulose degradation, sugar utilization, and microbial tolerance improvement will also be discussed. PMID:21526386

6. VIEW NORTHWEST BY 330 DEGREES OF OCTAGONAL BASES FOR ...

Library of Congress Historic Buildings Survey, Historic Engineering Record, Historic Landscapes Survey

6. VIEW NORTHWEST BY 330 DEGREES OF OCTAGONAL BASES FOR HELIX COILS ASSOCIATED WITH MARCONI TUNED ANTENNA. CHIEF ENGINEERS HOUSE IN BACKGROUND. - Marconi Radio Sites, Transmitting, Point Reyes Station, Marin County, CA

Kalman Filter Constraint Tuning for Turbofan Engine Health Estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Dan; Simon, Donald L.

2005-01-01

Kalman filters are often used to estimate the state variables of a dynamic system. However, in the application of Kalman filters some known signal information is often either ignored or dealt with heuristically. For instance, state variable constraints are often neglected because they do not fit easily into the structure of the Kalman filter. Recently published work has shown a new method for incorporating state variable inequality constraints in the Kalman filter, which has been shown to generally improve the filter s estimation accuracy. However, the incorporation of inequality constraints poses some risk to the estimation accuracy as the Kalman filter is theoretically optimal. This paper proposes a way to tune the filter constraints so that the state estimates follow the unconstrained (theoretically optimal) filter when the confidence in the unconstrained filter is high. When confidence in the unconstrained filter is not so high, then we use our heuristic knowledge to constrain the state estimates. The confidence measure is based on the agreement of measurement residuals with their theoretical values. The algorithm is demonstrated on a linearized simulation of a turbofan engine to estimate engine health.

Extending the spectral range of CdSe/ZnSe quantum wells by strain engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Finke, A.; Ruth, M.; Scholz, S.; Ludwig, A.; Wieck, A. D.; Reuter, D.; Pawlis, A.

2015-01-01

We demonstrate efficient room-temperature photoluminescence and spectral tuning of epitaxially grown ZnSe/CdSe quantum well structures almost over the whole visible spectrum (470-600 nm wavelength). The key element to achieve the observed high quantum efficiency and enormous tuning range was the implementation of a special strain engineering technique, which allows us to suppress substantial lattice relaxation of CdSe on ZnSe. Previous studies indicated that a CdSe coverage exceeding 3 ML on ZnSe results in the formation of extensive lattice defects and complete quenching of the photoluminescence at low and room temperature. In contrast, our approach of strain engineering enables the deposition of planar CdSe quantum wells with a thickness ranging from 1 to 6 ML with excellent optical properties. We attribute the observed experimental features to a controllable strain compensation effect that is present in an alternating system of tensile and compressively strained epitaxial layers and supported this model by calculations of the transition energies of the ZnSe/CdSe quantum wells.

Creating ligand-free silicon germanium alloy nanocrystal inks.

PubMed

Erogbogbo, Folarin; Liu, Tianhang; Ramadurai, Nithin; Tuccarione, Phillip; Lai, Larry; Swihart, Mark T; Prasad, Paras N

2011-10-25

Particle size is widely used to tune the electronic, optical, and catalytic properties of semiconductor nanocrystals. This contrasts with bulk semiconductors, where properties are tuned based on composition, either through doping or through band gap engineering of alloys. Ideally, one would like to control both size and composition of semiconductor nanocrystals. Here, we demonstrate production of silicon-germanium alloy nanoparticles by laser pyrolysis of silane and germane. We have used FTIR, TEM, XRD, EDX, SEM, and TOF-SIMS to conclusively determine their structure and composition. Moreover, we show that upon extended sonication in selected solvents, these bare nanocrystals can be stably dispersed without ligands, thereby providing the possibility of using them as an ink to make patterned films, free of organic surfactants, for device fabrication. The engineering of these SiGe alloy inks is an important step toward the low-cost fabrication of group IV nanocrystal optoelectronic, thermoelectric, and photovoltaic devices.

Band-gap engineering by molecular mechanical strain-induced giant tuning of the luminescence in colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures.

PubMed

Mughal, A; El Demellawi, J K; Chaieb, Sahraoui

2014-12-14

Nano-silicon is a nanostructured material in which quantum or spatial confinement is the origin of the material's luminescence. When nano-silicon is broken into colloidal crystalline nanoparticles, its luminescence can be tuned across the visible spectrum only when the sizes of the nanoparticles, which are obtained via painstaking filtration methods that are difficult to scale up because of low yield, vary. Bright and tunable colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures have not yet been reported. In this letter, we report on a 100 nm modulation in the emission of freestanding colloidal amorphous porous silicon nanostructures via band-gap engineering. The mechanism responsible for this tunable modulation, which is independent of the size of the individual particles and their distribution, is the distortion of the molecular orbitals by a strained silicon-silicon bond angle. This mechanism is also responsible for the amorphous-to-crystalline transformation of silicon.

Electrochemical tuning of vertically aligned MoS2 nanofilms and its application in improving hydrogen evolution reaction

PubMed Central

Wang, Haotian; Lu, Zhiyi; Xu, Shicheng; Kong, Desheng; Cha, Judy J.; Zheng, Guangyuan; Hsu, Po-Chun; Yan, Kai; Bradshaw, David; Prinz, Fritz B.; Cui, Yi

2013-01-01

The ability to intercalate guest species into the van der Waals gap of 2D layered materials affords the opportunity to engineer the electronic structures for a variety of applications. Here we demonstrate the continuous tuning of layer vertically aligned MoS2 nanofilms through electrochemical intercalation of Li+ ions. By scanning the Li intercalation potential from high to low, we have gained control of multiple important material properties in a continuous manner, including tuning the oxidation state of Mo, the transition of semiconducting 2H to metallic 1T phase, and expanding the van der Waals gap until exfoliation. Using such nanofilms after different degree of Li intercalation, we show the significant improvement of the hydrogen evolution reaction activity. A strong correlation between such tunable material properties and hydrogen evolution reaction activity is established. This work provides an intriguing and effective approach on tuning electronic structures for optimizing the catalytic activity. PMID:24248362

Bio-inspired band gap engineering of zinc oxide by intracrystalline incorporation of amino acids.

PubMed

Brif, Anastasia; Ankonina, Guy; Drathen, Christina; Pokroy, Boaz

2014-01-22

Bandgap engineering of zinc oxide semiconductors can be achieved using a bio-inspired method. During a bioInspired crystallization process, incorporation of amino acids into the crystal structure of ZnO induces lattice strain that leads to linear bandgap shifts. This allows for fine tuning of the bandgap in a bio-inspired route. © 2013 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Optimal tuning of a confined Brownian information engine.

PubMed

Park, Jong-Min; Lee, Jae Sung; Noh, Jae Dong

2016-03-01

A Brownian information engine is a device extracting mechanical work from a single heat bath by exploiting the information on the state of a Brownian particle immersed in the bath. As for engines, it is important to find the optimal operating condition that yields the maximum extracted work or power. The optimal condition for a Brownian information engine with a finite cycle time τ has been rarely studied because of the difficulty in finding the nonequilibrium steady state. In this study, we introduce a model for the Brownian information engine and develop an analytic formalism for its steady-state distribution for any τ. We find that the extracted work per engine cycle is maximum when τ approaches infinity, while the power is maximum when τ approaches zero.

Implementation of an Integrated On-Board Aircraft Engine Diagnostic Architecture

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Jeffrey B.; Simon, Donald L.

2012-01-01

An on-board diagnostic architecture for aircraft turbofan engine performance trending, parameter estimation, and gas-path fault detection and isolation has been developed and evaluated in a simulation environment. The architecture incorporates two independent models: a realtime self-tuning performance model providing parameter estimates and a performance baseline model for diagnostic purposes reflecting long-term engine degradation trends. This architecture was evaluated using flight profiles generated from a nonlinear model with realistic fleet engine health degradation distributions and sensor noise. The architecture was found to produce acceptable estimates of engine health and unmeasured parameters, and the integrated diagnostic algorithms were able to perform correct fault isolation in approximately 70 percent of the tested cases

Users manual for program ADMIT: Admittance and pressure transfer function developed for use on a PC computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Wilbur C.

1992-01-01

The piping in a liquid rocket can assume complex configurations due to multiple tanks, multiple engines, and structures that must be piped around. The capability to handle some of these complex configurations have been incorporated into the ADMIT code. The capability to modify the input on line has been implemented. The configurations allowed include multiple tanks, multiple engines, the splitting of a pipe into unequal segments going to different (or the same) engines. This program will handle the following type elements: straight pipes, bends, inline accumulators, tuned stub accumulators, Helmholtz resonators, parallel resonators, pumps, split pipes, multiple tanks, and multiple engines.

Users manual for program SSFREQ intermediate mode stability curves: Developed for use on a PC computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Wilbur C.

1992-01-01

The piping in a liquid rocket can assume complex configurations due to multiple tanks, multiple engines, and structures that must be piped around. The capability to handle some of these complex configurations have been incorporated into the SSFREQ code. The capability to modify the input on line has been implemented. The configurations allowed include multiple tanks, multiple engines, the splitting of a pipe into equal segments going to different (or the same) engines. This program will handle the following type elements: straight pipes, bends, inline accumulators, tuned stub accumulators, Helmholtz resonators, parallel resonators, pumps, split pipes, multiple tanks, and multiple engines.

Broadband terahertz-power extracting by using electron cyclotron maser.

PubMed

Pan, Shi; Du, Chao-Hai; Qi, Xiang-Bo; Liu, Pu-Kun

2017-08-04

Terahertz applications urgently require high performance and room temperature terahertz sources. The gyrotron based on the principle of electron cyclotron maser is able to generate watt-to-megawatt level terahertz radiation, and becomes an exceptional role in the frontiers of energy, security and biomedicine. However, in normal conditions, a terahertz gyrotron could generate terahertz radiation with high efficiency on a single frequency or with low efficiency in a relatively narrow tuning band. Here a frequency tuning scheme for the terahertz gyrotron utilizing sequentially switching among several whispering-gallery modes is proposed to reach high performance with broadband, coherence and high power simultaneously. Such mode-switching gyrotron has the potential of generating broadband radiation with 100-GHz-level bandwidth. Even wider bandwidth is limited by the frequency-dependent effective electrical length of the cavity. Preliminary investigation applies a pre-bunched circuit to the single-mode wide-band tuning. Then, more broadband sweeping is produced by mode switching in great-range magnetic tuning. The effect of mode competition, as well as critical engineering techniques on frequency tuning is discussed to confirm the feasibility for the case close to reality. This multi-mode-switching scheme could make gyrotron a promising device towards bridging the so-called terahertz gap.

Design of an iterative auto-tuning algorithm for a fuzzy PID controller

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Saeed, Bakhtiar I.; Mehrdadi, B.

2012-05-01

Since the first application of fuzzy logic in the field of control engineering, it has been extensively employed in controlling a wide range of applications. The human knowledge on controlling complex and non-linear processes can be incorporated into a controller in the form of linguistic terms. However, with the lack of analytical design study it is becoming more difficult to auto-tune controller parameters. Fuzzy logic controller has several parameters that can be adjusted, such as: membership functions, rule-base and scaling gains. Furthermore, it is not always easy to find the relation between the type of membership functions or rule-base and the controller performance. This study proposes a new systematic auto-tuning algorithm to fine tune fuzzy logic controller gains. A fuzzy PID controller is proposed and applied to several second order systems. The relationship between the closed-loop response and the controller parameters is analysed to devise an auto-tuning method. The results show that the proposed method is highly effective and produces zero overshoot with enhanced transient response. In addition, the robustness of the controller is investigated in the case of parameter changes and the results show a satisfactory performance.

On spacecraft maneuvers control subject to propellant engine modes.

PubMed

Mazinan, A H

2015-09-01

The paper attempts to address a new control approach to spacecraft maneuvers based upon the modes of propellant engine. A realization of control strategy is now presented in engine on mode (high thrusts as well as further low thrusts), which is related to small angle maneuvers and engine off mode (specified low thrusts), which is also related to large angle maneuvers. There is currently a coarse-fine tuning in engine on mode. It is shown that the process of handling the angular velocities are finalized via rate feedback system in engine modes, where the angular rotations are controlled through quaternion based control (QBCL)strategy in engine off mode and these ones are also controlled through an optimum PID (OPIDH) strategy in engine on mode. Copyright © 2015 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Highway Vehicle Retrofit Evaluation : Phase 2. Report. Testing and Final Evaluation Results.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1976-11-01

This report presents the results of engine dynamometer and vehicle chassis dynamometer tests conducted with selected automotive retrofit devices in the classes of ultrasonic carburetors, high-velocity intake manifolds, tuned exhaust systems, and high...

Explicit analytical tuning rules for digital PID controllers via the magnitude optimum criterion.

PubMed

Papadopoulos, Konstantinos G; Yadav, Praveen K; Margaris, Nikolaos I

2017-09-01

Analytical tuning rules for digital PID type-I controllers are presented regardless of the process complexity. This explicit solution allows control engineers 1) to make an accurate examination of the effect of the controller's sampling time to the control loop's performance both in the time and frequency domain 2) to decide when the control has to be I, PI and when the derivative, D, term has to be added or omitted 3) apply this control action to a series of stable benchmark processes regardless of their complexity. The former advantages are considered critical in industry applications, since 1) most of the times the choice of the digital controller's sampling time is based on heuristics and past criteria, 2) there is little a-priori knowledge of the controlled process making the choice of the type of the controller a trial and error exercise 3) model parameters change often depending on the control loop's operating point making in this way, the problem of retuning the controller's parameter a much challenging issue. Basis of the proposed control law is the principle of the PID tuning via the Magnitude Optimum criterion. The final control law involves the controller's sampling time T s within the explicit solution of the controller's parameters. Finally, the potential of the proposed method is justified by comparing its performance with the conventional PID tuning when controlling the same process. Further investigation regarding the choice of the controller's sampling time T s is also presented and useful conclusions for control engineers are derived. Copyright © 2017 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advanced semi-active engine and transmission mounts: tools for modelling, analysis, design, and tuning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Farjoud, Alireza; Taylor, Russell; Schumann, Eric; Schlangen, Timothy

2014-02-01

This paper is focused on modelling, design, and testing of semi-active magneto-rheological (MR) engine and transmission mounts used in the automotive industry. The purpose is to develop a complete analysis, synthesis, design, and tuning tool that reduces the need for expensive and time-consuming laboratory and field tests. A detailed mathematical model of such devices is developed using multi-physics modelling techniques for physical systems with various energy domains. The model includes all major features of an MR mount including fluid dynamics, fluid track, elastic components, decoupler, rate-dip, gas-charged chamber, MR fluid rheology, magnetic circuit, electronic driver, and control algorithm. Conventional passive hydraulic mounts can also be studied using the same mathematical model. The model is validated using standard experimental procedures. It is used for design and parametric study of mounts; effects of various geometric and material parameters on dynamic response of mounts can be studied. Additionally, this model can be used to test various control strategies to obtain best vibration isolation performance by tuning control parameters. Another benefit of this work is that nonlinear interactions between sub-components of the mount can be observed and investigated. This is not possible by using simplified linear models currently available.

Performance Engineering Research Institute SciDAC-2 Enabling Technologies Institute Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lucas, Robert

2013-04-20

Enhancing the performance of SciDAC applications on petascale systems had high priority within DOE SC at the start of the second phase of the SciDAC program, SciDAC-2, as it continues to do so today. Achieving expected levels of performance on high-end computing (HEC) systems is growing ever more challenging due to enormous scale, increasing architectural complexity, and increasing application complexity. To address these challenges, the University of Southern California?s Information Sciences Institute organized the Performance Engineering Research Institute (PERI). PERI implemented a unified, tripartite research plan encompassing: (1) performance modeling and prediction; (2) automatic performance tuning; and (3) performance engineeringmore » of high profile applications. Within PERI, USC?s primary research activity was automatic tuning (autotuning) of scientific software. This activity was spurred by the strong user preference for automatic tools and was based on previous successful activities such as ATLAS, which automatically tuned components of the LAPACK linear algebra library, and other recent work on autotuning domain-specific libraries. Our other major component was application engagement, to which we devoted approximately 30% of our effort to work directly with SciDAC-2 applications. This report is a summary of the overall results of the USC PERI effort.« less

Finite Element Model Optimization of the FalconSAT-5 Structural Engineering Model

DTIC Science & Technology

2009-03-01

for coupled loads analyses. To develop the FE tuning process, this research focuses on the United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) FalconSAT-5 SEM II...Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) were sufficient for design engineers to ensure compliance with launch loads. However, for the coupled loads analysis...OF THE AIR FORCE AIR UNIVERSITY AIR FORCE INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE; DISTRIBUTION

Relevancy 101

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lynnes, Chris; Newman, Doug

2016-01-01

Where we present an overview on why relevancy is a problem, how important it is and how we can improve it. The topic of relevancy is becoming increasingly important in earth data discovery as our audience is tuned to the accuracy of standard search engines like Google.

Strain-Tuning Atomic Substitution in Two-Dimensional Atomic Crystals.

PubMed

Li, Honglai; Liu, Hongjun; Zhou, Linwei; Wu, Xueping; Pan, Yuhao; Ji, Wei; Zheng, Biyuan; Zhang, Qinglin; Zhuang, Xiujuan; Zhu, Xiaoli; Wang, Xiao; Duan, Xiangfeng; Pan, Anlian

2018-05-22

Atomic substitution offers an important route to achieve compositionally engineered two-dimensional nanostructures and their heterostructures. Despite the recent research progress, the fundamental understanding of the reaction mechanism has still remained unclear. Here, we reveal the atomic substitution mechanism of two-dimensional atomic layered materials. We found that the atomic substitution process depends on the varying lattice constant (strain) in monolayer crystals, dominated by two strain-tuning (self-promoted and self-limited) mechanisms using density functional theory calculations. These mechanisms were experimentally confirmed by the controllable realization of a graded substitution ratio in the monolayers by controlling the substitution temperature and time and further theoretically verified by kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The strain-tuning atomic substitution processes are of general importance to other two-dimensional layered materials, which offers an interesting route for tailoring electronic and optical properties of these materials.

Surface plasmon dispersion engineering via double-metallic AU/AG layers for nitride light-emitting diodes

DOEpatents

Tansu, Nelson; Zhao, Hongping; Zhang, Jing; Liu, Guangyu

2014-04-01

A double-metallic deposition process is used whereby adjacent layers of different metals are deposited on a substrate. The surface plasmon frequency of a base layer of a first metal is tuned by the surface plasmon frequency of a second layer of a second metal formed thereon. The amount of tuning is dependent upon the thickness of the metallic layers, and thus tuning can be achieved by varying the thicknesses of one or both of the metallic layers. In a preferred embodiment directed to enhanced LED technology in the green spectrum regime, a double-metallic Au/Ag layer comprising a base layer of gold (Au) followed by a second layer of silver (Ag) formed thereon is deposited on top of InGaN/GaN quantum wells (QWs) on a sapphire/GaN substrate.

Application of a system modification technique to dynamic tuning of a spinning rotor blade

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Spain, C. V.

1987-01-01

An important consideration in the development of modern helicopters is the vibratory response of the main rotor blade. One way to minimize vibration levels is to ensure that natural frequencies of the spinning main rotor blade are well removed from integer multiples of the rotor speed. A technique for dynamically tuning a finite-element model of a rotor blade to accomplish that end is demonstrated. A brief overview is given of the general purpose finite element system known as Engineering Analysis Language (EAL) which was used in this work. A description of the EAL System Modification (SM) processor is then given along with an explanation of special algorithms developed to be used in conjunction with SM. Finally, this technique is demonstrated by dynamically tuning a model of an advanced composite rotor blade.

Improved model reduction and tuning of fractional-order PI(λ)D(μ) controllers for analytical rule extraction with genetic programming.

PubMed

Das, Saptarshi; Pan, Indranil; Das, Shantanu; Gupta, Amitava

2012-03-01

Genetic algorithm (GA) has been used in this study for a new approach of suboptimal model reduction in the Nyquist plane and optimal time domain tuning of proportional-integral-derivative (PID) and fractional-order (FO) PI(λ)D(μ) controllers. Simulation studies show that the new Nyquist-based model reduction technique outperforms the conventional H(2)-norm-based reduced parameter modeling technique. With the tuned controller parameters and reduced-order model parameter dataset, optimum tuning rules have been developed with a test-bench of higher-order processes via genetic programming (GP). The GP performs a symbolic regression on the reduced process parameters to evolve a tuning rule which provides the best analytical expression to map the data. The tuning rules are developed for a minimum time domain integral performance index described by a weighted sum of error index and controller effort. From the reported Pareto optimal front of the GP-based optimal rule extraction technique, a trade-off can be made between the complexity of the tuning formulae and the control performance. The efficacy of the single-gene and multi-gene GP-based tuning rules has been compared with the original GA-based control performance for the PID and PI(λ)D(μ) controllers, handling four different classes of representative higher-order processes. These rules are very useful for process control engineers, as they inherit the power of the GA-based tuning methodology, but can be easily calculated without the requirement for running the computationally intensive GA every time. Three-dimensional plots of the required variation in PID/fractional-order PID (FOPID) controller parameters with reduced process parameters have been shown as a guideline for the operator. Parametric robustness of the reported GP-based tuning rules has also been shown with credible simulation examples. Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptive Gas Turbine Engine Control for Deterioration Compensation Due to Aging

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litt, Jonathan S.; Parker, Khary I.; Chatterjee, Santanu

2003-01-01

This paper presents an ad hoc adaptive, multivariable controller tuning rule that compensates for a thrust response variation in an engine whose performance has been degraded though use and wear. The upset appears when a large throttle transient is performed such that the engine controller switches from low-speed to high-speed mode. A relationship was observed between the level of engine degradation and the overshoot in engine temperature ratio, which was determined to cause the thrust response variation. This relationship was used to adapt the controller. The method is shown to work very well up to the operability limits of the engine. Additionally, since the level of degradation can be estimated from sensor data, it would be feasible to implement the adaptive control algorithm on-line.

Optimizing human activity patterns using global sensitivity analysis.

PubMed

Fairchild, Geoffrey; Hickmann, Kyle S; Mniszewski, Susan M; Del Valle, Sara Y; Hyman, James M

2014-12-01

Implementing realistic activity patterns for a population is crucial for modeling, for example, disease spread, supply and demand, and disaster response. Using the dynamic activity simulation engine, DASim, we generate schedules for a population that capture regular (e.g., working, eating, and sleeping) and irregular activities (e.g., shopping or going to the doctor). We use the sample entropy (SampEn) statistic to quantify a schedule's regularity for a population. We show how to tune an activity's regularity by adjusting SampEn, thereby making it possible to realistically design activities when creating a schedule. The tuning process sets up a computationally intractable high-dimensional optimization problem. To reduce the computational demand, we use Bayesian Gaussian process regression to compute global sensitivity indices and identify the parameters that have the greatest effect on the variance of SampEn. We use the harmony search (HS) global optimization algorithm to locate global optima. Our results show that HS combined with global sensitivity analysis can efficiently tune the SampEn statistic with few search iterations. We demonstrate how global sensitivity analysis can guide statistical emulation and global optimization algorithms to efficiently tune activities and generate realistic activity patterns. Though our tuning methods are applied to dynamic activity schedule generation, they are general and represent a significant step in the direction of automated tuning and optimization of high-dimensional computer simulations.

Optimizing human activity patterns using global sensitivity analysis

PubMed Central

Hickmann, Kyle S.; Mniszewski, Susan M.; Del Valle, Sara Y.; Hyman, James M.

2014-01-01

Implementing realistic activity patterns for a population is crucial for modeling, for example, disease spread, supply and demand, and disaster response. Using the dynamic activity simulation engine, DASim, we generate schedules for a population that capture regular (e.g., working, eating, and sleeping) and irregular activities (e.g., shopping or going to the doctor). We use the sample entropy (SampEn) statistic to quantify a schedule’s regularity for a population. We show how to tune an activity’s regularity by adjusting SampEn, thereby making it possible to realistically design activities when creating a schedule. The tuning process sets up a computationally intractable high-dimensional optimization problem. To reduce the computational demand, we use Bayesian Gaussian process regression to compute global sensitivity indices and identify the parameters that have the greatest effect on the variance of SampEn. We use the harmony search (HS) global optimization algorithm to locate global optima. Our results show that HS combined with global sensitivity analysis can efficiently tune the SampEn statistic with few search iterations. We demonstrate how global sensitivity analysis can guide statistical emulation and global optimization algorithms to efficiently tune activities and generate realistic activity patterns. Though our tuning methods are applied to dynamic activity schedule generation, they are general and represent a significant step in the direction of automated tuning and optimization of high-dimensional computer simulations. PMID:25580080

Optimizing human activity patterns using global sensitivity analysis

DOE PAGES

Fairchild, Geoffrey; Hickmann, Kyle S.; Mniszewski, Susan M.; ...

2013-12-10

Implementing realistic activity patterns for a population is crucial for modeling, for example, disease spread, supply and demand, and disaster response. Using the dynamic activity simulation engine, DASim, we generate schedules for a population that capture regular (e.g., working, eating, and sleeping) and irregular activities (e.g., shopping or going to the doctor). We use the sample entropy (SampEn) statistic to quantify a schedule’s regularity for a population. We show how to tune an activity’s regularity by adjusting SampEn, thereby making it possible to realistically design activities when creating a schedule. The tuning process sets up a computationally intractable high-dimensional optimizationmore » problem. To reduce the computational demand, we use Bayesian Gaussian process regression to compute global sensitivity indices and identify the parameters that have the greatest effect on the variance of SampEn. Here we use the harmony search (HS) global optimization algorithm to locate global optima. Our results show that HS combined with global sensitivity analysis can efficiently tune the SampEn statistic with few search iterations. We demonstrate how global sensitivity analysis can guide statistical emulation and global optimization algorithms to efficiently tune activities and generate realistic activity patterns. Finally, though our tuning methods are applied to dynamic activity schedule generation, they are general and represent a significant step in the direction of automated tuning and optimization of high-dimensional computer simulations.« less

The Physics of Life and Quantum Complex Matter: A Case of Cross-Fertilization

PubMed Central

Poccia, Nicola; Bianconi, Antonio

2011-01-01

Progress in the science of complexity, from the Big Bang to the coming of humankind, from chemistry and biology to geosciences and medicine, and from materials engineering to energy sciences, is leading to a shift of paradigm in the physical sciences. The focus is on the understanding of the non-equilibrium process in fine tuned systems. Quantum complex materials such as high temperature superconductors and living matter are both non-equilibrium and fine tuned systems. These topics have been subbjects of scientific discussion in the Rome Symposium on the “Quantum Physics of Living Matter”. PMID:26791661

Tuning the band structure of graphene nanoribbons through defect-interaction-driven edge patterning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Lin; Nguyen, Tam N.; Gilman, Ari; Muniz, André R.; Maroudas, Dimitrios

2017-12-01

We report a systematic analysis of pore-edge interactions in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) and their outcomes based on first-principles calculations and classical molecular-dynamics simulations. We find a strong attractive interaction between nanopores and GNR edges that drives the pores to migrate toward and coalesce with the GNR edges, which can be exploited to form GNR edge patterns that impact the GNR electronic band structure and tune the GNR band gap. Our analysis introduces a viable physical processing strategy for modifying GNR properties by combining defect engineering and thermal annealing.

Tailoring optical metamaterials to tune the atom-surface Casimir-Polder interaction.

PubMed

Chan, Eng Aik; Aljunid, Syed Abdullah; Adamo, Giorgio; Laliotis, Athanasios; Ducloy, Martial; Wilkowski, David

2018-02-01

Metamaterials are fascinating tools that can structure not only surface plasmons and electromagnetic waves but also electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations. The possibility of shaping the quantum vacuum is a powerful concept that ultimately allows engineering the interaction between macroscopic surfaces and quantum emitters such as atoms, molecules, or quantum dots. The long-range atom-surface interaction, known as Casimir-Polder interaction, is of fundamental importance in quantum electrodynamics but also attracts a significant interest for platforms that interface atoms with nanophotonic devices. We perform a spectroscopic selective reflection measurement of the Casimir-Polder interaction between a Cs(6P 3/2 ) atom and a nanostructured metallic planar metamaterial. We show that by engineering the near-field plasmonic resonances of the metamaterial, we can successfully tune the Casimir-Polder interaction, demonstrating both a strong enhancement and reduction with respect to its nonresonant value. We also show an enhancement of the atomic spontaneous emission rate due to its coupling with the evanescent modes of the nanostructure. Probing excited-state atoms next to nontrivial tailored surfaces is a rigorous test of quantum electrodynamics. Engineering Casimir-Polder interactions represents a significant step toward atom trapping in the extreme near field, possibly without the use of external fields.

Adaptive Control of Small Outboard-Powered Boats for Survey Applications

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanZwieten, T.S.; VanZwieten, J.H.; Fisher, A.D.

2009-01-01

Four autopilot controllers have been developed in this work that can both hold a desired heading and follow a straight line. These PID, adaptive PID, neuro-adaptive, and adaptive augmenting control algorithms have all been implemented into a numerical simulation of a 33-foot center console vessel with wind, waves, and current disturbances acting in the perpendicular (across-track) direction of the boat s desired trajectory. Each controller is tested for its ability to follow a desired heading in the presence of these disturbances and then to follow a straight line at two different throttle settings for the same disturbances. These controllers were tuned for an input thrust of 2000 N and all four controllers showed good performance with none of the controllers significantly outperforming the others when holding a constant heading and following a straight line at this engine thrust. Each controller was then tested for a reduced engine thrust of 1200 N per engine where each of the three adaptive controllers reduced heading error and across-track error by approximately 50% after a 300 second tuning period when compared to the fixed gain PID, showing that significant robustness to changes in throttle setting was gained by using an adaptive algorithm.

Integrating the protein and metabolic engineering toolkits for next-generation chemical biosynthesis.

PubMed

Pirie, Christopher M; De Mey, Marjan; Jones Prather, Kristala L; Ajikumar, Parayil Kumaran

2013-04-19

Through microbial engineering, biosynthesis has the potential to produce thousands of chemicals used in everyday life. Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology are fields driven by the manipulation of genes, genetic regulatory systems, and enzymatic pathways for developing highly productive microbial strains. Fundamentally, it is the biochemical characteristics of the enzymes themselves that dictate flux through a biosynthetic pathway toward the product of interest. As metabolic engineers target sophisticated secondary metabolites, there has been little recognition of the reduced catalytic activity and increased substrate/product promiscuity of the corresponding enzymes compared to those of central metabolism. Thus, fine-tuning these enzymatic characteristics through protein engineering is paramount for developing high-productivity microbial strains for secondary metabolites. Here, we describe the importance of protein engineering for advancing metabolic engineering of secondary metabolism pathways. This pathway integrated enzyme optimization can enhance the collective toolkit of microbial engineering to shape the future of chemical manufacturing.

PlateRunner: A Search Engine to Identify EMR Boilerplates.

PubMed

Divita, Guy; Workman, T Elizabeth; Carter, Marjorie E; Redd, Andrew; Samore, Matthew H; Gundlapalli, Adi V

2016-01-01

Medical text contains boilerplated content, an artifact of pull-down forms from EMRs. Boilerplated content is the source of challenges for concept extraction on clinical text. This paper introduces PlateRunner, a search engine on boilerplates from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) EMR. Boilerplates containing concepts should be identified and reviewed to recognize challenging formats, identify high yield document titles, and fine tune section zoning. This search engine has the capability to filter negated and asserted concepts, save and search query results. This tool can save queries, search results, and documents found for later analysis.

Structural tailoring of engine blades (STAEBL) user's manual

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brown, K. W.

1985-01-01

This User's Manual contains instructions and demonstration case to prepare input data, run, and modify the Structural Tailoring of Engine Blades (STAEBL) computer code. STAEBL was developed to perform engine fan and compressor blade numerical optimizations. This blade optimization seeks a minimum weight or cost design that satisfies realistic blade design constraints, by tuning one to twenty design variables. The STAEBL constraint analyses include blade stresses, vibratory response, flutter, and foreign object damage. Blade design variables include airfoil thickness at several locations, blade chord, and construction variables: hole size for hollow blades, and composite material layup for composite blades.

Current rectification in a double quantum dot through fermionic reservoir engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Malz, Daniel; Nunnenkamp, Andreas

2018-04-01

Reservoir engineering is a powerful tool for the robust generation of quantum states or transport properties. Using both a weak-coupling quantum master equation and the exact solution, we show that directional transport of electrons through a double quantum dot can be achieved through an appropriately designed electronic environment. Directionality is attained through the interference of coherent and dissipative coupling. The relative phase is tuned with an external magnetic field, such that directionality can be reversed, as well as turned on and off dynamically. Our work introduces fermionic-reservoir engineering, paving the way to a new class of nanoelectronic devices.

Dream controller

DOEpatents

Cheng, George Shu-Xing; Mulkey, Steven L; Wang, Qiang; Chow, Andrew J

2013-11-26

A method and apparatus for intelligently controlling continuous process variables. A Dream Controller comprises an Intelligent Engine mechanism and a number of Model-Free Adaptive (MFA) controllers, each of which is suitable to control a process with specific behaviors. The Intelligent Engine can automatically select the appropriate MFA controller and its parameters so that the Dream Controller can be easily used by people with limited control experience and those who do not have the time to commission, tune, and maintain automatic controllers.

Synthetic Core Promoters as Universal Parts for Fine-Tuning Expression in Different Yeast Species

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Synthetic biology and metabolic engineering experiments frequently require the fine-tuning of gene expression to balance and optimize protein levels of regulators or metabolic enzymes. A key concept of synthetic biology is the development of modular parts that can be used in different contexts. Here, we have applied a computational multifactor design approach to generate de novo synthetic core promoters and 5′ untranslated regions (UTRs) for yeast cells. In contrast to upstream cis-regulatory modules (CRMs), core promoters are typically not subject to specific regulation, making them ideal engineering targets for gene expression fine-tuning. 112 synthetic core promoter sequences were designed on the basis of the sequence/function relationship of natural core promoters, nucleosome occupancy and the presence of short motifs. The synthetic core promoters were fused to the Pichia pastoris AOX1 CRM, and the resulting activity spanned more than a 200-fold range (0.3% to 70.6% of the wild type AOX1 level). The top-ten synthetic core promoters with highest activity were fused to six additional CRMs (three in P. pastoris and three in Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Inducible CRM constructs showed significantly higher activity than constitutive CRMs, reaching up to 176% of natural core promoters. Comparing the activity of the same synthetic core promoters fused to different CRMs revealed high correlations only for CRMs within the same organism. These data suggest that modularity is maintained to some extent but only within the same organism. Due to the conserved role of eukaryotic core promoters, this rational design concept may be transferred to other organisms as a generic engineering tool. PMID:27973777

Design of a self-tuning regulator for temperature control of a polymerization reactor.

PubMed

Vasanthi, D; Pranavamoorthy, B; Pappa, N

2012-01-01

The temperature control of a polymerization reactor described by Chylla and Haase, a control engineering benchmark problem, is used to illustrate the potential of adaptive control design by employing a self-tuning regulator concept. In the benchmark scenario, the operation of the reactor must be guaranteed under various disturbing influences, e.g., changing ambient temperatures or impurity of the monomer. The conventional cascade control provides a robust operation, but often lacks in control performance concerning the required strict temperature tolerances. The self-tuning control concept presented in this contribution solves the problem. This design calculates a trajectory for the cooling jacket temperature in order to follow a predefined trajectory of the reactor temperature. The reaction heat and the heat transfer coefficient in the energy balance are estimated online by using an unscented Kalman filter (UKF). Two simple physically motivated relations are employed, which allow the non-delayed estimation of both quantities. Simulation results under model uncertainties show the effectiveness of the self-tuning control concept. Copyright © 2011 ISA. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Atomic Layer Deposition in Bio-Nanotechnology: A Brief Overview.

PubMed

Bishal, Arghya K; Butt, Arman; Selvaraj, Sathees K; Joshi, Bela; Patel, Sweetu B; Huang, Su; Yang, Bin; Shukohfar, Tolou; Sukotjo, Cortino; Takoudis, Christos G

2015-01-01

Atomic layer deposition (ALD) is a technique increasingly used in nanotechnology and ultrathin film deposition; it is ideal for films in the nanometer and Angstrom length scales. ALD can effectively be used to modify the surface chemistry and functionalization of engineering-related and biologically important surfaces. It can also be used to alter the mechanical, electrical, chemical, and other properties of materials that are increasingly used in biomedical engineering and biological sciences. ALD is a relatively new technique for optimizing materials for use in bio-nanotechnology. Here, after a brief review of the more widely used modes of ALD and a few of its applications in biotechnology, selected results that show the potential of ALD in bio-nanotechnology are presented. ALD seems to be a promising means for tuning the hydrophilicity/hydrophobicity characteristics of biomedical surfaces, forming conformal ultrathin coatings with desirable properties on biomedical substrates with a high aspect ratio, tuning the antibacterial properties of substrate surfaces of interest, and yielding multifunctional biomaterials for medical implants and other devices.

Tuning cell adhesive properties via layer-by-layer assembly of chitosan and alginate

PubMed Central

Silva, Joana M.; García, José R.; Reis, Rui L.; García, Andrés J.; Mano, João F.

2017-01-01

Understanding the mechanisms controlling cell-multilayer film interactions is crucial to the successful engineering of these coatings for biotechnological and biomedical applications. Herein, we present a strategy to tune the cell adhesive properties of multilayers based on marine polysaccharides with and without cross-linking and/or coating with extracellular matrix proteins. Chemical cross-linking of multilayers improved mechanical properties of the coatings but also elicited changes in surface chemistry that alter the adhesion of human umbilical vein endothelial cells. We evaluated a strategy to decouple the mechanical and chemical properties of these films, enabling the transition from cell-adhesive to cell-resistant multilayers. Addition of chitosan/alginate multilayers on top of cross-linked films decreased endothelial cell adhesion, spreading, and proliferation to similar levels as uncross-linked films. Our findings highlight the key role of surface chemistry in cell-multilayer film interactions, and these engineered nanocoatings represent a tunable model of cell adhesive and non-adhesive multilayered films. PMID:28126597

Design of Strain-Engineered GeSn/GeSiSn Quantum Dots for Mid-IR Direct Bandgap Emission on Si Substrate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Al-Saigh, Reem; Baira, Mourad; Salem, Bassem; Ilahi, Bouraoui

2018-06-01

Strain-engineered self-assembled GeSn/GeSiSn quantum dots in Ge matrix have been numerically investigated aiming to study their potentiality towards direct bandgap emission in the mid-IR range. The use of GeSiSn alloy as surrounding media for GeSn quantum dots (QD) allows adjusting the strain around the QD through the variation of Si and/or Sn composition. Accordingly, the lattice mismatch between the GeSn quantum dots and the GeSiSn surrounding layer has been tuned between - 2.3 and - 4.5% through the variation of the Sn barrier composition for different dome-shaped QD sizes. The obtained results show that the emission wavelength, fulfilling the specific QD directness criteria, can be successively tuned over a broad mid-IR range from 3 up to7 μm opening new perspectives for group IV laser sources fully integrated in Si photonic systems for sensing applications.

Performance analysis of different tuning rules for an isothermal CSTR using integrated EPC and SPC

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roslan, A. H.; Karim, S. F. Abd; Hamzah, N.

2018-03-01

This paper demonstrates the integration of Engineering Process Control (EPC) and Statistical Process Control (SPC) for the control of product concentration of an isothermal CSTR. The objectives of this study are to evaluate the performance of Ziegler-Nichols (Z-N), Direct Synthesis, (DS) and Internal Model Control (IMC) tuning methods and determine the most effective method for this process. The simulation model was obtained from past literature and re-constructed using SIMULINK MATLAB to evaluate the process response. Additionally, the process stability, capability and normality were analyzed using Process Capability Sixpack reports in Minitab. Based on the results, DS displays the best response for having the smallest rise time, settling time, overshoot, undershoot, Integral Time Absolute Error (ITAE) and Integral Square Error (ISE). Also, based on statistical analysis, DS yields as the best tuning method as it exhibits the highest process stability and capability.

Engine cylinder pressure reconstruction using crank kinematics and recurrently-trained neural networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bennett, C.; Dunne, J. F.; Trimby, S.; Richardson, D.

2017-02-01

A recurrent non-linear autoregressive with exogenous input (NARX) neural network is proposed, and a suitable fully-recurrent training methodology is adapted and tuned, for reconstructing cylinder pressure in multi-cylinder IC engines using measured crank kinematics. This type of indirect sensing is important for cost effective closed-loop combustion control and for On-Board Diagnostics. The challenge addressed is to accurately predict cylinder pressure traces within the cycle under generalisation conditions: i.e. using data not previously seen by the network during training. This involves direct construction and calibration of a suitable inverse crank dynamic model, which owing to singular behaviour at top-dead-centre (TDC), has proved difficult via physical model construction, calibration, and inversion. The NARX architecture is specialised and adapted to cylinder pressure reconstruction, using a fully-recurrent training methodology which is needed because the alternatives are too slow and unreliable for practical network training on production engines. The fully-recurrent Robust Adaptive Gradient Descent (RAGD) algorithm, is tuned initially using synthesised crank kinematics, and then tested on real engine data to assess the reconstruction capability. Real data is obtained from a 1.125 l, 3-cylinder, in-line, direct injection spark ignition (DISI) engine involving synchronised measurements of crank kinematics and cylinder pressure across a range of steady-state speed and load conditions. The paper shows that a RAGD-trained NARX network using both crank velocity and crank acceleration as input information, provides fast and robust training. By using the optimum epoch identified during RAGD training, acceptably accurate cylinder pressures, and especially accurate location-of-peak-pressure, can be reconstructed robustly under generalisation conditions, making it the most practical NARX configuration and recurrent training methodology for use on production engines.

A Systematic Approach for Model-Based Aircraft Engine Performance Estimation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Simon, Donald L.; Garg, Sanjay

2010-01-01

A requirement for effective aircraft engine performance estimation is the ability to account for engine degradation, generally described in terms of unmeasurable health parameters such as efficiencies and flow capacities related to each major engine module. This paper presents a linear point design methodology for minimizing the degradation-induced error in model-based aircraft engine performance estimation applications. The technique specifically focuses on the underdetermined estimation problem, where there are more unknown health parameters than available sensor measurements. A condition for Kalman filter-based estimation is that the number of health parameters estimated cannot exceed the number of sensed measurements. In this paper, the estimated health parameter vector will be replaced by a reduced order tuner vector whose dimension is equivalent to the sensed measurement vector. The reduced order tuner vector is systematically selected to minimize the theoretical mean squared estimation error of a maximum a posteriori estimator formulation. This paper derives theoretical estimation errors at steady-state operating conditions, and presents the tuner selection routine applied to minimize these values. Results from the application of the technique to an aircraft engine simulation are presented and compared to the estimation accuracy achieved through conventional maximum a posteriori and Kalman filter estimation approaches. Maximum a posteriori estimation results demonstrate that reduced order tuning parameter vectors can be found that approximate the accuracy of estimating all health parameters directly. Kalman filter estimation results based on the same reduced order tuning parameter vectors demonstrate that significantly improved estimation accuracy can be achieved over the conventional approach of selecting a subset of health parameters to serve as the tuner vector. However, additional development is necessary to fully extend the methodology to Kalman filter-based estimation applications.

Super-focusing of center-covered engineered microsphere.

PubMed

Wu, Mengxue; Chen, Rui; Soh, Jiahao; Shen, Yue; Jiao, Lishi; Wu, Jianfeng; Chen, Xudong; Ji, Rong; Hong, Minghui

2016-08-16

Engineered microsphere possesses the advantage of strong light manipulation at sub-wavelength scale and emerges as a promising candidate to shrink the focal spot size. Here we demonstrated a center-covered engineered microsphere which can adjust the transverse component of the incident beam and achieve a sharp photonic nanojet. Modification of the beam width and working distance of the photonic nanojet were achieved by tuning the cover ratio of the engineered microsphere, leading to a sharp spot size which exceeded the optical diffraction limit. At a wavelength of 633 nm, a focal spot of 245 nm (0.387 λ) was achieved experimentally under plane wave illumination. Strong localized field with Bessel-like distribution was demonstrated by employing the linearly polarized beam and a center-covered mask being engineered on the microsphere.

Super-focusing of center-covered engineered microsphere

PubMed Central

Wu, Mengxue; Chen, Rui; Soh, Jiahao; Shen, Yue; Jiao, Lishi; Wu, Jianfeng; Chen, Xudong; Ji, Rong; Hong, Minghui

2016-01-01

Engineered microsphere possesses the advantage of strong light manipulation at sub-wavelength scale and emerges as a promising candidate to shrink the focal spot size. Here we demonstrated a center-covered engineered microsphere which can adjust the transverse component of the incident beam and achieve a sharp photonic nanojet. Modification of the beam width and working distance of the photonic nanojet were achieved by tuning the cover ratio of the engineered microsphere, leading to a sharp spot size which exceeded the optical diffraction limit. At a wavelength of 633 nm, a focal spot of 245 nm (0.387 λ) was achieved experimentally under plane wave illumination. Strong localized field with Bessel-like distribution was demonstrated by employing the linearly polarized beam and a center-covered mask being engineered on the microsphere. PMID:27528093

Detection of gaseous oxygen using temperature tuned laser diodes

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Fox, Curtis W.; Disimile, Peter J.

1990-01-01

The development of an optical differential absorption technique using laser diodes is discussed. The technique is being developed as a solution to overcome the difficulties imposed by conventional liquid rocket propulsion system leak detection such as damage to the engine, cumbersome equipment, and excessive amounts of time. The detection of O2 at atmospheric pressure and temperature using laser diodes is demonstrated. Also, it is shown that, by temperature tuning the laser diode, the wavelength was shifted to a level where the oxygen absorption peaks are found. The levels of transmission determined via experimental means and those calculated from spectral data are found to be in close agreement.

Independent tuning of excitonic emission energy and decay time in single semiconductor quantum dots

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Höfer, B.; Zhang, J.; Wildmann, J.; Zallo, E.; Trotta, R.; Ding, F.; Rastelli, A.; Schmidt, O. G.

2017-04-01

Independent tuning of emission energy and decay time of neutral excitons confined in single self-assembled In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum dots is achieved by simultaneously employing vertical electric fields and lateral biaxial strain fields. By locking the emission energy via a closed-loop feedback on the piezoelectric actuator used to control the strain in the quantum dot, we continuously decrease the decay time of an exciton from 1.4 to 0.7 ns. Both perturbations are fully electrically controlled and their combination offers a promising route to engineer the indistinguishability of photons emitted from spatially separated single photon sources.

Tuned intake air inlet for a rotary engine

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Corbett, W.D.; Sheaffer, B.L.

This patent describes, in a rotary internal combustion engine, an improved assembly for providing a balanced flow of combustion air to the fuel supply inlet. It comprises: a plenum chamber attached to the engine block, the plenum chamber including an air inlet adapted to receive air from the cooling air exit passage and an air outlet for the discharge of air; and an outlet conduit connecting the air outlet and the fuel supply inlet. The conduit disposed to partially surround the plenum chamber to provide a conduit length substantially greater than the distance from the cooling air exit passage totmore » he fuel supply inlet.« less

Artwork visualization using a solid-state lighting engine with controlled photochemical safety.

PubMed

Tuzikas, Arūnas; Žukauskas, Artūras; Vaicekauksas, Rimantas; Petrulis, Andrius; Vitta, Pranciškus; Shur, Michael

2014-07-14

A concept of a solid-state lighting engine for artwork-specific illumination with controlled photochemical safety is introduced. The engine is based on a tetrachromatic cluster of colored light-emitting diodes wirelessly controlled via an external smart device. By using an instantaneous dimming functionality, the driving software allows for maintaining the damage irradiance relevant to a particular type of photosensitive artwork material at a constant value, while varying the chromaticity and color rendition properties of the generated light. The effect of the constant damage irradiance on the visual impression from artworks is demonstrated for the lighting engine operating in three modes, such as selecting color temperature, tuning color saturating ability, and shifting chromaticity outside white light locus, respectively.

A hybrid disturbance rejection control solution for variable valve timing system of gasoline engines.

PubMed

Xie, Hui; Song, Kang; He, Yu

2014-07-01

A novel solution for electro-hydraulic variable valve timing (VVT) system of gasoline engines is proposed, based on the concept of active disturbance rejection control (ADRC). Disturbances, such as oil pressure and engine speed variations, are all estimated and mitigated in real-time. A feed-forward controller was added to enhance the performance of the system based on a simple and static first principle model, forming a hybrid disturbance rejection control (HDRC) strategy. HDRC was validated by experimentation and compared with an existing manually tuned proportional-integral (PI) controller. The results show that HDRC provided a faster response and better tolerance of engine speed and oil pressure variations. © 2013 ISA Published by ISA All rights reserved.

PID Controller Settings Based on a Transient Response Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Silva, Carlos M.; Lito, Patricia F.; Neves, Patricia S.; Da Silva, Francisco A.

2008-01-01

An experimental work on controller tuning for chemical engineering undergraduate students is proposed using a small heat exchange unit. Based upon process reaction curves in open-loop configuration, system gain and time constant are determined for first order model with time delay with excellent accuracy. Afterwards students calculate PID…

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Guo, Wei; Reese, Cassandra M.; Xiong, Li

We report a simple route to engineer ultrathin polymer brush surfaces with wrinkled morphologies using postpolymerization modification (PPM), where the length scale of the buckled features can be tuned using PPM reaction time. Here, we show that partial crosslinking of the outer layer of the polymer brush under poor solvent conditions is critical to obtain wrinkled morphologies upon swelling.

Reprogramming cellular functions with engineered membrane proteins.

PubMed

Arber, Caroline; Young, Melvin; Barth, Patrick

2017-10-01

Taking inspiration from Nature, synthetic biology utilizes and modifies biological components to expand the range of biological functions for engineering new practical devices and therapeutics. While early breakthroughs mainly concerned the design of gene circuits, recent efforts have focused on engineering signaling pathways to reprogram cellular functions. Since signal transduction across cell membranes initiates and controls intracellular signaling, membrane receptors have been targeted by diverse protein engineering approaches despite limited mechanistic understanding of their function. The modular architecture of several receptor families has enabled the empirical construction of chimeric receptors combining domains from distinct native receptors which have found successful immunotherapeutic applications. Meanwhile, progress in membrane protein structure determination, computational modeling and rational design promise to foster the engineering of a broader range of membrane receptor functions. Marrying empirical and rational membrane protein engineering approaches should enable the reprogramming of cells with widely diverse fine-tuned functions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Progress in Metabolic Engineering of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

PubMed Central

Nevoigt, Elke

2008-01-01

Summary: The traditional use of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae in alcoholic fermentation has, over time, resulted in substantial accumulated knowledge concerning genetics, physiology, and biochemistry as well as genetic engineering and fermentation technologies. S. cerevisiae has become a platform organism for developing metabolic engineering strategies, methods, and tools. The current review discusses the relevance of several engineering strategies, such as rational and inverse metabolic engineering, evolutionary engineering, and global transcription machinery engineering, in yeast strain improvement. It also summarizes existing tools for fine-tuning and regulating enzyme activities and thus metabolic pathways. Recent examples of yeast metabolic engineering for food, beverage, and industrial biotechnology (bioethanol and bulk and fine chemicals) follow. S. cerevisiae currently enjoys increasing popularity as a production organism in industrial (“white”) biotechnology due to its inherent tolerance of low pH values and high ethanol and inhibitor concentrations and its ability to grow anaerobically. Attention is paid to utilizing lignocellulosic biomass as a potential substrate. PMID:18772282

Advanced online control mode selection for gas turbine aircraft engines

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wiseman, Matthew William

The modern gas turbine aircraft engine is a complex, highly nonlinear system the operates in a widely varying environment. Traditional engine control techniques based on the hydro mechanical control concepts of early turbojet engines are unable to deliver the performance required from today's advanced engine designs. A new type of advanced control utilizing multiple control modes and an online mode selector is investigated, and various strategies for improving the baseline mode selection architecture are introduced. The ability to five-tune actuator command outputs is added to the basic mode selection and blending process, and mode selection designs that we valid for the entire flight envelope are presented. Methods for optimizing the mode selector to improve overall engine performance are also discussed. Finally, using flight test data from a GE F110-powered F16 aircraft, the full-envelope mode selector designs are validated and shown to provide significant performance benefits. Specifically, thrust command tracking is enhanced while critical engine limits are protected, with very little impact on engine efficiency.

Comparative Analysis of Particle Swarm and Differential Evolution via Tuning on Ultrasmall Titanium Oxide Nanoclusters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Inclan, Eric; Lassester, Jack; Geohegan, David; Yoon, Mina

Optimization algorithms (OA) coupled with numerical methods enable researchers to identify and study (meta) stable nanoclusters without the control restrictions of empirical methods. An algorithm's performance is governed by two factors: (1) its compatibility with an objective function, (2) the dimension of a design space, which increases with cluster size. Although researchers often tune an algorithm's user-defined parameters (UDP), tuning is not guaranteed to improve performance. In this research, Particle Swarm (PSO) and Differential Evolution (DE), are compared by tuning their UDP in a multi-objective optimization environment (MOE). Combined with a Kolmogorov Smirnov test for statistical significance, the MOE enables the study of the Pareto Front (PF), made of the UDP settings that trade-off between best performance in energy minimization (``effectiveness'') based on force-field potential energy, and best convergence rate (``efficiency''). By studying the PF, this research finds that UDP values frequently suggested in the literature do not provide best effectiveness for these methods. Additionally, monotonic convergence is found to significantly improve efficiency without sacrificing effectiveness for very small systems, suggesting better compatibility. Work is supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Science, Basic Energy Sciences, Materials Sciences and Engineering Division.

Development of Tuning Fork Based Probes for Atomic Force Microscopy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jalilian, Romaneh; Yazdanpanah, Mehdi M.; Torrez, Neil; Alizadeh, Amirali; Askari, Davood

2014-03-01

This article reports on the development of tuning fork-based AFM/STM probes in NaugaNeedles LLC for use in atomic force microscopy. These probes can be mounted on different carriers per customers' request. (e.g., RHK carrier, Omicron carrier, and tuning fork on a Sapphire disk). We are able to design and engineer tuning forks on any type of carrier used in the market. We can attach three types of tips on the edge of a tuning fork prong (i.e., growing Ag2Ga nanoneedles at any arbitrary angle, cantilever of AFM tip, and tungsten wire) with lengths from 100-500 μm. The nanoneedle is located vertical to the fork. Using a suitable insulation and metallic coating, we can make QPlus sensors that can detect tunneling current during the AFM scan. To make Qplus sensors, the entire quartz fork will be coated with an insulating material, before attaching the nanoneedle. Then, the top edge of one prong is coated with a thin layer of conductive metal and the nanoneedle is attached to the fork end of the metal coated prong. The metal coating provides electrical connection to the tip for tunneling current readout and to the electrodes and used to read the QPlus current. Since the amount of mass added to the fork is minimal, the resonance frequency spectrum does not change and still remains around 32.6 KHz and the Q factor is around 1,200 in ambient condition. These probes can enhance the performance of tuning fork based atomic microscopy.

Selecting the Best: Evolutionary Engineering of Chemical Production in Microbes.

PubMed

Shepelin, Denis; Hansen, Anne Sofie Lærke; Lennen, Rebecca; Luo, Hao; Herrgård, Markus J

2018-05-11

Microbial cell factories have proven to be an economical means of production for many bulk, specialty, and fine chemical products. However, we still lack both a holistic understanding of organism physiology and the ability to predictively tune enzyme activities in vivo, thus slowing down rational engineering of industrially relevant strains. An alternative concept to rational engineering is to use evolution as the driving force to select for desired changes, an approach often described as evolutionary engineering. In evolutionary engineering, in vivo selections for a desired phenotype are combined with either generation of spontaneous mutations or some form of targeted or random mutagenesis. Evolutionary engineering has been used to successfully engineer easily selectable phenotypes, such as utilization of a suboptimal nutrient source or tolerance to inhibitory substrates or products. In this review, we focus primarily on a more challenging problem-the use of evolutionary engineering for improving the production of chemicals in microbes directly. We describe recent developments in evolutionary engineering strategies, in general, and discuss, in detail, case studies where production of a chemical has been successfully achieved through evolutionary engineering by coupling production to cellular growth.

Tuning of acyl-ACP thioesterase activity directed for tailored fatty acid synthesis.

PubMed

Feng, Yanbin; Zhang, Yunxiu; Wang, Yayue; Liu, Jiao; Liu, Yinghui; Cao, Xupeng; Xue, Song

2018-04-01

Medium-chain fatty acids have attracted significant attention as sources of biofuels in recent years. Acyl-ACP thioesterase, which is considered as the key enzyme to determine the carbon chain length, catalyzes the termination of de novo fatty acid synthesis. Although recombinant medium-chain acyl-ACP thioesterase (TE) affects the fatty acid profile in heterologous cells, tailoring of the fatty acid composition merely by engineering a specific TE is still intractable. In this study, the activity of a C8-C10-specific thioesterase FatB2 from Cuphea hookeriana on C10-ACP was quantified twice as high as that on C8-ACP based on a synthetic C8-C16 acyl-ACP pool in vitro. Whereas in vivo, it was demonstrated that ChFatB2 preferred to accumulate C8 fatty acids with 84.9% composition in the ChFatB2-engineered E. coli strain. To achieve C10 fatty acid production, ChFatB2 was rationally tuned based on structural investigation and enzymatic analysis. An I198E mutant was identified to redistribute the C8-ACP flow, resulting in C10 fatty acid being produced as the principal component at 57.6% of total fatty acids in vivo. It was demonstrated that the activity of TE relative to β-ketoacyl-ACP synthases (KAS) directly determined the fatty acid composition. Our results provide a prospective strategy in tailoring fatty acid synthesis by tuning of TE activities based on TE-ACP interaction.

Performance Engineering Research Institute SciDAC-2 Enabling Technologies Institute Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hall, Mary

2014-09-19

Enhancing the performance of SciDAC applications on petascale systems has high priority within DOE SC. As we look to the future, achieving expected levels of performance on high-end com-puting (HEC) systems is growing ever more challenging due to enormous scale, increasing archi-tectural complexity, and increasing application complexity. To address these challenges, PERI has implemented a unified, tripartite research plan encompassing: (1) performance modeling and prediction; (2) automatic performance tuning; and (3) performance engineering of high profile applications. The PERI performance modeling and prediction activity is developing and refining performance models, significantly reducing the cost of collecting the data upon whichmore » the models are based, and increasing model fidelity, speed and generality. Our primary research activity is automatic tuning (autotuning) of scientific software. This activity is spurred by the strong user preference for automatic tools and is based on previous successful activities such as ATLAS, which has automatically tuned components of the LAPACK linear algebra library, and other re-cent work on autotuning domain-specific libraries. Our third major component is application en-gagement, to which we are devoting approximately 30% of our effort to work directly with Sci-DAC-2 applications. This last activity not only helps DOE scientists meet their near-term per-formance goals, but also helps keep PERI research focused on the real challenges facing DOE computational scientists as they enter the Petascale Era.« less

An Ultra-Low Power Turning Angle Based Biomedical Signal Compression Engine with Adaptive Threshold Tuning

PubMed Central

Zhou, Jun; Wang, Chao

2017-01-01

Intelligent sensing is drastically changing our everyday life including healthcare by biomedical signal monitoring, collection, and analytics. However, long-term healthcare monitoring generates tremendous data volume and demands significant wireless transmission power, which imposes a big challenge for wearable healthcare sensors usually powered by batteries. Efficient compression engine design to reduce wireless transmission data rate with ultra-low power consumption is essential for wearable miniaturized healthcare sensor systems. This paper presents an ultra-low power biomedical signal compression engine for healthcare data sensing and analytics in the era of big data and sensor intelligence. It extracts the feature points of the biomedical signal by window-based turning angle detection. The proposed approach has low complexity and thus low power consumption while achieving a large compression ratio (CR) and good quality of reconstructed signal. Near-threshold design technique is adopted to further reduce the power consumption on the circuit level. Besides, the angle threshold for compression can be adaptively tuned according to the error between the original signal and reconstructed signal to address the variation of signal characteristics from person to person or from channel to channel to meet the required signal quality with optimal CR. For demonstration, the proposed biomedical compression engine has been used and evaluated for ECG compression. It achieves an average (CR) of 71.08% and percentage root-mean-square difference (PRD) of 5.87% while consuming only 39 nW. Compared to several state-of-the-art ECG compression engines, the proposed design has significantly lower power consumption while achieving similar CRD and PRD, making it suitable for long-term wearable miniaturized sensor systems to sense and collect healthcare data for remote data analytics. PMID:28783079

An Ultra-Low Power Turning Angle Based Biomedical Signal Compression Engine with Adaptive Threshold Tuning.

PubMed

Zhou, Jun; Wang, Chao

2017-08-06

Intelligent sensing is drastically changing our everyday life including healthcare by biomedical signal monitoring, collection, and analytics. However, long-term healthcare monitoring generates tremendous data volume and demands significant wireless transmission power, which imposes a big challenge for wearable healthcare sensors usually powered by batteries. Efficient compression engine design to reduce wireless transmission data rate with ultra-low power consumption is essential for wearable miniaturized healthcare sensor systems. This paper presents an ultra-low power biomedical signal compression engine for healthcare data sensing and analytics in the era of big data and sensor intelligence. It extracts the feature points of the biomedical signal by window-based turning angle detection. The proposed approach has low complexity and thus low power consumption while achieving a large compression ratio (CR) and good quality of reconstructed signal. Near-threshold design technique is adopted to further reduce the power consumption on the circuit level. Besides, the angle threshold for compression can be adaptively tuned according to the error between the original signal and reconstructed signal to address the variation of signal characteristics from person to person or from channel to channel to meet the required signal quality with optimal CR. For demonstration, the proposed biomedical compression engine has been used and evaluated for ECG compression. It achieves an average (CR) of 71.08% and percentage root-mean-square difference (PRD) of 5.87% while consuming only 39 nW. Compared to several state-of-the-art ECG compression engines, the proposed design has significantly lower power consumption while achieving similar CRD and PRD, making it suitable for long-term wearable miniaturized sensor systems to sense and collect healthcare data for remote data analytics.

Device Engineered Organic Transistors for Flexible Sensing Applications.

PubMed

Zang, Yaping; Huang, Dazhen; Di, Chong-An; Zhu, Daoben

2016-06-01

Organic thin-film transistors (OFETs) represent a promising candidate for next-generation sensing applications because of the intrinsic advantages of organic semiconductors. The development of flexible sensing devices has received particular interest in the past few years. The recent efforts of developing OFETs for sensitive and specific flexible sensors are summarized from the standpoint of device engineering. The tuning of signal transduction and signal amplification are highlighted based on an overview of active-layer thickness modulation, functional receptor implantation and device geometry optimization. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Natural and modified promoters for tailored metabolic engineering of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

PubMed

Hubmann, Georg; Thevelein, Johan M; Nevoigt, Elke

2014-01-01

The ease of highly sophisticated genetic manipulations in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has initiated numerous initiatives towards development of metabolically engineered strains for novel applications beyond its traditional use in brewing, baking, and wine making. In fact, baker's yeast has become a key cell factory for the production of various bulk and fine chemicals. Successful metabolic engineering requires fine-tuned adjustments of metabolic fluxes and coordination of multiple pathways within the cell. This has mostly been achieved by controlling gene expression at the transcriptional level, i.e., by using promoters with appropriate strengths and regulatory properties. Here we present an overview of natural and modified promoters, which have been used in metabolic pathway engineering of S. cerevisiae. Recent developments in creating promoters with tailor-made properties are also discussed.

Protein Engineering Towards Natural Product Synthesis and Diversification

PubMed Central

Zabala, Angelica O.; Cacho, Ralph A.; Tang, Yi

2014-01-01

A dazzling array of enzymes is used by nature in making structurally complex natural products. These enzymes constitute a molecular toolbox that may be used in the construction and fine-tuning of pharmaceutically active molecules. Aided by technological advancements in protein engineering, it is now possible to tailor the activities and specificities of these enzymes as biocatalysts in the production of both natural products and their unnatural derivatives. These efforts are crucial in drug discovery and development, where there is a continuous quest for more potent agents. Both rational and random evolution techniques have been utilized in engineering these enzymes. This review will highlight some examples from several large families of natural products. PMID:22006344

Engineering electrical properties of graphene: chemical approaches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Yong-Jin; Kim, Yuna; Novoselov, Konstantin; Hong, Byung Hee

2015-12-01

To ensure the high performance of graphene-based devices, it is necessary to engineer the electrical properties of graphene with enhanced conductivity, controlled work function, opened or closed bandgaps, etc. This can be performed by various non-covalent chemical approaches, including molecular adsorption, substrate-induced doping, polymerization on graphene, deposition of metallic thin films or nanoparticles, etc. In addition, covalent approaches such as the substitution of carbon atoms with boron or nitrogen and the functionalization with hydrogen or fluorine are useful to tune the bandgaps more efficiently, with better uniformity and stability. In this review, representative examples of chemically engineered graphene and its device applications will be reviewed, and remaining challenges will be discussed.

Tuning In to Dropping Out

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Tabarrok, Alex

2012-01-01

Over the past 25 years, the total number of students in college has increased by about 50 percent. But the number of students graduating with degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects has remained more or less constant. In 2009 the United States graduated 89,140 students in the visual and performing arts, more…

Defect engineering of UiO-66 for CO2 and H2O uptake - a combined experimental and simulation study.

PubMed

Liang, Weibin; Coghlan, Campbell J; Ragon, Florence; Rubio-Martinez, Marta; D'Alessandro, Deanna M; Babarao, Ravichandar

2016-03-21

Defect concentrations and their compensating groups have been systematically tuned within UiO-66 frameworks by using modified microwave-assisted solvothermal methods. Both of these factors have a pronounced effect on CO2 and H2O adsorption at low and high pressure.

A Tale of Two Masses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryan, Kurt

2011-01-01

This article presents an application of standard undergraduate ODE techniques to a modern engineering problem, that of using a tuned mass damper to control the vibration of a skyscraper. This material can be used in any ODE course in which the students have been familiarized with basic spring-mass models, resonance, and linear systems of ODEs.…

Engineers for Rural Development: Europe and Latin America Getting in Tune.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marechal, Gilles

The European program Amerique Latine-Formation Academique (ALFA) has provided 12 Latin-American and 10 European universities and colleges with a framework for creating an International Master in Rural Development. Globalization, regional integration, and sustainability have created a new set of questions for rural areas, both in Europe and in…

Tuning Optical Properties and Photocatalytic Activities of Carbon-based "Quantum Dots" Through their Surface Groups.

PubMed

Hu, Shengliang

2016-02-01

We report recent progress in tuning optical properties and photocatalytic activities of carbon-based quantum dots (carbon-based QDs) through their surface groups. It is increasingly clear that the properties of carbon-based QDs are more dependent on their surface groups than on their size. The present challenge remains as to how to control the type, number, and conformation of the heterogeneous groups on the surface of carbon-based QDs when considering their target applications. By reviewing the related achievements, this personal account aims to help us understand the roles different surface groups play in tuning the properties of carbon-based QDs. A number of significant accomplishments have demonstrated that surface groups possess strong power in engineering electronic structure and controlling photogenerated charge behaviors of carbon-based QDs. However, effective strategies for modifying carbon-based QDs with diverse heterogeneous groups are still needed. © 2015 The Chemical Society of Japan & Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Tuning Surface Electronic Configuration of NiFe LDHs Nanosheets by Introducing Cation Vacancies (Fe or Ni) as Highly Efficient Electrocatalysts for Oxygen Evolution Reaction.

PubMed

Wang, Yanyong; Qiao, Man; Li, Yafei; Wang, Shuangyin

2018-04-01

Intrinsically inferior electrocatalytic activity of NiFe layered double hydroxides (LDHs) nanosheets is considered as a limiting factor to inhibit the electrocatalytic properties for oxygen evolution reaction (OER). Proper defect engineering to tune the surface electronic configuration of electrocatalysts may significantly improve the intrinsic activity. In this work, the selective formation of cation vacancies in NiFe LDHs nanosheets is successfully realized. The as-synthesized NiFe LDHs-V Fe and NiFe LDHs-V Ni electrocatalysts show excellent activity for OER, mainly attributed to the introduction of rich iron or nickel vacancies in NiFe LDHs nanosheets, which efficiently tune the surface electronic structure increasing the adsorbing capacity of OER intermediates. Density functional theory (DFT) computational results also further indicate that the OER catalytic performance of NiFe LDHs can be pronouncedly improved by introducing Fe or Ni vacancies. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Fine-tuning convolutional deep features for MRI based brain tumor classification

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ahmed, Kaoutar B.; Hall, Lawrence O.; Goldgof, Dmitry B.; Liu, Renhao; Gatenby, Robert A.

2017-03-01

Prediction of survival time from brain tumor magnetic resonance images (MRI) is not commonly performed and would ordinarily be a time consuming process. However, current cross-sectional imaging techniques, particularly MRI, can be used to generate many features that may provide information on the patient's prognosis, including survival. This information can potentially be used to identify individuals who would benefit from more aggressive therapy. Rather than using pre-defined and hand-engineered features as with current radiomics methods, we investigated the use of deep features extracted from pre-trained convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in predicting survival time. We also provide evidence for the power of domain specific fine-tuning in improving the performance of a pre-trained CNN's, even though our data set is small. We fine-tuned a CNN initially trained on a large natural image recognition dataset (Imagenet ILSVRC) and transferred the learned feature representations to the survival time prediction task, obtaining over 81% accuracy in a leave one out cross validation.

Advanced Controller Developed for the Free-Piston Stirling Convertor

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gerber, Scott S.

2005-01-01

A free-piston Stirling power convertor is being considered as an advanced power-conversion technology for future NASA deep-space missions requiring long-life radioisotope power systems. The NASA Glenn Research Center has identified key areas where advanced technologies can enhance the capability of Stirling energy-conversion systems. One of these is power electronic controls. Current power-conversion technology for Glenn-tested Stirling systems consists of an engine-driven linear alternator generating an alternating-current voltage controlled by a tuning-capacitor-based alternating-current peak voltage load controller. The tuning capacitor keeps the internal alternator electromotive force (EMF) in phase with its respective current (i.e., passive power factor correction). The alternator EMF is related to the piston velocity, which must be kept in phase with the alternator current in order to achieve stable operation. This tuning capacitor, which adds volume and mass to the overall Stirling convertor, can be eliminated if the controller can actively drive the magnitude and phase of the alternator current.

Band Gap Engineering with Ultralarge Biaxial Strains in Suspended Monolayer MoS2.

PubMed

Lloyd, David; Liu, Xinghui; Christopher, Jason W; Cantley, Lauren; Wadehra, Anubhav; Kim, Brian L; Goldberg, Bennett B; Swan, Anna K; Bunch, J Scott

2016-09-14

We demonstrate the continuous and reversible tuning of the optical band gap of suspended monolayer MoS2 membranes by as much as 500 meV by applying very large biaxial strains. By using chemical vapor deposition (CVD) to grow crystals that are highly impermeable to gas, we are able to apply a pressure difference across suspended membranes to induce biaxial strains. We observe the effect of strain on the energy and intensity of the peaks in the photoluminescence (PL) spectrum and find a linear tuning rate of the optical band gap of 99 meV/%. This method is then used to study the PL spectra of bilayer and trilayer devices under strain and to find the shift rates and Grüneisen parameters of two Raman modes in monolayer MoS2. Finally, we use this result to show that we can apply biaxial strains as large as 5.6% across micron-sized areas and report evidence for the strain tuning of higher level optical transitions.

Irradiated three-dimensional Luttinger semimetal: A factory for engineering Weyl semimetals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghorashi, Sayed Ali Akbar; Hosur, Pavan; Ting, Chin-Sen

2018-05-01

We study the interaction between elliptically polarized light and a three-dimensional Luttinger semimetal with quadratic band touching using Floquet theory. In the absence of light, the touching bands can have the same or the opposite signs of the curvature; in each case, we show that simply tuning the light parameters allows us to create a zoo of Weyl semimetallic phases. In particular, we find that double- and single-Weyl points can coexist at different energies, and they can be tuned to be type I or type II. We also find an unusual phase transition, in which a pair of Weyl nodes form at finite momentum and disappear off to infinity. Considering the broad tunability of light and abundance of materials described by the Luttinger Hamiltonian, such as certain pyrochlore iridates, half-Heuslers, and zinc-blende semiconductors, we believe this work can lay the foundation for creating Weyl semimetals in the laboratory and dynamically tuning between them.

Aircraft engine-mounted camera system for long wavelength infrared imaging of in-service thermal barrier coated turbine blades

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Markham, James; Cosgrove, Joseph; Scire, James; Haldeman, Charles; Agoos, Ian

2014-12-01

This paper announces the implementation of a long wavelength infrared camera to obtain high-speed thermal images of an aircraft engine's in-service thermal barrier coated turbine blades. Long wavelength thermal images were captured of first-stage blades. The achieved temporal and spatial resolutions allowed for the identification of cooling-hole locations. The software and synchronization components of the system allowed for the selection of any blade on the turbine wheel, with tuning capability to image from leading edge to trailing edge. Its first application delivered calibrated thermal images as a function of turbine rotational speed at both steady state conditions and during engine transients. In advance of presenting these data for the purpose of understanding engine operation, this paper focuses on the components of the system, verification of high-speed synchronized operation, and the integration of the system with the commercial jet engine test bed.

Aircraft engine-mounted camera system for long wavelength infrared imaging of in-service thermal barrier coated turbine blades.

PubMed

Markham, James; Cosgrove, Joseph; Scire, James; Haldeman, Charles; Agoos, Ian

2014-12-01

This paper announces the implementation of a long wavelength infrared camera to obtain high-speed thermal images of an aircraft engine's in-service thermal barrier coated turbine blades. Long wavelength thermal images were captured of first-stage blades. The achieved temporal and spatial resolutions allowed for the identification of cooling-hole locations. The software and synchronization components of the system allowed for the selection of any blade on the turbine wheel, with tuning capability to image from leading edge to trailing edge. Its first application delivered calibrated thermal images as a function of turbine rotational speed at both steady state conditions and during engine transients. In advance of presenting these data for the purpose of understanding engine operation, this paper focuses on the components of the system, verification of high-speed synchronized operation, and the integration of the system with the commercial jet engine test bed.

TOPICAL REVIEW: Progress in engineering high strain lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leontsev, Serhiy O.; Eitel, Richard E.

2010-08-01

Environmental concerns are strongly driving the need to replace the lead-based piezoelectric materials currently employed as multilayer actuators. The current review describes both compositional and structural engineering approaches to achieve enhanced piezoelectric properties in lead-free materials. The review of the compositional engineering approach focuses on compositional tuning of the properties and phase behavior in three promising families of lead-free perovskite ferroelectrics: the titanate, alkaline niobate and bismuth perovskites and their solid solutions. The 'structural engineering' approaches focus instead on optimization of microstructural features including grain size, grain orientation or texture, ferroelectric domain size and electrical bias field as potential paths to induce large piezoelectric properties in lead-free piezoceramics. It is suggested that a combination of both compositional and novel structural engineering approaches will be required in order to realize viable lead-free alternatives to current lead-based materials for piezoelectric actuator applications.

Development and modification of a single overhead camshaft 4-valve 4-stroke 135 cc formula varsity race car engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abdullah, M. A.; Tamaldin, N.; Rusnandi, H.; Manoharan, T.; Samsir, M. A.

2013-12-01

The engine that was chosen to be developed and modified is Yamaha LC 135 Single Overhead Camshaft (SOHC) 4-valve 4-stroke 135cc liquid-cooled engine. The engine selection is based on the specification, rule and regulation in UTeM Formula Varsity 2012 (FV 2012). The engine performance is determined by engine operating characteristics. The engine air flow affects the filtration, intake and exhaust systems. The heat from the engine rejected to the surrounding through the active cooling system which has radiator and fan. The selection of the engine is based on weighted decision matrix which consists of reliability, operating and maintenance cost, fuel consumption and weight. The score of the matrix is formulated based on relative weighted factor among the selections. It been compared between Yamaha LC 135 Single Overhead Camshaft (SOHC) 4-valve 4-stroke 135cc liquid-cooled engine, Honda Wave 125 X Air Cooled, 4 Cycle Engine Overhead Camshaft (OHC) and Suzuki Shogun RR 4 stroke air cooled Single Overhead Camshaft (SOHC). The modification is applied to the engine through the simulation and tuning of Capacitor Discharge Ignition (CDI).

Metabolic engineering of Clostridium cellulolyticum for the production of n-butanol from crystalline cellulose.

PubMed

Gaida, Stefan Marcus; Liedtke, Andrea; Jentges, Andreas Heinz Wilhelm; Engels, Benedikt; Jennewein, Stefan

2016-01-13

Sustainable alternatives for the production of fuels and chemicals are needed to reduce our dependency on fossil resources and to avoid the negative impact of their excessive use on the global climate. Lignocellulosic feedstock from agricultural residues, energy crops and municipal solid waste provides an abundant and carbon-neutral alternative, but it is recalcitrant towards microbial degradation and must therefore undergo extensive pretreatment to release the monomeric sugar units used by biofuel-producing microbes. These pretreatment steps can be reduced by using microbes such as Clostridium cellulolyticum that naturally digest lignocellulose, but this limits the range of biofuels that can be produced. We therefore developed a metabolic engineering approach in C. cellulolyticum to expand its natural product spectrum and to fine tune the engineered metabolic pathways. Here we report the metabolic engineering of C. cellulolyticum to produce n-butanol, a next-generation biofuel and important chemical feedstock, directly from crystalline cellulose. We introduced the CoA-dependent pathway for n-butanol synthesis from C. acetobutylicum and measured the expression of functional enzymes (using targeted proteomics) and the abundance of metabolic intermediates (by LC-MS/MS) to identify potential bottlenecks in the n-butanol biosynthesis pathway. We achieved yields of 40 and 120 mg/L n-butanol from cellobiose and crystalline cellulose, respectively, after cultivating the bacteria for 6 and 20 days. The analysis of enzyme activities and key intracellular metabolites provides a robust framework to determine the metabolic flux through heterologous pathways in C. cellulolyticum, allowing further improvements by fine tuning individual steps to improve the yields of n-butanol.

Verification and Tuning of an Adaptive Controller for an Unmanned Air Vehicle

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crespo, Luis G.; Matsutani, Megumi; Annaswamy, Anuradha M.

2010-01-01

This paper focuses on the analysis and tuning of a controller based on the Adaptive Control Technology for Safe Flight (ACTS) architecture. The ACTS architecture consists of a nominal, non-adaptive controller that provides satisfactory performance under nominal flying conditions, and an adaptive controller that provides robustness under off-nominal ones. A framework unifying control verification and gain tuning is used to make the controller s ability to satisfy the closed-loop requirements more robust to uncertainty. In this paper we tune the gains of both controllers using this approach. Some advantages and drawbacks of adaptation are identified by performing a global robustness assessment of both the adaptive controller and its non-adaptive counterpart. The analyses used to determine these characteristics are based on evaluating the degradation in closed-loop performance resulting from uncertainties having increasing levels of severity. The specific adverse conditions considered can be grouped into three categories: aerodynamic uncertainties, structural damage, and actuator failures. These failures include partial and total loss of control effectiveness, locked-in-place control surface deflections, and engine out conditions. The requirements considered are the peak structural loading, the ability of the controller to track pilot commands, the ability of the controller to keep the aircraft s state within the reliable flight envelope, and the handling/riding qualities of the aircraft. The nominal controller resulting from these tuning strategies was successfully validated using the NASA GTM Flight Test Vehicle.

Application of a Constant Gain Extended Kalman Filter for In-Flight Estimation of Aircraft Engine Performance Parameters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kobayashi, Takahisa; Simon, Donald L.; Litt, Jonathan S.

2005-01-01

An approach based on the Constant Gain Extended Kalman Filter (CGEKF) technique is investigated for the in-flight estimation of non-measurable performance parameters of aircraft engines. Performance parameters, such as thrust and stall margins, provide crucial information for operating an aircraft engine in a safe and efficient manner, but they cannot be directly measured during flight. A technique to accurately estimate these parameters is, therefore, essential for further enhancement of engine operation. In this paper, a CGEKF is developed by combining an on-board engine model and a single Kalman gain matrix. In order to make the on-board engine model adaptive to the real engine s performance variations due to degradation or anomalies, the CGEKF is designed with the ability to adjust its performance through the adjustment of artificial parameters called tuning parameters. With this design approach, the CGEKF can maintain accurate estimation performance when it is applied to aircraft engines at offnominal conditions. The performance of the CGEKF is evaluated in a simulation environment using numerous component degradation and fault scenarios at multiple operating conditions.

MicroRNAs in liver tissue engineering - New promises for failing organs.

PubMed

Raschzok, Nathanael; Sallmon, Hannes; Pratschke, Johann; Sauer, Igor M

2015-07-01

miRNA-based technologies provide attractive tools for several liver tissue engineering approaches. Herein, we review the current state of miRNA applications in liver tissue engineering. Several miRNAs have been implicated in hepatic disease and proper hepatocyte function. However, the clinical translation of these findings into tissue engineering has just begun. miRNAs have been successfully used to induce proliferation of mature hepatocytes and improve the differentiation of hepatic precursor cells. Nonetheless, miRNA-based approaches beyond cell generation have not yet entered preclinical or clinical investigations. Moreover, miRNA-based concepts for the biliary tree have yet to be developed. Further research on miRNA based modifications, however, holds the promise of enabling significant improvements to liver tissue engineering approaches due to their ability to regulate and fine-tune all biological processes relevant to hepatic tissue engineering, such as proliferation, differentiation, growth, and cell function. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Time for a Tune-Up: Comprehensive Curriculum Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Meyers, Lisa H.

2005-01-01

How important is a high-quality curriculum? A school without a quality curriculum is like a car without an engine--neither goes anywhere. One responsibility of a school administrator is to ensure that quality curriculum is designed, adopted, and implemented. The No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) has focused the attention of an entire nation on the…

Research on spectroscopic imaging. Volume 1: Technical discussion. [birefringent filters

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Title, A.; Rosenberg, W.

1979-01-01

The principals of operation and the capabilities of birefringent filters systems are examined. Topics covered include: Lyot, Solc, and partial polarizer filters; transmission profile management; tuning birefringent filters; field of view; bandpass control; engineering considerations; and recommendations. Improvements for field of view effects, and the development of birefringent filters for spaceflight are discussed in appendices.

Tuning the Engine of Cognition: A Focus on NMDA/D1 Receptor Interactions in Prefrontal Cortex

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Castner, Stacy A.; Williams, Graham V.

2007-01-01

The prefrontal cortex of the primate frontal lobes provides the capacity for judgment which can constantly adapt behavior in order to optimize its outcome. Adjudicating between long-term memory programs and prepotent responses, this capacity reviews all incoming information and provides an interpretation dependent on the events that have just…

Si photonics technology for future optical interconnection

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Xuezhe; Krishnamoorthy, Ashok V.

2011-12-01

Scaling of computing systems require ultra-efficient interconnects with large bandwidth density. Silicon photonics offers a disruptive solution with advantages in reach, energy efficiency and bandwidth density. We review our progress in developing building blocks for ultra-efficient WDM silicon photonic links. Employing microsolder based hybrid integration with low parasitics and high density, we optimize photonic devices on SOI platforms and VLSI circuits on more advanced bulk CMOS technology nodes independently. Progressively, we successfully demonstrated single channel hybrid silicon photonic transceivers at 5 Gbps and 10 Gbps, and 80 Gbps arrayed WDM silicon photonic transceiver using reverse biased depletion ring modulators and Ge waveguide photo detectors. Record-high energy efficiency of less than 100fJ/bit and 385 fJ/bit were achieved for the hybrid integrated transmitter and receiver, respectively. Waveguide grating based optical proximity couplers were developed with low loss and large optical bandwidth to enable multi-layer intra/inter-chip optical interconnects. Thermal engineering of WDM devices by selective substrate removal, together with WDM link using synthetic wavelength comb, we significantly improved the device tuning efficiency and reduced the tuning range. Using these innovative techniques, two orders of magnitude tuning power reduction was achieved. And tuning cost of only a few 10s of fJ/bit is expected for high data rate WDM silicon photonic links.

Antenna Linear-Quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) Controllers: Properties, Limits of Performance, and Tuning Procedure

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gawronski, W.

2004-01-01

Wind gusts are the main disturbances that depreciate tracking precision of microwave antennas and radiotelescopes. The linear-quadratic-Gaussian (LQG) controllers - as compared with the proportional-and-integral (PI) controllers significantly improve the tracking precision in wind disturbances. However, their properties have not been satisfactorily understood; consequently, their tuning is a trial-and-error process. A control engineer has two tools to tune an LQG controller: the choice of coordinate system of the controller model and the selection of weights of the LQG performance index. This article analyzes properties of an open- and closed-loop antenna. It shows that the proper choice of coordinates of the open-loop model simplifies the shaping of the closed-loop performance. The closed-loop properties are influenced by the LQG weights. The article shows the impact of the weights on the antenna closed-loop bandwidth, disturbance rejection properties, and antenna acceleration. The bandwidth and the disturbance rejection characterize the antenna performance, while the acceleration represents the performance limit set by the antenna hardware (motors). The article presents the controller tuning procedure, based on the coordinate selection and the weight properties. The procedure rationally shapes the closed-loop performance, as an alternative to the trial-and-error approach.

Vibration reduction in a tilting rotor using centrifugal pendulum vibration absorbers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Chengzhi; Shaw, Steven W.; Parker, Robert G.

2016-12-01

This paper investigates vibration reduction in a rigid rotor with tilting, rotational, and translational motions using centrifugal pendulum vibration absorbers (CPVAs). A linearized vibration model is derived for the system consisting of the rotor and multiple sets of absorbers tuned to different orders. Each group of absorbers lies in a given plane perpendicular to the rotor rotation axis. Gyroscopic system modal analysis is applied to derive the steady-state response of the absorbers and the rotor to external, rotor-order, periodic forces and torques with frequency mΩ, where Ω is the mean rotor speed and m is the engine order (rotor-order). It is found that an absorber group with tuning order m is effective at reducing the rotor translational, tilting, and rotational vibrations, provided certain conditions are met. When the periodic force and torque are caused by N substructures that are equally spaced around the rotor, the rotor translational and tilting vibrations at order j are addressed by two absorber groups with tuning orders jN±1. In this case, the rotor rotational vibration at order j can be attenuated by an absorber group with tuning order jN. The results show how the response depends on the load amplitudes and order, the rotor speed, and design parameters associated with the sets of absorbers, most importantly, their tuning, mass, and plane of placement. In the ideal case with zero damping and exact tuning of the absorber sets, the vibrations can be eliminated for a range of loads over which the linearized model holds. The response for systems with detuned absorbers is also determined, which is relevant to applications where small detuning is employed due to robustness issues, and to allow for a larger range of operating loads over which the absorbers are effective. The system also exhibits undesirable resonances very close to these tuning conditions, an issue that is difficult to resolve and deserves further investigation.

Digital Plasmonic Patterning for Localized Tuning of Hydrogel Stiffness.

PubMed

Hribar, Kolin C; Choi, Yu Suk; Ondeck, Matthew; Engler, Adam J; Chen, Shaochen

2014-08-20

The mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) can dictate cell fate in biological systems. In tissue engineering, varying the stiffness of hydrogels-water-swollen polymeric networks that act as ECM substrates-has previously been demonstrated to control cell migration, proliferation, and differentiation. Here, "digital plasmonic patterning" (DPP) is developed to mechanically alter a hydrogel encapsulated with gold nanorods using a near-infrared laser, according to a digital (computer-generated) pattern. DPP can provide orders of magnitude changes in stiffness, and can be tuned by laser intensity and speed of writing. In vitro cellular experiments using A7R5 smooth muscle cells confirm cell migration and alignment according to these patterns, making DPP a useful technique for mechanically patterning hydrogels for various biomedical applications.

A practical guide to the Piccolo autopilot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mornhinweg, Anton

In support of a UAV contract the Piccolo SL and Piccolo II autopilots were installed and operated on various aircraft. Numerous problems with the autopilot setup and analysis processes were found along with numerous problems with documentation and autopilot system information. Major areas of concern are identified along with objectives to eliminate the major areas of concern. Piccolo simulator vehicle gain calculations and Piccolo generation 2 version 2.1.4 control laws are reverse engineered. A complete modeling guide is created. Methods are developed to perform and analyze doublet maneuvers. A series of flight procedures are outlined that include methods for tuning gains. A series of MATLAB graphical user interfaces were created to analyze flight data and pertinent control loop data for gain tuning.

Engineering building blocks for self-assembling protein nanoparticles

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Like natural viruses, manmade protein cages for drug delivery are to be ideally formed by repetitive subunits with self-assembling properties, mimicking viral functions and molecular organization. Naturally formed nanostructures (such as viruses, flagella or simpler protein oligomers) can be engineered to acquire specific traits of interest in biomedicine, for instance through the addition of cell targeting agents for desired biodistribution and specific delivery of associated drugs. However, fully artificial constructs would be highly desirable regarding finest tuning and adaptation to precise therapeutic purposes. Although engineering of protein assembling is still in its infancy, arising principles and promising strategies of protein manipulation point out the rational construction of nanoscale protein cages as a feasible concept, reachable through conventional recombinant DNA technologies and microbial protein production. PMID:21192790

Regulatory RNA-assisted genome engineering in microorganisms.

PubMed

Si, Tong; HamediRad, Mohammad; Zhao, Huimin

2015-12-01

Regulatory RNAs are increasingly recognized and utilized as key modulators of gene expression in diverse organisms. Thanks to their modular and programmable nature, trans-acting regulatory RNAs are especially attractive in genome-scale applications. Here we discuss the recent examples in microbial genome engineering implementing various trans-acting RNA platforms, including sRNA, RNAi, asRNA and CRISRP-Cas. In particular, we focus on how the scalable and multiplex nature of trans-acting RNAs has been used to tackle the challenges in creating genome-wide and combinatorial diversity for functional genomics and metabolic engineering applications. Advances in computational design and context-dependent regulation are also discussed for their contribution in improving fine-tuning capabilities of trans-acting RNAs. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Load compensation in a lean burn natural gas vehicle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gangopadhyay, Anupam

A new multivariable PI tuning technique is developed in this research that is primarily developed for regulation purposes. Design guidelines are developed based on closed-loop stability. The new multivariable design is applied in a natural gas vehicle to combine idle and A/F ratio control loops. This results in better recovery during low idle operation of a vehicle under external step torques. A powertrain model of a natural gas engine is developed and validated for steady-state and transient operation. The nonlinear model has three states: engine speed, intake manifold pressure and fuel fraction in the intake manifold. The model includes the effect of fuel partial pressure in the intake manifold filling and emptying dynamics. Due to the inclusion of fuel fraction as a state, fuel flow rate into the cylinders is also accurately modeled. A linear system identification is performed on the nonlinear model. The linear model structure is predicted analytically from the nonlinear model and the coefficients of the predicted transfer function are shown to be functions of key physical parameters in the plant. Simulations of linear system and model parameter identification is shown to converge to the predicted values of the model coefficients. The multivariable controller developed in this research could be designed in an algebraic fashion once the plant model is known. It is thus possible to implement the multivariable PI design in an adaptive fashion combining the controller with identified plant model on-line. This will result in a self-tuning regulator (STR) type controller where the underlying design criteria is the multivariable tuning technique designed in this research.

Chemically engineered persistent luminescence nanoprobes for bioimaging

PubMed Central

Lécuyer, Thomas; Teston, Eliott; Ramirez-Garcia, Gonzalo; Maldiney, Thomas; Viana, Bruno; Seguin, Johanne; Mignet, Nathalie; Scherman, Daniel; Richard, Cyrille

2016-01-01

Imaging nanoprobes are a group of nanosized agents developed for providing improved contrast for bioimaging. Among various imaging probes, optical sensors capable of following biological events or progresses at the cellular and molecular levels are actually actively developed for early detection, accurate diagnosis, and monitoring of the treatment of diseases. The optical activities of nanoprobes can be tuned on demand by chemists by engineering their composition, size and surface nature. This review will focus on researches devoted to the conception of nanoprobes with particular optical properties, called persistent luminescence, and their use as new powerful bioimaging agents in preclinical assays. PMID:27877248

Prospects for engineering dynamic CRISPR-Cas transcriptional circuits to improve bioproduction.

PubMed

Fontana, Jason; Voje, William E; Zalatan, Jesse G; Carothers, James M

2018-05-08

Dynamic control of gene expression is emerging as an important strategy for controlling flux in metabolic pathways and improving bioproduction of valuable compounds. Integrating dynamic genetic control tools with CRISPR-Cas transcriptional regulation could significantly improve our ability to fine-tune the expression of multiple endogenous and heterologous genes according to the state of the cell. In this mini-review, we combine an analysis of recent literature with examples from our own work to discuss the prospects and challenges of developing dynamically regulated CRISPR-Cas transcriptional control systems for applications in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering.

Decorating an individual living cell with a shell of controllable thickness by cytocompatible surface initiated graft polymerization.

PubMed

Wang, Guan; Zhang, Kai; Wang, Yindian; Zhao, Changwen; He, Bin; Ma, Yuhong; Yang, Wantai

2018-05-03

Surface engineering of individual living cells is a promising field for cell-based applications. However, engineering individual cells with controllable thickness by chemical methods has been rarely studied. This article describes the development of a new cytocompatible chemical strategy to decorate individual living cells. The thicknesses of the crosslinked shells could be conveniently controlled by the irradiation time, visible light intensity, or monomer concentration. Moreover, the lag phase of the yeast cell division was extended and their stability against lysis was improved, which could also be tuned by controlling the shell thickness.

Efficient quantum state transfer in an engineered chain of quantum bits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sandberg, Martin; Knill, Emanuel; Kapit, Eliot; Vissers, Michael R.; Pappas, David P.

2016-03-01

We present a method of performing quantum state transfer in a chain of superconducting quantum bits. Our protocol is based on engineering the energy levels of the qubits in the chain and tuning them all simultaneously with an external flux bias. The system is designed to allow sequential adiabatic state transfers, resulting in on-demand quantum state transfer from one end of the chain to the other. Numerical simulations of the master equation using realistic parameters for capacitive nearest-neighbor coupling, energy relaxation, and dephasing show that fast, high-fidelity state transfer should be feasible using this method.

Model-Based Control of an Aircraft Engine using an Optimal Tuner Approach

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Connolly, Joseph W.; Chicatelli, Amy; Garg, Sanjay

2012-01-01

This paper covers the development of a model-based engine control (MBEC) method- ology applied to an aircraft turbofan engine. Here, a linear model extracted from the Commercial Modular Aero-Propulsion System Simulation 40,000 (CMAPSS40k) at a cruise operating point serves as the engine and the on-board model. The on-board model is up- dated using an optimal tuner Kalman Filter (OTKF) estimation routine, which enables the on-board model to self-tune to account for engine performance variations. The focus here is on developing a methodology for MBEC with direct control of estimated parameters of interest such as thrust and stall margins. MBEC provides the ability for a tighter control bound of thrust over the entire life cycle of the engine that is not achievable using traditional control feedback, which uses engine pressure ratio or fan speed. CMAPSS40k is capable of modeling realistic engine performance, allowing for a verification of the MBEC tighter thrust control. In addition, investigations of using the MBEC to provide a surge limit for the controller limit logic are presented that could provide benefits over a simple acceleration schedule that is currently used in engine control architectures.

Manufacturing of hydrogel biomaterials with controlled mechanical properties for tissue engineering applications.

PubMed

Vedadghavami, Armin; Minooei, Farnaz; Mohammadi, Mohammad Hossein; Khetani, Sultan; Rezaei Kolahchi, Ahmad; Mashayekhan, Shohreh; Sanati-Nezhad, Amir

2017-10-15

Hydrogels have been recognized as crucial biomaterials in the field of tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and drug delivery applications due to their specific characteristics. These biomaterials benefit from retaining a large amount of water, effective mass transfer, similarity to natural tissues and the ability to form different shapes. However, having relatively poor mechanical properties is a limiting factor associated with hydrogel biomaterials. Controlling the biomechanical properties of hydrogels is of paramount importance. In this work, firstly, mechanical characteristics of hydrogels and methods employed for characterizing these properties are explored. Subsequently, the most common approaches used for tuning mechanical properties of hydrogels including but are not limited to, interpenetrating polymer networks, nanocomposites, self-assembly techniques, and co-polymerization are discussed. The performance of different techniques used for tuning biomechanical properties of hydrogels is further compared. Such techniques involve lithography techniques for replication of tissues with complex mechanical profiles; microfluidic techniques applicable for generating gradients of mechanical properties in hydrogel biomaterials for engineering complex human tissues like intervertebral discs, osteochondral tissues, blood vessels and skin layers; and electrospinning techniques for synthesis of hybrid hydrogels and highly ordered fibers with tunable mechanical and biological properties. We finally discuss future perspectives and challenges for controlling biomimetic hydrogel materials possessing proper biomechanical properties. Hydrogels biomaterials are essential constituting components of engineered tissues with the applications in regenerative medicine and drug delivery. The mechanical properties of hydrogels play crucial roles in regulating the interactions between cells and extracellular matrix and directing the cells phenotype and genotype. Despite significant advances in developing methods and techniques with the ability of tuning the biomechanical properties of hydrogels, there are still challenges regarding the synthesis of hydrogels with complex mechanical profiles as well as limitations in vascularization and patterning of complex structures of natural tissues which barricade the production of sophisticated organs. Therefore, in addition to a review on advanced methods and techniques for measuring a variety of different biomechanical characteristics of hydrogels, the new techniques for enhancing the biomechanics of hydrogels are presented. It is expected that this review will profit future works for regulating the biomechanical properties of hydrogel biomaterials to satisfy the demands of a variety of different human tissues. Copyright © 2017 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

USSR Report, Electronics and Electrical Engineering, No. 102

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-04-29

S. IAbstract] The laser probing method is applied to measurement of absorption , transmission, and reflection coefficients, also insertion losses...electronic clock. The method of measurements is based on absorption of monochromatic radiation from the lasers, the latter being tuned to the fine...Acoustic-Wave Transducer by Laser Probing Method (A. B. Voroshnin, G. S. Felinskiy; IZVESTIYA VYSSHIKH UCHEBNYKH ZAVEDENIY: RADIOELEKTRONIKA, Dec 82

Build a Band Hands-on Challenge: Investigate Sound with PBS's "Design Squad Nation"[TM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Feinberg, Lauren

2010-01-01

This article describes "Build a Band" hands-on activity from "Design Squad Nation," which allows kids to use simple materials to build a four-stringed instrument, then tune it and play a song. Kids explore frequency, pitch, and sound energy while following the steps of the engineering design process. By weaving "Design Squad Nation" episodes,…

Buckling Instabilities in Polymer Brush Surfaces via Postpolymerization Modification

DOE PAGES

Guo, Wei; Reese, Cassandra M.; Xiong, Li; ...

2017-10-30

We report a simple route to engineer ultrathin polymer brush surfaces with wrinkled morphologies using postpolymerization modification (PPM), where the length scale of the buckled features can be tuned using PPM reaction time. Here, we show that partial crosslinking of the outer layer of the polymer brush under poor solvent conditions is critical to obtain wrinkled morphologies upon swelling.

Controlling the cell adhesion property of silk films by graft polymerization.

PubMed

Dhyani, Vartika; Singh, Neetu

2014-04-09

We report here a graft polymerization method to improve the cell adhesion property of Bombyx mori silk fibroin films. B. mori silk has evolved as a promising material for tissue engineering because of its biocompatibility and biodegradability. However, silk's hydrophobic character makes cell adhesion and proliferation difficult. Also, the lack of sufficient reactive amino acid residues makes biofunctionalization via chemical modification challenging. Our study describes a simple method that provides increased chemical handles for tuning of the surface chemistry of regenerated silk films (SFs), thus allowing manipulation of their bioactivity. By grafting pAAc and pHEMA via plasma etching, we have increased carboxylic acid and hydroxyl groups on silk, respectively. These modifications allowed us to tune the hydrophilicity of SFs and provide functional groups for bioconjugation. Our strategy also allowed us to develop silk-based surface coatings, where spatial control over cell adhesion can be achieved. This control over cell adhesion in a particular region of the SFs is difficult to obtain via existing methods of modifying the silk fibroin instead of the SF surface. Thus, our strategy will be a valuable addition to the toolkit of biofunctionalization for enhancing SFs' tissue engineering applications.

An improved design method of a tuned mass damper for an in-service footbridge

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shi, Weixing; Wang, Liangkun; Lu, Zheng

2018-03-01

Tuned mass damper (TMD) has a wide range of applications in the vibration control of footbridges. However, the traditional engineering design method may lead to a mistuned TMD. In this paper, an improved TMD design method based on the model updating is proposed. Firstly, the original finite element model (FEM) is studied and the natural characteristics of the in-service or newly built footbridge is identified by field test, and then the original FEM is updated. TMD is designed according to the new updated FEM, and it is optimized according to the simulation on vibration control effects. Finally, the installation and field measurement of TMD are carried out. The improved design method can be applied to both in-service and newly built footbridges. This paper illustrates the improved design method with an engineering example. The frequency identification results of field test and original FEM show that there is a relatively large difference between them. The TMD designed according to the updated FEM has better vibration control effect than the TMD designed according to the original FEM. The site test results show that TMD has good effect on controlling human-induced vibrations.

Ga-Doping-Induced Carrier Tuning and Multiphase Engineering in n-type PbTe with Enhanced Thermoelectric Performance.

PubMed

Wang, Zhengshang; Wang, Guoyu; Wang, Ruifeng; Zhou, Xiaoyuan; Chen, Zhiyu; Yin, Cong; Tang, Mingjing; Hu, Qing; Tang, Jun; Ang, Ran

2018-06-22

P-type lead telluride (PbTe) emerged as a promising thermoelectric material for intermediate-temperature waste-heat-energy harvesting. However, n-type PbTe still confronted with a considerable challenge owing to its relatively low figure of merit ZT and conversion efficiency η, limiting widespread thermoelectric applications. Here, we report that Ga-doping in n-type PbTe can optimize carrier concentration and thus improve the power factor. Moreover, further experimental and theoretical evidence reveals that Ga-doping-induced multiphase structures with nano- to micrometer size can simultaneously modulate phonon transport, leading to dramatic reduction of lattice thermal conductivity. As a consequence, a tremendous enhancement of ZT value at 823 K reaches ∼1.3 for n-type Pb 0.97 Ga 0.03 Te. In particular, in a wide temperature range from 323 to 823 K, the average ZT ave value of ∼0.9 and the calculated conversion efficiency η of ∼13% are achieved by Ga doping. The present findings demonstrate the great potential in Ga-doped PbTe thermoelectric materials through a synergetic carrier tuning and multiphase engineering strategy.

Tunable engineered skin mechanics via coaxial electrospun fiber core diameter.

PubMed

Blackstone, Britani Nicole; Drexler, Jason William; Powell, Heather Megan

2014-10-01

Autologous engineered skin (ES) offers promise as a treatment for massive full thickness burns. Unfortunately, ES is orders of magnitude weaker than normal human skin causing it to be difficult to apply surgically and subject to damage by mechanical shear in the early phases of engraftment. In addition, no manufacturing strategy has been developed to tune ES biomechanics to approximate the native biomechanics at different anatomic locations. To enhance and tune ES biomechanics, a coaxial (CoA) electrospun scaffold platform was developed from polycaprolactone (PCL, core) and gelatin (shell). The ability of the coaxial fiber core diameter to control both scaffold and tissue mechanics was investigated along with the ability of the gelatin shell to facilitate cell adhesion and skin development compared to pure gelatin, pure PCL, and a gelatin-PCL blended fiber scaffold. CoA ES exhibited increased cellular adhesion and metabolism versus PCL alone or gelatin-PCL blend and promoted the development of well stratified skin with a dense dermal layer and a differentiated epidermal layer. Biomechanics of the scaffold and ES scaled linearly with core diameter suggesting that this scaffold platform could be utilized to tailor ES mechanics for their intended grafting site and reduce graft damage in vitro and in vivo.

Magnetoresistance engineering and singlet/triplet switching in InAs nanowire quantum dots with ferromagnetic sidegates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fábián, G.; Makk, P.; Madsen, M. H.; Nygârd, J.; Schönenberger, C.; Baumgartner, A.

2016-11-01

We present magnetoresistance (MR) experiments on an InAs nanowire quantum dot device with two ferromagnetic sidegates (FSGs) in a split-gate geometry. The wire segment can be electrically tuned to a single dot or to a double dot regime using the FSGs and a backgate. In both regimes we find a strong MR and a sharp MR switching of up to 25% at the field at which the magnetizations of the FSGs are inverted by the external field. The sign and amplitude of the MR and the MR switching can both be tuned electrically by the FSGs. In a double dot regime close to pinch-off we find two sharp transitions in the conductance, reminiscent of tunneling MR (TMR) between two ferromagnetic contacts, with one transition near zero and one at the FSG switching fields. These surprisingly rich characteristics we explain in several simple resonant tunneling models. For example, the TMR-like MR can be understood as a stray-field controlled transitions between singlet and triplet double dot states. Such local magnetic fields are the key elements in various proposals to engineer novel states of matter and may be used for testing electron spin based Bell inequalities.

Pressure-Dependent Light Emission of Charged and Neutral Excitons in Monolayer MoSe 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Fu, Xinpeng; Li, Fangfei; Lin, Jung-Fu

Tailoring the excitonic properties in two-dimensional monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) through strain engineering is an effective means to explore their potential applications in optoelectronics and nanoelectronics. Here we report pressure-tuned photon emission of trions and excitons in monolayer MoSe2 via a diamond anvil cell (DAC) through photoluminescence measurements and theoretical calculations. Under quasi-hydrostatic compressive strain, our results show neutral (X0) and charged (X–) exciton emission of monolayer MoSe2 can be effectively tuned by alcohol mixture vs inert argon pressure transmitting media (PTM). During this process, X– emission undergoes a continuous blue shift until reaching saturation, while X0 emission turnsmore » up splitting. The pressure-dependent charging effect observed in alcohol mixture PTM results in the increase of the X– exciton component and facilitates the pressure-tuned emission of X– excitons. This substantial tunability of X– and X0 excitons in MoSe2 can be extended to other 2D TMDs, which holds potential for developing strained and optical sensing devices.« less

Ionic liquids in chemical engineering.

PubMed

Werner, Sebastian; Haumann, Marco; Wasserscheid, Peter

2010-01-01

The development of engineering applications with ionic liquids stretches back to the mid-1990s when the first examples of continuous catalytic processes using ionic liquids and the first studies of ionic liquid-based extractions were published. Ever since, the use of ionic liquids has seen tremendous progress in many fields of chemistry and engineering, and the first commercial applications have been reported. The main driver for ionic liquid engineering applications is to make practical use of their unique property profiles, which are the result of a complex interplay of coulombic, hydrogen bonding and van der Waals interactions. Remarkably, many ionic liquid properties can be tuned in a wide range by structural modifications at their cation and anion. This review highlights specific examples of ionic liquid applications in catalysis and in separation technologies. Additionally, the application of ionic liquids as working fluids in process machines is introduced.

Use of controlled vocabularies to improve biomedical information retrieval tasks.

PubMed

Pasche, Emilie; Gobeill, Julien; Vishnyakova, Dina; Ruch, Patrick; Lovis, Christian

2013-01-01

The high heterogeneity of biomedical vocabulary is a major obstacle for information retrieval in large biomedical collections. Therefore, using biomedical controlled vocabularies is crucial for managing these contents. We investigate the impact of query expansion based on controlled vocabularies to improve the effectiveness of two search engines. Our strategy relies on the enrichment of users' queries with additional terms, directly derived from such vocabularies applied to infectious diseases and chemical patents. We observed that query expansion based on pathogen names resulted in improvements of the top-precision of our first search engine, while the normalization of diseases degraded the top-precision. The expansion of chemical entities, which was performed on the second search engine, positively affected the mean average precision. We have shown that query expansion of some types of biomedical entities has a great potential to improve search effectiveness; therefore a fine-tuning of query expansion strategies could help improving the performances of search engines.

Progress in engineering high strain lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

PubMed Central

Leontsev, Serhiy O; Eitel, Richard E

2010-01-01

Environmental concerns are strongly driving the need to replace the lead-based piezoelectric materials currently employed as multilayer actuators. The current review describes both compositional and structural engineering approaches to achieve enhanced piezoelectric properties in lead-free materials. The review of the compositional engineering approach focuses on compositional tuning of the properties and phase behavior in three promising families of lead-free perovskite ferroelectrics: the titanate, alkaline niobate and bismuth perovskites and their solid solutions. The ‘structural engineering’ approaches focus instead on optimization of microstructural features including grain size, grain orientation or texture, ferroelectric domain size and electrical bias field as potential paths to induce large piezoelectric properties in lead-free piezoceramics. It is suggested that a combination of both compositional and novel structural engineering approaches will be required in order to realize viable lead-free alternatives to current lead-based materials for piezoelectric actuator applications. PMID:27877343

Industrial brewing yeast engineered for the production of primary flavor determinants in hopped beer.

PubMed

Denby, Charles M; Li, Rachel A; Vu, Van T; Costello, Zak; Lin, Weiyin; Chan, Leanne Jade G; Williams, Joseph; Donaldson, Bryan; Bamforth, Charles W; Petzold, Christopher J; Scheller, Henrik V; Martin, Hector Garcia; Keasling, Jay D

2018-03-20

Flowers of the hop plant provide both bitterness and "hoppy" flavor to beer. Hops are, however, both a water and energy intensive crop and vary considerably in essential oil content, making it challenging to achieve a consistent hoppy taste in beer. Here, we report that brewer's yeast can be engineered to biosynthesize aromatic monoterpene molecules that impart hoppy flavor to beer by incorporating recombinant DNA derived from yeast, mint, and basil. Whereas metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways is commonly enlisted to maximize product titers, tuning expression of pathway enzymes to affect target production levels of multiple commercially important metabolites without major collateral metabolic changes represents a unique challenge. By applying state-of-the-art engineering techniques and a framework to guide iterative improvement, strains are generated with target performance characteristics. Beers produced using these strains are perceived as hoppier than traditionally hopped beers by a sensory panel in a double-blind tasting.

Interface Engineering for Nanoelectronics.

PubMed

Hacker, C A; Bruce, R C; Pookpanratana, S J

2017-01-01

Innovation in the electronics industry is tied to interface engineering as devices increasingly incorporate new materials and shrink. Molecular layers offer a versatile means of tuning interfacial electronic, chemical, physical, and magnetic properties enabled by a wide variety of molecules available. This paper will describe three instances where we manipulate molecular interfaces with a specific focus on the nanometer scale characterization and the impact on the resulting performance. The three primary themes include, 1-designer interfaces, 2-electronic junction formation, and 3-advancing metrology for nanoelectronics. We show the ability to engineer interfaces through a variety of techniques and demonstrate the impact on technologies such as molecular memory and spin injection for organic electronics. Underpinning the successful modification of interfaces is the ability to accurately characterize the chemical and electronic properties and we will highlight some measurement advances key to our understanding of the interface engineering for nanoelectronics.

Interface Engineering for Nanoelectronics

PubMed Central

Hacker, C. A.; Bruce, R. C.; Pookpanratana, S. J.

2017-01-01

Innovation in the electronics industry is tied to interface engineering as devices increasingly incorporate new materials and shrink. Molecular layers offer a versatile means of tuning interfacial electronic, chemical, physical, and magnetic properties enabled by a wide variety of molecules available. This paper will describe three instances where we manipulate molecular interfaces with a specific focus on the nanometer scale characterization and the impact on the resulting performance. The three primary themes include, 1-designer interfaces, 2-electronic junction formation, and 3-advancing metrology for nanoelectronics. We show the ability to engineer interfaces through a variety of techniques and demonstrate the impact on technologies such as molecular memory and spin injection for organic electronics. Underpinning the successful modification of interfaces is the ability to accurately characterize the chemical and electronic properties and we will highlight some measurement advances key to our understanding of the interface engineering for nanoelectronics. PMID:29276553

Multicriteria Gain Tuning for Rotorcraft Flight Controls (also entitled The Development of the Conduit Advanced Control System Design and Evaluation Interface with a Case Study Application Fly by Wire Helicopter Design)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Biezad, Daniel

1997-01-01

Handling qualities analysis and control law design would seem to be naturally complimenting components of aircraft flight control system design, however these two closely coupled disciplines are often not well integrated in practice. Handling qualities engineers and control system engineers may work in separate groups within an aircraft company. Flight control system engineers and handling quality specialists may come from different backgrounds and schooling and are often not aware of the other group's research. Thus while the handling qualities specifications represent desired aircraft response characteristics, these are rarely incorporated directly in the control system design process. Instead modem control system design techniques are based on servo-loop robustness specifications, and simple representations of the desired control response. Comprehensive handling qualities analysis is often left until the end of the design cycle and performed as a check of the completed design for satisfactory performance. This can lead to costly redesign or less than satisfactory aircraft handling qualities when the flight testing phase is reached. The desire to integrate the fields of handling qualities and flight,control systems led to the development of the CONDUIT system. This tool facilitates control system designs that achieve desired handling quality requirements and servo-loop specifications in a single design process. With CONDUIT, the control system engineer is now able to directly design and control systems to meet the complete handling specifications. CONDUIT allows the designer to retain a preferred control law structure, but then tunes the system parameters to meet the handling quality requirements.

Tuning the specificity of a Two-in-One Fab against three angiogenic antigens by fully utilizing the information of deep mutational scanning.

PubMed

Koenig, Patrick; Sanowar, Sarah; Lee, Chingwei V; Fuh, Germaine

Monoclonal antibodies developed for therapeutic or diagnostic purposes need to demonstrate highly defined binding specificity profiles. Engineering of an antibody to enhance or reduce binding to related antigens is often needed to achieve the desired biologic activity without safety concern. Here, we describe a deep sequencing-aided engineering strategy to fine-tune the specificity of an angiopoietin-2 (Ang2)/vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) dual action Fab, 5A12.1 for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration. This antibody utilizes overlapping complementarity-determining region (CDR) sites for dual Ang2/VEGF interaction with K D in the sub-nanomolar range. However, it also exhibits significant (K D of 4 nM) binding to angiopoietin-1, which has high sequence identity with Ang2. We generated a large phage-displayed library of 5A12.1 Fab variants with all possible single mutations in the 6 CDRs. By tracking the change of prevalence of each mutation during various selection conditions, we identified 35 mutations predicted to decrease the affinity for Ang1 while maintaining the affinity for Ang2 and VEGF. We confirmed the specificity profiles for 25 of these single mutations as Fab protein. Structural analysis showed that some of the Fab mutations cluster near a potential Ang1/2 epitope residue that differs in the 2 proteins, while others are up to 15 Å away from the antigen-binding site and likely influence the binding interaction remotely. The approach presented here provides a robust and efficient method for specificity engineering that does not require prior knowledge of the antigen antibody interaction and can be broadly applied to antibody specificity engineering projects.

Biomolecular engineering for nanobio/bionanotechnology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nagamune, Teruyuki

2017-04-01

Biomolecular engineering can be used to purposefully manipulate biomolecules, such as peptides, proteins, nucleic acids and lipids, within the framework of the relations among their structures, functions and properties, as well as their applicability to such areas as developing novel biomaterials, biosensing, bioimaging, and clinical diagnostics and therapeutics. Nanotechnology can also be used to design and tune the sizes, shapes, properties and functionality of nanomaterials. As such, there are considerable overlaps between nanotechnology and biomolecular engineering, in that both are concerned with the structure and behavior of materials on the nanometer scale or smaller. Therefore, in combination with nanotechnology, biomolecular engineering is expected to open up new fields of nanobio/bionanotechnology and to contribute to the development of novel nanobiomaterials, nanobiodevices and nanobiosystems. This review highlights recent studies using engineered biological molecules (e.g., oligonucleotides, peptides, proteins, enzymes, polysaccharides, lipids, biological cofactors and ligands) combined with functional nanomaterials in nanobio/bionanotechnology applications, including therapeutics, diagnostics, biosensing, bioanalysis and biocatalysts. Furthermore, this review focuses on five areas of recent advances in biomolecular engineering: (a) nucleic acid engineering, (b) gene engineering, (c) protein engineering, (d) chemical and enzymatic conjugation technologies, and (e) linker engineering. Precisely engineered nanobiomaterials, nanobiodevices and nanobiosystems are anticipated to emerge as next-generation platforms for bioelectronics, biosensors, biocatalysts, molecular imaging modalities, biological actuators, and biomedical applications.

On the estimation algorithm used in adaptive performance optimization of turbofan engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Espana, Martin D.; Gilyard, Glenn B.

1993-01-01

The performance seeking control algorithm is designed to continuously optimize the performance of propulsion systems. The performance seeking control algorithm uses a nominal model of the propulsion system and estimates, in flight, the engine deviation parameters characterizing the engine deviations with respect to nominal conditions. In practice, because of measurement biases and/or model uncertainties, the estimated engine deviation parameters may not reflect the engine's actual off-nominal condition. This factor has a necessary impact on the overall performance seeking control scheme exacerbated by the open-loop character of the algorithm. The effects produced by unknown measurement biases over the estimation algorithm are evaluated. This evaluation allows for identification of the most critical measurements for application of the performance seeking control algorithm to an F100 engine. An equivalence relation between the biases and engine deviation parameters stems from an observability study; therefore, it is undecided whether the estimated engine deviation parameters represent the actual engine deviation or whether they simply reflect the measurement biases. A new algorithm, based on the engine's (steady-state) optimization model, is proposed and tested with flight data. When compared with previous Kalman filter schemes, based on local engine dynamic models, the new algorithm is easier to design and tune and it reduces the computational burden of the onboard computer.

Using Evolution to Guide Protein Engineering: The Devil IS in the Details.

PubMed

Swint-Kruse, Liskin

2016-07-12

For decades, protein engineers have endeavored to reengineer existing proteins for novel applications. Overall, protein folds and gross functions can be readily transferred from one protein to another by transplanting large blocks of sequence (i.e., domain recombination). However, predictably fine-tuning function (e.g., by adjusting ligand affinity, specificity, catalysis, and/or allosteric regulation) remains a challenge. One approach has been to use the sequences of protein families to identify amino acid positions that change during the evolution of functional variation. The rationale is that these nonconserved positions could be mutated to predictably fine-tune function. Evolutionary approaches to protein design have had some success, but the engineered proteins seldom replicate the functional performances of natural proteins. This Biophysical Perspective reviews several complexities that have been revealed by evolutionary and experimental studies of protein function. These include 1) challenges in defining computational and biological thresholds that define important amino acids; 2) the co-occurrence of many different patterns of amino acid changes in evolutionary data; 3) difficulties in mapping the patterns of amino acid changes to discrete functional parameters; 4) the nonconventional mutational outcomes that occur for a particular group of functionally important, nonconserved positions; 5) epistasis (nonadditivity) among multiple mutations; and 6) the fact that a large fraction of a protein's amino acids contribute to its overall function. To overcome these challenges, new goals are identified for future studies. Copyright © 2016 Biophysical Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Gain modulation by graphene plasmons in aperiodic lattice lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chakraborty, S.; Marshall, O. P.; Folland, T. G.; Kim, Y.-J.; Grigorenko, A. N.; Novoselov, K. S.

2016-01-01

Two-dimensional graphene plasmon-based technologies will enable the development of fast, compact, and inexpensive active photonic elements because, unlike plasmons in other materials, graphene plasmons can be tuned via the doping level. Such tuning is harnessed within terahertz quantum cascade lasers to reversibly alter their emission. This is achieved in two key steps: first, by exciting graphene plasmons within an aperiodic lattice laser and, second, by engineering photon lifetimes, linking graphene’s Fermi energy with the round-trip gain. Modal gain and hence laser spectra are highly sensitive to the doping of an integrated, electrically controllable, graphene layer. Demonstration of the integrated graphene plasmon laser principle lays the foundation for a new generation of active, programmable plasmonic metamaterials with major implications across photonics, material sciences, and nanotechnology.

Digital Plasmonic Patterning for Localized Tuning of Hydrogel Stiffness

PubMed Central

Hribar, Kolin C.; Choi, Yu Suk; Ondeck, Matthew; Engler, Adam J.

2015-01-01

The mechanical properties of the extracellular matrix (ECM) can dictate cell fate in biological systems. In tissue engineering, varying the stiffness of hydrogels—water-swollen polymeric networks that act as ECM substrates—has previously been demonstrated to control cell migration, proliferation, and differentiation. Here, “digital plasmonic patterning” (DPP) is developed to mechanically alter a hydrogel encapsulated with gold nanorods using a near-infrared laser, according to a digital (computer-generated) pattern. DPP can provide orders of magnitude changes in stiffness, and can be tuned by laser intensity and speed of writing. In vitro cellular experiments using A7R5 smooth muscle cells confirm cell migration and alignment according to these patterns, making DPP a useful technique for mechanically patterning hydrogels for various biomedical applications. PMID:26120293

Fine-tuning of process conditions to improve product uniformity of polystyrene particles used for wind tunnel velocimetry

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ray, Asit K.

1990-01-01

Monodisperse polymer particles (having uniform diameter) were used for the last two decades in physical, biological, and chemical sciences. In NASA Langley Research Center monodisperse polystyrene particles are used in wind tunnel laser velocimeters. These polystyrene (PS) particles in latex form were formulated at the Engineering Laboratory of FENGD using emulsion-free emulsion polymerization. Monodisperse PS latices particles having different particle diameters were formulated and useful experimental data involving effects of process conditions on particle size were accumulated. However, similar process conditions and chemical recipes for polymerization of styrene monomer have often yielded monodisperse particles having varying diameters. The purpose was to improve the PS latex product uniformity by fine-tuning the process parameters based on the knowledge of suspension and emulsion polymerization.

Electrical tuning of the oscillator strength in type II InAs/GaInSb quantum wells for active region of passively mode-locked interband cascade lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dyksik, Mateusz; Motyka, Marcin; Kurka, Marcin; Ryczko, Krzysztof; Misiewicz, Jan; Schade, Anne; Kamp, Martin; Höfling, Sven; Sęk, Grzegorz

2017-11-01

Two designs of active region for an interband cascade laser, based on double or triple GaInSb/InAs type II quantum wells (QWs), were compared with respect to passive mode-locked operation in the mid-infrared range around 4 µm. The layer structure and electron and hole wavefunctions under external electric field were engineered to allow controlling the optical transition oscillator strength and the resulting lifetimes. As a result, the investigated structures can mimic absorber-like and gain-like sections of a mode-locked device when properly polarized with opposite bias. A significantly larger oscillator strength tuning range for triple QWs was experimentally verified by Fourier-transform photoreflectance.

Alloying effects on superionic conductivity in lithium indium halides for all-solid-state batteries

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zevgolis, Alysia; Wood, Brandon C.; Mehmedović, Zerina; Hall, Alex T.; Alves, Thomaz C.; Adelstein, Nicole

2018-04-01

Alloying of anions is a promising engineering strategy for tuning ionic conductivity in halide-based inorganic solid electrolytes. We explain the alloying effects in Li3InBr6-xClx, in terms of strain, chemistry, and microstructure, using first-principles molecular dynamics simulations and electronic structure analysis. We find that strain and bond chemistry can be tuned through alloying and affect the activation energy and maximum diffusivity coefficient. The similar conductivities of the x = 3 and x = 6 compositions can be understood by assuming that the alloy separates into Br-rich and Cl-rich regions. Phase-separation increases diffusivity at the interface and in the expanded Cl-region, suggesting microstructure effects are critical. Similarities with other halide superionic conductors are highlighted.

Supramolecular effects as driving force of dipyrrin based functional materials engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Banakova, E.; Bobrov, A.; Kazak, A.; Marfin, Yu; Merkushev, D.; Molchanov, E.; Rumyantsev, E.; Shipalova, M.; Usoltsev, S.; Vodyanova, O.

2018-01-01

Dipyrrin based luminophores are of major interest in different areas of chemistry, material science and molecular biology. Vast variety of the structures with dipyrrin motif were synthesized and investigated up to date. Modern trend in the dipyrrin chemistry is the aimed functionalization of the ligand or complex structure allowing to gain the mechanism based on supramolecular interactions for controlling spectral and photophysical characteristics of compounds for tuning practically valuable properties for specific tasks. Presented paper summarize the results of our research group, working in the field of dipyrrin complexes with p-elements: synthesis, spectral characteristics evaluation and possibilities of practical application investigation. Discussion is focused on the opportunities of molecules preorganization for achieving the supramolecular interactions causing the tuning of fluorescence of the compounds in solutions, polymeric matrices and thin films.

Recent advancements in electrospinning design for tissue engineering applications: A review.

PubMed

Kishan, Alysha P; Cosgriff-Hernandez, Elizabeth M

2017-10-01

Electrospinning, a technique used to fabricate fibrous scaffolds, has gained popularity in recent years as a method to produce tissue engineered grafts with architectural similarities to the extracellular matrix. Beyond its versatility in material selection, electrospinning also provides many tools to tune the fiber morphology and scaffold geometry. Recent efforts have focused on extending the capabilities of electrospinning to produce scaffolds that better recapitulate tissue properties and enhance regeneration. This review highlights these advancements by providing an overview of the processing variables and setups used to modulate scaffold architecture, discussing strategies to improve cellular infiltration and guide cell behavior, and providing a summary of electrospinning applications in tissue engineering. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 105A: 2892-2905, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Rational design and evolutional fine tuning of Saccharomyces cerevisiae for biomass breakdown.

PubMed

Hasunuma, Tomohisa; Ishii, Jun; Kondo, Akihiko

2015-12-01

Conferring biomass hydrolysis activity on yeast through genetic engineering has paved the way for the development of groundbreaking processes for producing liquid fuels and commodity chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass. However, the overproduction and misfolding of heterologous and endogenous proteins can trigger cellular stress, increasing the metabolic burden and retarding growth. Improving the efficiency of lignocellulosic breakdown requires engineering of yeast secretory pathway based on system-wide metabolic analysis as well as DNA constructs for enhanced cellulase gene expression with advanced molecular biology tools. Also, yeast is subjected to severe stress due to toxic compounds generated during lignocellulose pretreatment in consolidated saccharification and fermentation processes. The prospect for development of robust yeast strains makes combining evolutionary and rational engineering strategies. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Novel perspectives for the engineering of abiotic stress tolerance in plants.

PubMed

Cabello, Julieta V; Lodeyro, Anabella F; Zurbriggen, Matias D

2014-04-01

Adverse environmental conditions pose serious limitations to agricultural production. Classical biotechnological approaches towards increasing abiotic stress tolerance focus on boosting plant endogenous defence mechanisms. However, overexpression of regulatory elements or effectors is usually accompanied by growth handicap and yield penalties due to crosstalk between developmental and stress-response networks. Herein we offer an overview on novel strategies with the potential to overcome these limitations based on the engineering of regulatory systems involved in the fine-tuning of the plant response to environmental hardships, including post-translational modifications, small RNAs, epigenetic control of gene expression and hormonal networks. The development and application of plant synthetic biology tools and approaches will add new functionalities and perspectives to genetic engineering programs for enhancing abiotic stress tolerance. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lightweight linear alternators with and without capacitive tuning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Niedra, Janis M.

1993-06-01

Permanent magnet excited linear alternators rated tens of kW and coupled to free-piston Stirling engines are presently viewed as promising candidates for long term generation of electric power in both space and terrestrial applications. Series capacitive cancellation of the internal inductive reactance of such alternators was considered a viable way to both increase power extraction and to suppress unstable modes of the thermodynamic oscillation. Idealized toroidal and cylindrical alternator geometries are used for a comparative study of the issues of specific mass and capacitive tuning, subject to stability criteria. The analysis shows that the stator mass of an alternator designed to be capacitively tuned is always greater than the minimum achievable stator mass of an alternator designed with no capacitors, assuming equal utilization of materials ratings and the same frequency and power to a resistive load. This conclusion is not substantially altered when the usually lesser masses of the magnets and of any capacitors are added. Within the reported stability requirements and under circumstances of normal materials ratings, this study finds no clear advantage to capacitive tuning. Comparative plots of the various constituent masses are presented versus the internal power factor taken as a design degree of freedom. The explicit formulas developed for stator core, coil, capacitor, and magnet masses and for the degree of magnet utilization provide useful estimates of scaling effects.

Lightweight linear alternators with and without capacitive tuning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Niedra, Janis M.

1993-01-01

Permanent magnet excited linear alternators rated tens of kW and coupled to free-piston Stirling engines are presently viewed as promising candidates for long term generation of electric power in both space and terrestrial applications. Series capacitive cancellation of the internal inductive reactance of such alternators was considered a viable way to both increase power extraction and to suppress unstable modes of the thermodynamic oscillation. Idealized toroidal and cylindrical alternator geometries are used for a comparative study of the issues of specific mass and capacitive tuning, subject to stability criteria. The analysis shows that the stator mass of an alternator designed to be capacitively tuned is always greater than the minimum achievable stator mass of an alternator designed with no capacitors, assuming equal utilization of materials ratings and the same frequency and power to a resistive load. This conclusion is not substantially altered when the usually lesser masses of the magnets and of any capacitors are added. Within the reported stability requirements and under circumstances of normal materials ratings, this study finds no clear advantage to capacitive tuning. Comparative plots of the various constituent masses are presented versus the internal power factor taken as a design degree of freedom. The explicit formulas developed for stator core, coil, capacitor, and magnet masses and for the degree of magnet utilization provide useful estimates of scaling effects.

Tunable absorption resonances in the ultraviolet for InP nanowire arrays.

PubMed

Aghaeipour, Mahtab; Anttu, Nicklas; Nylund, Gustav; Samuelson, Lars; Lehmann, Sebastian; Pistol, Mats-Erik

2014-11-17

The ability to tune the photon absorptance spectrum is an attracting way of tailoring the response of devices like photodetectors and solar cells. Here, we measure the reflectance spectra of InP substrates patterned with arrays of vertically standing InP nanowires. Using the reflectance spectra, we calculate and analyze the corresponding absorptance spectra of the nanowires. We show that we can tune absorption resonances for the nanowire arrays into the ultraviolet by decreasing the diameter of the nanowires. When we compare our measurements with electromagnetic modeling, we generally find good agreement. Interestingly, the remaining differences between modeled and measured spectra are attributed to a crystal-phase dependence in the refractive index of InP. Specifically, we find indication of significant differences in the refractive index between the modeled zinc-blende InP nanowires and the measured wurtzite InP nanowires in the ultraviolet. We believe that such crystal-phase dependent differences in the refractive index affect the possibility to excite optical resonances in the large wavelength range of 345 < λ < 390 nm. To support this claim, we investigated how resonances in nanostructures can be shifted in wavelength by geometrical tuning. We find that dispersion in the refractive index can dominate over geometrical tuning and stop the possibility for such shifting. Our results open the door for using crystal-phase engineering to optimize the absorption in InP nanowire-based solar cells and photodetectors.

Fast spatially resolved exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) distribution measurements in an internal combustion engine using absorption spectroscopy.

PubMed

Yoo, Jihyung; Prikhodko, Vitaly; Parks, James E; Perfetto, Anthony; Geckler, Sam; Partridge, William P

2015-09-01

Exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in internal combustion engines is an effective method of reducing NOx emissions while improving efficiency. However, insufficient mixing between fresh air and exhaust gas can lead to cycle-to-cycle and cylinder-to-cylinder non-uniform charge gas mixtures of a multi-cylinder engine, which can in turn reduce engine performance and efficiency. A sensor packaged into a compact probe was designed, built and applied to measure spatiotemporal EGR distributions in the intake manifold of an operating engine. The probe promotes the development of more efficient and higher-performance engines by resolving high-speed in situ CO2 concentration at various locations in the intake manifold. The study employed mid-infrared light sources tuned to an absorption band of CO2 near 4.3 μm, an industry standard species for determining EGR fraction. The calibrated probe was used to map spatial EGR distributions in an intake manifold with high accuracy and monitor cycle-resolved cylinder-specific EGR fluctuations at a rate of up to 1 kHz.

Irreversibilities and efficiency at maximum power of heat engines: the illustrative case of a thermoelectric generator.

PubMed

Apertet, Y; Ouerdane, H; Goupil, C; Lecoeur, Ph

2012-03-01

Energy conversion efficiency at maximum output power, which embodies the essential characteristics of heat engines, is the main focus of the present work. The so-called Curzon and Ahlborn efficiency η(CA) is commonly believed to be an absolute reference for real heat engines; however, a different but general expression for the case of stochastic heat engines, η(SS), was recently found and then extended to low-dissipation engines. The discrepancy between η(CA) and η(SS) is here analyzed considering different irreversibility sources of heat engines, of both internal and external types. To this end, we choose a thermoelectric generator operating in the strong-coupling regime as a physical system to qualitatively and quantitatively study the impact of the nature of irreversibility on the efficiency at maximum output power. In the limit of pure external dissipation, we obtain η(CA), while η(SS) corresponds to the case of pure internal dissipation. A continuous transition between from one extreme to the other, which may be operated by tuning the different sources of irreversibility, also is evidenced.

Fast Spatially Resolved Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) Distribution Measurements in an Internal Combustion Engine Using Absorption Spectroscopy

DOE PAGES

Yoo, Jihyung; Prikhodko, Vitaly; Parks, James E.; ...

2015-09-01

One effective method of reducing NO x emissions while improving efficiency is exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) in internal combustion engines. But, insufficient mixing between fresh air and exhaust gas can lead to cycle-to-cycle and cylinder-to-cylinder nonuniform charge gas mixtures of a multi-cylinder engine, which can in turn reduce engine performance and efficiency. Furthermore, a sensor packaged into a compact probe was designed, built and applied to measure spatiotemporal EGR distributions in the intake manifold of an operating engine. The probe promotes the development of more efficient and higher-performance engines by resolving high-speed in situ CO 2 concentration at various locationsmore » in the intake manifold. Our study employed mid-infrared light sources tuned to an absorption band of CO 2 near 4.3 μm, an industry standard species for determining EGR fraction. The calibrated probe was used to map spatial EGR distributions in an intake manifold with high accuracy and monitor cycle-resolved cylinder-specific EGR fluctuations at a rate of up to 1 kHz.« less

Exhaust emission reduction for intermittent combustion aircraft engines

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moffett, R. N.

1979-01-01

Three concepts for optimizing the performance, increasing the fuel economy, and reducing exhaust emission of the piston aircraft engine were investigated. High energy-multiple spark discharge and spark plug tip penetration, ultrasonic fuel vaporization, and variable valve timing were evaluated individually. Ultrasonic fuel vaporization did not demonstrate sufficient improvement in distribution to offset the performance loss caused by the additional manifold restriction. High energy ignition and revised spark plug tip location provided no change in performance or emissions. Variable valve timing provided some performance benefit; however, even greater performance improvement was obtained through induction system tuning which could be accomplished with far less complexity.

Tuning optical properties of opal photonic crystals by structural defects engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

di Stasio, F.; Cucini, M.; Berti, L.; Comoretto, D.; Abbotto, A.; Bellotto, L.; Manfredi, N.; Marinzi, C.

2009-06-01

We report on the preparation and optical characterization of three dimensional colloidal photonic crystal (PhC) containing an engineered planar defect embedding photoactive push-pull dyes. Free standing polystyrene films having thickness between 0.6 and 3 mm doped with different dipolar chromophores were prepared. These films were sandwiched between two artificial opals creating a PhC structure with planar defect. The system was characterized by reflectance at normal incidence angle (R), variable angle transmittance (T) and photoluminescence spectroscopy (PL) Evidence of defect states were observed in T and R spectra which allow the light to propagate for selected frequencies within the pseudogap (stop band).

Engineering Novel Detectors and Sensors for MRI

PubMed Central

Qian, Chunqi; Zabow, Gary; Koretsky, Alan

2013-01-01

Increasing detection sensitivity and image contrast have always been major topics of research in MRI. In this perspective, we summarize two engineering approaches to make detectors and sensors that have potential to extend the capability of MRI. The first approach is to integrate miniaturized detectors with a wireless powered parametric amplifier to enhance the detection sensitivity of remotely coupled detectors. The second approach is to microfabricate contrast agents with encoded multispectral frequency shifts, whose properties can be specified and fine-tuned by geometry. These two complementary approaches will benefit from the rapid development in nanotechnology and microfabrication which should enable new opportunities for MRI. PMID:23245489

Development of a Tunable Electromechanical Acoustic Liner for Engine Nacelles

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Liu, Fei; Sheplak, Mark; Cattafesta, Louis N., III

2007-01-01

This report describes the development of a tunable electromechanical Helmholtz resonator (EMHR) for engine nacelles using smart materials technology. This effort addresses both near-term and long-term goals for tunable electromechanical acoustic liner technology for the Quiet Aircraft Technology (QAT) Program. Analytical models, i.e. lumped element model (LEM) and transfer matrix (TM) representation of the EMHR, have been developed to predict the acoustic behavior of the EMHR. The models have been implemented in a MATLAB program and used to compare with measurement results. Moreover, the prediction performance of models is further improved with the aid of parameter extraction of the piezoelectric backplate. The EMHR has been experimentally investigated using standard two-microphone method (TMM). The measurement results validated both the LEM and TM models of the EMHR. Good agreement between predicted and measured impedance is obtained. Short- and open circuit loads define the limits of the tuning range using resistive and capacitive loads. There is approximately a 9% tuning limit under these conditions for the non-optimized resonator configuration studied. Inductive shunt loads result in a 3 degree-of-freedom DOF) system and an enhanced tuning range of over 20% that is not restricted by the short- and open-circuit limits. Damping coefficient ' measurements for piezoelectric backplates in a vacuum chamber are also performed and indicate that the damping is dominated by the structural damping losses, such as compliant boundaries, and other intrinsic loss mechanisms. Based on models of the EMHR, a Pareto optimization design of the EMHR has been performed for the EMHR with non-inductive loads. The EMHR with non-inductive loads is a 2DOF system with two resonant fiequencies. The tuning ranges of the two resonant frequencies of the EMHR with non-inductive loads cannot be optimized simultaneously; a trade-off (i.e., a Pareto solution) must be reached. The Pareto solution provides the information for a designer that shows how design trade-offs can be used to satisfy specific design requirements. The optimization design of the EMHR with inductive loads aims at optimal tuning of these three resonant fiequencies. The results indicate that it is possible to keep the acoustic reactance of the resonator close to a constant over a given frequency range. An effort to mimic the second layer of the NASA 2DOF liner using a piezoelectric composite diaphragm has been made. The optimal acoustic reactance of the second layer of the NASA 2DOF liner is achieved using a thin PVDF composite diaphragm, but matching the acoustic resistance requires further investigation. Acoustic energy harvesting is achieved by connecting the EMHR to an energy reclamation circuit that converts the ac voltage signal across the piezoceramic to a conditioned dc signal. Energy harvesting experiment yields 16 m W continuous power for an incident SPL of 153 dB. Such a level is sufficient to power a variety of low power electronic devices. Finally, technology transfer has been achieved by converting the original NASA ZKTL FORTRAN code to a MATLAB code while incorporating the models of the EMHR. Initial studies indicate that the EMHR is a promising technology that may enable lowpower, light weight, tunable engine nacelle liners. This technology, however, is very immature, and additional developments are required. Recommendations for future work include testing of sample EMHR liner designs in NASA Langley s normal incidence dual-waveguide and the grazing-incidence flow facility to evaluating both the impedance characteristics as well as the energy reclamation abilities. Additional design work is required for more complex tuning circuits with greater performance. Poor electromechanical coupling limited the electromechanical tuning capabilities of the proof of concept EMHR. Different materials than those studies and perhaps novel composite material systems may dramatically improvehe electromechanical coupling. Such improvements are essential to improved mimicking of existing double layer liners.

Mass-stiffness substructuring of an elastic metasurface for full transmission beam steering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lee, Hyuk; Lee, Jun Kyu; Seung, Hong Min; Kim, Yoon Young

2018-03-01

The metasurface concept has a significant potential due to its novel wavefront-shaping functionalities that can be critically useful for ultrasonic and solid wave-based applications. To achieve the desired functionalities, elastic metasurfaces should cover full 2π phase shift and also acquire full transmission within subwavelength scale. However, they have not been explored much with respect to the elastic regime, because the intrinsic proportionality of mass-stiffness within the continuum elastic media causes an inevitable trade-off between abrupt phase shift and sufficient transmission. Our goal is to engineer an elastic metasurface that can realize an inverse relation between (amplified) effective mass and (weakened) stiffness in order to satisfy full 2π phase shift as well as full transmission. To achieve this goal, we propose a continuum elastic metasurface unit cell that is decomposed into two substructures, namely a mass-tuning substructure with a local dipolar resonator and a stiffness-tuning substructure composed of non-resonant multiply-perforated slits. We demonstrate analytically, numerically, and experimentally that this unique substructured unit cell can satisfy the required phase shift with high transmission. The substructuring enables independent tuning of the elastic properties over a wide range of values. We use a mass-spring model of the proposed continuum unit cell to investigate the working mechanism of the proposed metasurface. With the designed metasurface consisting of substructured unit cells embedded in an aluminum plate, we demonstrate that our metasurface can successfully realize anomalous steering and focusing of in-plane longitudinal ultrasonic beams. The proposed substructuring concept is expected to provide a new principle for the design of general elastic metasurfaces that can be used to efficiently engineer arbitrary wave profiles.

Predictive Monitoring for Improved Management of Glucose Levels

PubMed Central

Reifman, Jaques; Rajaraman, Srinivasan; Gribok, Andrei; Ward, W. Kenneth

2007-01-01

Background Recent developments and expected near-future improvements in continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) devices provide opportunities to couple them with mathematical forecasting models to produce predictive monitoring systems for early, proactive glycemia management of diabetes mellitus patients before glucose levels drift to undesirable levels. This article assesses the feasibility of data-driven models to serve as the forecasting engine of predictive monitoring systems. Methods We investigated the capabilities of data-driven autoregressive (AR) models to (1) capture the correlations in glucose time-series data, (2) make accurate predictions as a function of prediction horizon, and (3) be made portable from individual to individual without any need for model tuning. The investigation is performed by employing CGM data from nine type 1 diabetic subjects collected over a continuous 5-day period. Results With CGM data serving as the gold standard, AR model-based predictions of glucose levels assessed over nine subjects with Clarke error grid analysis indicated that, for a 30-minute prediction horizon, individually tuned models yield 97.6 to 100.0% of data in the clinically acceptable zones A and B, whereas cross-subject, portable models yield 95.8 to 99.7% of data in zones A and B. Conclusions This study shows that, for a 30-minute prediction horizon, data-driven AR models provide sufficiently-accurate and clinically-acceptable estimates of glucose levels for timely, proactive therapy and should be considered as the modeling engine for predictive monitoring of patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. It also suggests that AR models can be made portable from individual to individual with minor performance penalties, while greatly reducing the burden associated with model tuning and data collection for model development. PMID:19885110

Diagnostics for Hypersonic Engine Control

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-02-01

weredirected across the flow at the entrance to the isolator just downstream of the facility nozzle . The near-infrared beams were frequency tuned across...the facility nozzle were used to study the dynamics of the shock train structure during these transient combustor events. They revealed the...entropy fluctuations in supersonic boundary layers can be quite short in time – on the order of tens of microseconds. We therefore sought data

Tunable Infrared Metasurface on a Soft Polymer Scaffold.

PubMed

Reeves, Jeremy B; Jayne, Rachael K; Stark, Thomas J; Barrett, Lawrence K; White, Alice E; Bishop, David J

2018-05-09

The fabrication of metallic electromagnetic meta-atoms on a soft microstructured polymer scaffold using a MEMS-based stencil lithography technique is demonstrated. Using this technique, complex metasurfaces that are generally impossible to fabricate with traditional photolithographic techniques are created. By engineering the mechanical deformation of the polymer scaffold, the metasurface reflectivity in the mid-infrared can be tuned by the application of moderate strains.

Vertex-Group Effects in Entangled Polystyrene-Polyhedral Oligosilsesquioxane (POSS) Copolymers (Preprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-11-17

Storrs, CT 06269 2Current Address: Syracuse Biomaterials Institute and Biomedical and Chemical Engineering Department, Syracuse University...dimension in the range 1-100 nm – in order to realize materials that combine the processibility and property-tuning of polymers with outstanding stiffness...polymers with a variety of vertex-groups: isobutyl (iBu), cyclopentyl (Cp) and cyclohexyl (Cy). EXPERIMENTAL SECTION Materials . In order to

Engineering a laser remote sensor for atmospheric pressure and temperature

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kalshoven, J. E., Jr.; Korb, C. L.

1978-01-01

A system for the remote sensing of atmospheric pressure and temperature is described. Resonant lines in the 7600 Angstrom oxygen A band region are used and an organic dye laser beam is tuned to measure line absorption changes with temperature or pressure. A reference beam outside this band is also transmitted for calibration. Using lidar techniques, profiling of these parameters with altitude can be accomplished.

Synthetic metabolism: metabolic engineering meets enzyme design.

PubMed

Erb, Tobias J; Jones, Patrik R; Bar-Even, Arren

2017-04-01

Metabolic engineering aims at modifying the endogenous metabolic network of an organism to harness it for a useful biotechnological task, for example, production of a value-added compound. Several levels of metabolic engineering can be defined and are the topic of this review. Basic 'copy, paste and fine-tuning' approaches are limited to the structure of naturally existing pathways. 'Mix and match' approaches freely recombine the repertoire of existing enzymes to create synthetic metabolic networks that are able to outcompete naturally evolved pathways or redirect flux toward non-natural products. The space of possible metabolic solution can be further increased through approaches including 'new enzyme reactions', which are engineered on the basis of known enzyme mechanisms. Finally, by considering completely 'novel enzyme chemistries' with de novo enzyme design, the limits of nature can be breached to derive the most advanced form of synthetic pathways. We discuss the challenges and promises associated with these different metabolic engineering approaches and illuminate how enzyme engineering is expected to take a prime role in synthetic metabolic engineering for biotechnology, chemical industry and agriculture of the future. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Symmetry Breaking in Photonic Crystals: On-Demand Dispersion from Flatband to Dirac Cones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, H. S.; Dubois, F.; Deschamps, T.; Cueff, S.; Pardon, A.; Leclercq, J.-L.; Seassal, C.; Letartre, X.; Viktorovitch, P.

2018-02-01

We demonstrate that symmetry breaking opens a new degree of freedom to tailor energy-momentum dispersion in photonic crystals. Using a general theoretical framework in two illustrative practical structures, we show that breaking symmetry enables an on-demand tuning of the local density of states of the same photonic band from zero (Dirac cone dispersion) to infinity (flatband dispersion), as well as any constant density over an adjustable spectral range. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate experimentally the transformation of the very same photonic band from a conventional quadratic shape to a Dirac dispersion, a flatband dispersion, and a multivalley one. This transition is achieved by finely tuning the vertical symmetry breaking of the photonic structures. Our results provide an unprecedented degree of freedom for optical dispersion engineering in planar integrated photonic devices.

Tuning differentiation signals for efficient propagation and in vitro validation of rat embryonic stem cell cultures.

PubMed

Meek, Stephen; Sutherland, Linda; Burdon, Tom

2015-01-01

The rat is one of the most commonly used laboratory animals in biomedical research and the recent isolation of genuine pluripotent rat embryonic stem (ES) cell lines has provided new opportunities for applying contemporary genetic engineering techniques to the rat and enhancing the use of this rodent in scientific research. Technical refinements that improve the stability of the rat ES cell cultures will undoubtedly further strengthen and broaden the use of these stem cells in biomedical research. Here, we describe a relatively simple and robust protocol that supports the propagation of germ line competent rat ES cells, and outline how tuning stem cell signaling using small molecule inhibitors can be used to both stabilize self-renewal of rat ES cell cultures and aid evaluation of their differentiation potential in vitro.

Applied optics. Gain modulation by graphene plasmons in aperiodic lattice lasers.

PubMed

Chakraborty, S; Marshall, O P; Folland, T G; Kim, Y-J; Grigorenko, A N; Novoselov, K S

2016-01-15

Two-dimensional graphene plasmon-based technologies will enable the development of fast, compact, and inexpensive active photonic elements because, unlike plasmons in other materials, graphene plasmons can be tuned via the doping level. Such tuning is harnessed within terahertz quantum cascade lasers to reversibly alter their emission. This is achieved in two key steps: first, by exciting graphene plasmons within an aperiodic lattice laser and, second, by engineering photon lifetimes, linking graphene's Fermi energy with the round-trip gain. Modal gain and hence laser spectra are highly sensitive to the doping of an integrated, electrically controllable, graphene layer. Demonstration of the integrated graphene plasmon laser principle lays the foundation for a new generation of active, programmable plasmonic metamaterials with major implications across photonics, material sciences, and nanotechnology. Copyright © 2016, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Experimental evaluation of a tuned electromagnetic damper for vibration control of cryogenic turbopump rotors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dirusso, Eliseo; Brown, Gerald V.

1990-01-01

Experiments were performed on a passive tuned electromagnetic damper that could be used for damping rotor vibrations in cryogenic turbopumps for rocket engines. The tests were performed in a rig that used liquid nitrogen to produce cryogenic turbopump temperatures. This damper is most effective at cryogenic temperatures and is not a viable damper at room temperature. The unbalanced amplitude response of the rotor shaft was measured for undamped (baseline) and damped conditions at the critical speeds of the rotor (approx. 5900 to 6400 rpm) and the data were compared. The tests were performed for a speed range between 900 and 10 000 rpm. The tests revealed that the damper is very effective for damping single-mode narrow bandwidth amplitude response but is less effective in damping broadband response or multimode amplitude response.

Symmetry Breaking in Photonic Crystals: On-Demand Dispersion from Flatband to Dirac Cones.

PubMed

Nguyen, H S; Dubois, F; Deschamps, T; Cueff, S; Pardon, A; Leclercq, J-L; Seassal, C; Letartre, X; Viktorovitch, P

2018-02-09

We demonstrate that symmetry breaking opens a new degree of freedom to tailor energy-momentum dispersion in photonic crystals. Using a general theoretical framework in two illustrative practical structures, we show that breaking symmetry enables an on-demand tuning of the local density of states of the same photonic band from zero (Dirac cone dispersion) to infinity (flatband dispersion), as well as any constant density over an adjustable spectral range. As a proof of concept, we demonstrate experimentally the transformation of the very same photonic band from a conventional quadratic shape to a Dirac dispersion, a flatband dispersion, and a multivalley one. This transition is achieved by finely tuning the vertical symmetry breaking of the photonic structures. Our results provide an unprecedented degree of freedom for optical dispersion engineering in planar integrated photonic devices.

Small, synthetic, GC-rich mRNA stem-loop modules 5' proximal to the AUG start-codon predictably tune gene expression in yeast.

PubMed

Lamping, Erwin; Niimi, Masakazu; Cannon, Richard D

2013-07-29

A large range of genetic tools has been developed for the optimal design and regulation of complex metabolic pathways in bacteria. However, fewer tools exist in yeast that can precisely tune the expression of individual enzymes in novel metabolic pathways suitable for industrial-scale production of non-natural compounds. Tuning expression levels is critical for reducing the metabolic burden of over-expressed proteins, the accumulation of toxic intermediates, and for redirecting metabolic flux from native pathways involving essential enzymes without negatively affecting the viability of the host. We have developed a yeast membrane protein hyper-expression system with critical advantages over conventional, plasmid-based, expression systems. However, expression levels are sometimes so high that they adversely affect protein targeting/folding or the growth and/or phenotype of the host. Here we describe the use of small synthetic mRNA control modules that allowed us to predictably tune protein expression levels to any desired level. Down-regulation of expression was achieved by engineering small GC-rich mRNA stem-loops into the 5' UTR that inhibited translation initiation of the yeast ribosomal 43S preinitiation complex (PIC). Exploiting the fact that the yeast 43S PIC has great difficulty scanning through GC-rich mRNA stem-loops, we created yeast strains containing 17 different RNA stem-loop modules in the 5' UTR that expressed varying amounts of the fungal multidrug efflux pump reporter Cdr1p from Candida albicans. Increasing the length of mRNA stem-loops (that contained only GC-pairs) near the AUG start-codon led to a surprisingly large decrease in Cdr1p expression; ~2.7-fold for every additional GC-pair added to the stem, while the mRNA levels remained largely unaffected. An mRNA stem-loop of seven GC-pairs (∆G = -15.8 kcal/mol) reduced Cdr1p expression levels by >99%, and even the smallest possible stem-loop of only three GC-pairs (∆G = -4.4 kcal/mol) inhibited Cdr1p expression by ~50%. We have developed a simple cloning strategy to fine-tune protein expression levels in yeast that has many potential applications in metabolic engineering and the optimization of protein expression in yeast. This study also highlights the importance of considering the use of multiple cloning-sites carefully to preclude unwanted effects on gene expression.

Small, synthetic, GC-rich mRNA stem-loop modules 5′ proximal to the AUG start-codon predictably tune gene expression in yeast

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background A large range of genetic tools has been developed for the optimal design and regulation of complex metabolic pathways in bacteria. However, fewer tools exist in yeast that can precisely tune the expression of individual enzymes in novel metabolic pathways suitable for industrial-scale production of non-natural compounds. Tuning expression levels is critical for reducing the metabolic burden of over-expressed proteins, the accumulation of toxic intermediates, and for redirecting metabolic flux from native pathways involving essential enzymes without negatively affecting the viability of the host. We have developed a yeast membrane protein hyper-expression system with critical advantages over conventional, plasmid-based, expression systems. However, expression levels are sometimes so high that they adversely affect protein targeting/folding or the growth and/or phenotype of the host. Here we describe the use of small synthetic mRNA control modules that allowed us to predictably tune protein expression levels to any desired level. Down-regulation of expression was achieved by engineering small GC-rich mRNA stem-loops into the 5′ UTR that inhibited translation initiation of the yeast ribosomal 43S preinitiation complex (PIC). Results Exploiting the fact that the yeast 43S PIC has great difficulty scanning through GC-rich mRNA stem-loops, we created yeast strains containing 17 different RNA stem-loop modules in the 5′ UTR that expressed varying amounts of the fungal multidrug efflux pump reporter Cdr1p from Candida albicans. Increasing the length of mRNA stem-loops (that contained only GC-pairs) near the AUG start-codon led to a surprisingly large decrease in Cdr1p expression; ~2.7-fold for every additional GC-pair added to the stem, while the mRNA levels remained largely unaffected. An mRNA stem-loop of seven GC-pairs (∆G = −15.8 kcal/mol) reduced Cdr1p expression levels by >99%, and even the smallest possible stem-loop of only three GC-pairs (∆G = −4.4 kcal/mol) inhibited Cdr1p expression by ~50%. Conclusion We have developed a simple cloning strategy to fine-tune protein expression levels in yeast that has many potential applications in metabolic engineering and the optimization of protein expression in yeast. This study also highlights the importance of considering the use of multiple cloning-sites carefully to preclude unwanted effects on gene expression. PMID:23895661

Continuous adjustment of threshold voltage in carbon nanotube field-effect transistors through gate engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhong, Donglai; Zhao, Chenyi; Liu, Lijun; Zhang, Zhiyong; Peng, Lian-Mao

2018-04-01

In this letter, we report a gate engineering method to adjust threshold voltage of carbon nanotube (CNT) based field-effect transistors (FETs) continuously in a wide range, which makes the application of CNT FETs especially in digital integrated circuits (ICs) easier. Top-gated FETs are fabricated using solution-processed CNT network films with stacking Pd and Sc films as gate electrodes. By decreasing the thickness of the lower layer metal (Pd) from 20 nm to zero, the effective work function of the gate decreases, thus tuning the threshold voltage (Vt) of CNT FETs from -1.0 V to 0.2 V. The continuous adjustment of threshold voltage through gate engineering lays a solid foundation for multi-threshold technology in CNT based ICs, which then can simultaneously provide high performance and low power circuit modules on one chip.

Cell encapsulation in biodegradable hydrogels for tissue engineering applications.

PubMed

Nicodemus, Garret D; Bryant, Stephanie J

2008-06-01

Encapsulating cells in biodegradable hydrogels offers numerous attractive features for tissue engineering, including ease of handling, a highly hydrated tissue-like environment for cell and tissue growth, and the ability to form in vivo. Many properties important to the design of a hydrogel scaffold, such as swelling, mechanical properties, degradation, and diffusion, are closely linked to the crosslinked structure of the hydrogel, which is controlled through a variety of different processing conditions. Degradation may be tuned by incorporating hydrolytically or enzymatically labile segments into the hydrogel or by using natural biopolymers that are susceptible to enzymatic degradation. Because cells are present during the gelation process, the number of suitable chemistries and formulations are limited. In this review, we describe important considerations for designing biodegradable hydrogels for cell encapsulation and highlight recent advances in material design and their applications in tissue engineering.

Biofuel metabolic engineering with biosensors.

PubMed

Morgan, Stacy-Anne; Nadler, Dana C; Yokoo, Rayka; Savage, David F

2016-12-01

Metabolic engineering offers the potential to renewably produce important classes of chemicals, particularly biofuels, at an industrial scale. DNA synthesis and editing techniques can generate large pathway libraries, yet identifying the best variants is slow and cumbersome. Traditionally, analytical methods like chromatography and mass spectrometry have been used to evaluate pathway variants, but such techniques cannot be performed with high throughput. Biosensors - genetically encoded components that actuate a cellular output in response to a change in metabolite concentration - are therefore a promising tool for rapid and high-throughput evaluation of candidate pathway variants. Applying biosensors can also dynamically tune pathways in response to metabolic changes, improving balance and productivity. Here, we describe the major classes of biosensors and briefly highlight recent progress in applying them to biofuel-related metabolic pathway engineering. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Lycopene overproduction in Saccharomyces cerevisiae through combining pathway engineering with host engineering.

PubMed

Chen, Yan; Xiao, Wenhai; Wang, Ying; Liu, Hong; Li, Xia; Yuan, Yingjin

2016-06-21

Microbial production of lycopene, a commercially and medically important compound, has received increasing concern in recent years. Saccharomyces cerevisiae is regarded as a safer host for lycopene production than Escherichia coli. However, to date, the lycopene yield (mg/g DCW) in S. cerevisiae was lower than that in E. coli and did not facilitate downstream extraction process, which might be attributed to the incompatibility between host cell and heterologous pathway. Therefore, to achieve lycopene overproduction in S. cerevisiae, both host cell and heterologous pathway should be delicately engineered. In this study, lycopene biosynthesis pathway was constructed by integration of CrtE, CrtB and CrtI in S. cerevisiae CEN.PK2. When YPL062W, a distant genetic locus, was deleted, little acetate was accumulated and approximately 100 % increase in cytosolic acetyl-CoA pool was achieved relative to that in parental strain. Through screening CrtE, CrtB and CrtI from diverse species, an optimal carotenogenic enzyme combination was obtained, and CrtI from Blakeslea trispora (BtCrtI) was found to have excellent performance on lycopene production as well as lycopene proportion in carotenoid. Then, the expression level of BtCrtI was fine-tuned and the effect of cell mating types was also evaluated. Finally, potential distant genetic targets (YJL064W, ROX1, and DOS2) were deleted and a stress-responsive transcription factor INO2 was also up-regulated. Through the above modifications between host cell and carotenogenic pathway, lycopene yield was increased by approximately 22-fold (from 2.43 to 54.63 mg/g DCW). Eventually, in fed-batch fermentation, lycopene production reached 55.56 mg/g DCW, which is the highest reported yield in yeasts. Saccharomyces cerevisiae was engineered to produce lycopene in this study. Through combining host engineering (distant genetic loci and cell mating types) with pathway engineering (enzyme screening and gene fine-tuning), lycopene yield was stepwise improved by 22-fold as compared to the starting strain. The highest lycopene yield (55.56 mg/g DCW) in yeasts was achieved in 5-L bioreactors. This study provides a good reference of combinatorial engineering of host cell and heterologous pathway for microbial overproduction of pharmaceutical and chemical products.

Subjective analysis of energy-management projects

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Morris, R.

The most successful energy conservation projects always reflect human effort to fine-tune engineering and technological improvements. Subjective analysis is a technique for predicting and measuring human interaction before a project begins. The examples of a subjective analysis for office buildings incorporate evaluative questions that are structured to produce numeric values for computer scoring. Each project would need to develop its own pertinent questions and determine appropriate values for the answers.

Software Engineering Institute: Year in Review 2008

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-01-01

security information they need. Now, new podcasts are uploaded every two weeks to the CERT website and iTunes . The series has become increasingly...reused throughout an organization— customer lookup, account lookup, and credit card validation are some examples. 2008 YEAR IN REVIEW...were charged in August 2008 with the theft of more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers from T.J. Maxx, Marshall’s, Barnes & Noble

Tuning Material and Component Properties to Reduce Weight and Increase Blastworthiness of a Notional V-Hull Structure

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-24

for designing blast-resistant structures [16]. The failure mechanisms in unidirectional fiber -reinforced composites of delamination, fiber -matrix...Batra, R.C., and Hassan, N.M., “Blast resistance of unidirectional fiber reinforced composites ,” Composites Part B: Engineering, 2008 18. Liu, X...feature a lighter weight structure, because this enables faster transport, higher mobility, greater fuel conservation, higher payload capacity, and

Fine tuning of transmission features in nanoporous anodic alumina distributed Bragg reflectors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lim, Siew Yee; Law, Cheryl Suwen; Santos, Abel

2018-01-01

This study introduces an innovative apodisation strategy to tune the filtering features of distributed Bragg reflectors based on nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA-DBRs). The effective medium of NAA-DBRs, which is modulated in a stepwise fashion by a pulse-like anodisation approach, is apodised following a logarithmic negative function to engineer the transmission features of NAA-DBRs. We investigate the effect of various apodisation parameters such as apodisation amplitude difference, anodisation period, current density offset and pore widening time, to tune and optimise the optical properties of NAA-DBRs in terms of central wavelength position, full width at half maximum and quality of photonic stop band. The transmission features of NAA-DBRs are shown to be fully controllable with precision across the spectral regions by means of the apodisation parameters. Our study demonstrates that an apodisation strategy can significantly narrow the width and enhance the quality of the characteristic photonic stop band of NAA-DBRs. This rationally designed anodisation approach based on the combination of apodisation and stepwise pulse anodisation enables the development of optical filters with tuneable filtering features to be integrated into optical technologies acting as essential photonic elements in devices such as optical sensors and biosensors.

Three-dimensional cavity nanoantennas with resonant-enhanced surface plasmons as dynamic color-tuning reflectors.

PubMed

Fan, J R; Wu, W G; Chen, Z J; Zhu, J; Li, J

2017-03-09

As plasmonic antennas for surface-plasmon-assisted control of optical fields at specific frequencies, metallic nanostructures have recently emerged as crucial optical components for fascinating plasmonic color engineering. Particularly, plasmonic resonant nanocavities can concentrate lightwave energy to strongly enhance light-matter interactions, making them ideal candidates as optical elements for fine-tuning color displays. Inspired by the color mixing effect found on butterfly wings, a new type of plasmonic, multiresonant, narrow-band (the minimum is about 45 nm), high-reflectance (the maximum is about 95%), and dynamic color-tuning reflector is developed. This is achieved from periodic patterns of plasmonic resonant nanocavities in free-standing capped-pillar nanostructure arrays. Such cavity-coupling structures exhibit multiple narrow-band selective and continuously tunable reflections via plasmon standing-wave resonances. Consequently, they can produce a variety of dark-field vibrant reflective colors with good quality, strong color signal and fine tonal variation at the optical diffraction limit. This proposed multicolor scheme provides an elegant strategy for realizing personalized and customized applications in ultracompact photonic data storage and steganography, colorimetric sensing, 3D holograms and other plasmon-assisted photonic devices.

Tough and tunable adhesion of hydrogels: experiments and models

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Teng; Yuk, Hyunwoo; Lin, Shaoting; Parada, German A.; Zhao, Xuanhe

2017-06-01

As polymer networks infiltrated with water, hydrogels are major constituents of animal and plant bodies and have diverse engineering applications. While natural hydrogels can robustly adhere to other biological materials, such as bonding of tendons and cartilage on bones and adhesive plaques of mussels, it is challenging to achieve such tough adhesions between synthetic hydrogels and engineering materials. Recent experiments show that chemically anchoring long-chain polymer networks of tough synthetic hydrogels on solid surfaces create adhesions tougher than their natural counterparts, but the underlying mechanism has not been well understood. It is also challenging to tune systematically the adhesion of hydrogels on solids. Here, we provide a quantitative understanding of the mechanism for tough adhesions of hydrogels on solid materials via a combination of experiments, theory, and numerical simulations. Using a coupled cohesive-zone and Mullins-effect model validated by experiments, we reveal the interplays of intrinsic work of adhesion, interfacial strength, and energy dissipation in bulk hydrogels in order to achieve tough adhesions. We further show that hydrogel adhesion can be systematically tuned by tailoring the hydrogel geometry and silanization time of solid substrates, corresponding to the control of energy dissipation zone and intrinsic work of adhesion, respectively. The current work further provides a theoretical foundation for rational design of future biocompatible and underwater adhesives.

Bio-Orthogonally Crosslinked, Engineered Protein Hydrogels with Tunable Mechanics and Biochemistry for Cell Encapsulation.

PubMed

Madl, Christopher M; Katz, Lily M; Heilshorn, Sarah C

2016-06-07

Covalently-crosslinked hydrogels are commonly used as 3D matrices for cell culture and transplantation. However, the crosslinking chemistries used to prepare these gels generally cross-react with functional groups present on the cell surface, potentially leading to cytotoxicity and other undesired effects. Bio-orthogonal chemistries have been developed that do not react with biologically relevant functional groups, thereby preventing these undesirable side reactions. However, previously developed biomaterials using these chemistries still possess less than ideal properties for cell encapsulation, such as slow gelation kinetics and limited tuning of matrix mechanics and biochemistry. Here, engineered elastin-like proteins (ELPs) are developed that cross-link via strain-promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC) or Staudinger ligation. The SPAAC-crosslinked materials form gels within seconds and complete gelation within minutes. These hydrogels support the encapsulation and phenotypic maintenance of human mesenchymal stem cells, human umbilical vein endothelial cells, and murine neural progenitor cells. SPAAC-ELP gels exhibit independent tuning of stiffness and cell adhesion, with significantly improved cell viability and spreading observed in materials containing a fibronectin-derived arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) domain. The crosslinking chemistry used permits further material functionalization, even in the presence of cells and serum. These hydrogels are anticipated to be useful in a wide range of applications, including therapeutic cell delivery and bioprinting.

Tunable Engineered Skin Mechanics via Coaxial Electrospun Fiber Core Diameter

PubMed Central

Blackstone, Britani Nicole; Drexler, Jason William

2014-01-01

Autologous engineered skin (ES) offers promise as a treatment for massive full thickness burns. Unfortunately, ES is orders of magnitude weaker than normal human skin causing it to be difficult to apply surgically and subject to damage by mechanical shear in the early phases of engraftment. In addition, no manufacturing strategy has been developed to tune ES biomechanics to approximate the native biomechanics at different anatomic locations. To enhance and tune ES biomechanics, a coaxial (CoA) electrospun scaffold platform was developed from polycaprolactone (PCL, core) and gelatin (shell). The ability of the coaxial fiber core diameter to control both scaffold and tissue mechanics was investigated along with the ability of the gelatin shell to facilitate cell adhesion and skin development compared to pure gelatin, pure PCL, and a gelatin-PCL blended fiber scaffold. CoA ES exhibited increased cellular adhesion and metabolism versus PCL alone or gelatin-PCL blend and promoted the development of well stratified skin with a dense dermal layer and a differentiated epidermal layer. Biomechanics of the scaffold and ES scaled linearly with core diameter suggesting that this scaffold platform could be utilized to tailor ES mechanics for their intended grafting site and reduce graft damage in vitro and in vivo. PMID:24712409

Tunable Noncollinear Antiferromagnetic Resistive Memory through Oxide Superlattice Design

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoffman, Jason D.; Wu, Stephen M.; Kirby, Brian J.; Bhattacharya, Anand

2018-04-01

Antiferromagnets (AFMs) have recently gathered a large amount of attention as a potential replacement for ferromagnets (FMs) in spintronic devices due to their lack of stray magnetic fields, invisibility to external magnetic probes, and faster magnetization dynamics. Their development into a practical technology, however, has been hampered by the small number of materials where the antiferromagnetic state can be both controlled and read out. We show that by relaxing the strict criterion on pure antiferromagnetism, we can engineer an alternative class of magnetic materials that overcome these limitations. This is accomplished by stabilizing a noncollinear magnetic phase in LaNiO3 /La2 /3Sr1 /3MnO3 superlattices. This state can be continuously tuned between AFM and FM coupling through varying the superlattice spacing, strain, applied magnetic field, or temperature. By using this alternative "knob" to tune magnetic ordering, we take a nanoscale materials-by-design approach to engineering ferromagneticlike controllability into antiferromagnetic synthetic magnetic structures. This approach can be used to trade-off between the favorable and unfavorable properties of FMs and AFMs when designing realistic resistive antiferromagnetic memories. We demonstrate a memory device in one such superlattice, where the magnetic state of the noncollinear antiferromagnet is reversibly switched between different orientations using a small magnetic field and read out in real time with anisotropic magnetoresistance measurements.

Realisation and optical engineering of linear variable bandpass filters in nanoporous anodic alumina photonic crystals.

PubMed

Sukarno; Law, Cheryl Suwen; Santos, Abel

2017-06-08

We present the first realisation of linear variable bandpass filters in nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA-LVBPFs) photonic crystal structures. NAA gradient-index filters (NAA-GIFs) are produced by sinusoidal pulse anodisation and used as photonic crystal platforms to generate NAA-LVBPFs. The anodisation period of NAA-GIFs is modified from 650 to 850 s to systematically tune the characteristic photonic stopband of these photonic crystals across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum. Then, the nanoporous structure of NAA-GIFs is gradually widened along the surface under controlled conditions by wet chemical etching using a dip coating approach aiming to create NAA-LVBPFs with finely engineered optical properties. We demonstrate that the characteristic photonic stopband and the iridescent interferometric colour displayed by these photonic crystals can be tuned with precision across the surface of NAA-LVBPFs by adjusting the fabrication and etching conditions. Here, we envisage for the first time the combination of the anodisation period and etching conditions as a cost-competitive, facile, and versatile nanofabrication approach that enables the generation of a broad range of unique LVBPFs covering the spectral regions. These photonic crystal structures open new opportunities for multiple applications, including adaptive optics, hyperspectral imaging, fluorescence diagnostics, spectroscopy, and sensing.

A new multiscale noise tuning stochastic resonance for enhanced fault diagnosis in wind turbine drivetrains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hu, Bingbing; Li, Bing

2016-02-01

It is very difficult to detect weak fault signatures due to the large amount of noise in a wind turbine system. Multiscale noise tuning stochastic resonance (MSTSR) has proved to be an effective way to extract weak signals buried in strong noise. However, the MSTSR method originally based on discrete wavelet transform (DWT) has disadvantages such as shift variance and the aliasing effects in engineering application. In this paper, the dual-tree complex wavelet transform (DTCWT) is introduced into the MSTSR method, which makes it possible to further improve the system output signal-to-noise ratio and the accuracy of fault diagnosis by the merits of DTCWT (nearly shift invariant and reduced aliasing effects). Moreover, this method utilizes the relationship between the two dual-tree wavelet basis functions, instead of matching the single wavelet basis function to the signal being analyzed, which may speed up the signal processing and be employed in on-line engineering monitoring. The proposed method is applied to the analysis of bearing outer ring and shaft coupling vibration signals carrying fault information. The results confirm that the method performs better in extracting the fault features than the original DWT-based MSTSR, the wavelet transform with post spectral analysis, and EMD-based spectral analysis methods.

Translation system engineering in Escherichia coli enhances non-canonical amino acid incorporation into proteins.

PubMed

Gan, Rui; Perez, Jessica G; Carlson, Erik D; Ntai, Ioanna; Isaacs, Farren J; Kelleher, Neil L; Jewett, Michael C

2017-05-01

The ability to site-specifically incorporate non-canonical amino acids (ncAAs) into proteins has made possible the study of protein structure and function in fundamentally new ways, as well as the bio synthesis of unnatural polymers. However, the task of site-specifically incorporating multiple ncAAs into proteins with high purity and yield continues to present a challenge. At the heart of this challenge lies the lower efficiency of engineered orthogonal translation system components compared to their natural counterparts (e.g., translation elements that specifically use a ncAA and do not interact with the cell's natural translation apparatus). Here, we show that evolving and tuning expression levels of multiple components of an engineered translation system together as a whole enhances ncAA incorporation efficiency. Specifically, we increase protein yield when incorporating multiple p-azido-phenylalanine(pAzF) residues into proteins by (i) evolving the Methanocaldococcus jannaschii p-azido-phenylalanyl-tRNA synthetase anti-codon binding domain, (ii) evolving the elongation factor Tu amino acid-binding pocket, and (iii) tuning the expression of evolved translation machinery components in a single vector. Use of the evolved translation machinery in a genomically recoded organism lacking release factor one enabled enhanced multi-site ncAA incorporation into proteins. We anticipate that our approach to orthogonal translation system development will accelerate and expand our ability to site-specifically incorporate multiple ncAAs into proteins and biopolymers, advancing new horizons for synthetic and chemical biotechnology. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 1074-1086. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Morphology control, defect engineering and photoactivity tuning of ZnO crystals by graphene oxide--a unique 2D macromolecular surfactant.

PubMed

Pan, Xiaoyang; Yang, Min-Quan; Xu, Yi-Jun

2014-03-28

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructured materials have received significant attention because of their unique physicochemical and electronic properties. In particular, the functional properties of ZnO are strongly dependent on its morphology and defect structure, particularly for a semiconductor ZnO-based photocatalyst. Here, we demonstrate a simple strategy for simultaneous morphology control, defect engineering and photoactivity tuning of semiconductor ZnO by utilizing the unique surfactant properties of graphene oxide (GO) in a liquid phase. By varying the amount of GO added during the synthesis process, the morphology of ZnO gradually evolves from a one dimensional prismatic rod to a hexagonal tube-like architecture while GO is converted into reduced GO (RGO). In addition, the introduction of GO can create oxygen vacancies in the lattice of ZnO crystals. As a result, the absorption edge of the wide band gap semiconductor ZnO is effectively extended to the visible light region, which thus endows the RGO-ZnO nanocomposites with visible light photoactivity; in contrast, the bare ZnO nanorod is only UV light photoactive. The synergistic integration of the unique morphology and the presence of oxygen vacancies imparts the RGO-ZnO nanocomposite with remarkably enhanced visible light photoactivity as compared to bare ZnO and its counterpart featuring different structural morphologies and the absence of oxygen vacancies. Our promising results highlight the versatility of the 2D GO as a solution-processable macromolecular surfactant to fabricate RGO-semiconductor nanocomposites with tunable morphology, defect structure and photocatalytic performance in a system-materials-engineering way.

Performance Enhancement of Tunable Bandpass Filters Using Selective Etched Ferroelectric Thin Films

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miranda, Felix A.; Mueller, Carl H.; VanKeuls, Fred W.; Subramanyam, Guru; Vignesparamoorthy, Sivaruban

2003-01-01

The inclusion of voltage-tunable barium strontium titanate (BSTO) thin films into planar band pass filters offers tremendous potential to increase their versatility. The ability to tune the passband so as to correct for minor deviations in manufacturing tolerances, or to completely reconfigure the operating frequencies of a microwave communication system, are highly sought-after goals. However, use of ferroelectric films in these devices results in higher dielectric losses, which in turn increase the insertion loss and decrease the quality factors of the filters. This study explores the use of patterned ferroelectric layers to minimize dielectric losses without degrading tunability. Patterning the ferroelectric layers enables us to constrict the width of the ferroelectric layers between the coupled microstrip lines, and minimize losses due to ferroelectric layers. Coupled one-pole microstrip bandpass filters with fundamental resonances at approx. 7.2 GHz and well defined harmonic resonances at approx. 14.4 and approx. 21.6 GHz, were designed, simulated and tested. For one of the filters, experimental results verified that its center frequency was tunable by 528 MHz at a center frequency of 21.957 GHz, with insertion losses varying from 4.3 to 2.5 dB, at 0 and 3.5 V/micron, respectively. These data demonstrate that the tuning-to-loss figure of merit of tunable microstrip filters can be greatly improved using patterned ferroelectric thin films as the tuning element, and tuning can be controlled by engineering the ferroelectric constriction in the coupled sections.

Tuning contact transport mechanisms in bilayer MoSe2 transistors up to Fowler-Nordheim regime

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mouafo, L. D. N.; Godel, F.; Froehlicher, G.; Berciaud, S.; Doudin, B.; Venkata Kamalakar, M.; Dayen, J.-F.

2017-03-01

Atomically thin molybdenum diselenide (MoSe2) is an emerging two-dimensional (2D) semiconductor with significant potential for electronic, optoelectronic, spintronic applications and a common platform for their possible integration. Tuning interface charge transport between such new 2D materials and metallic electrodes is a key issue in 2D device physics and engineering. Here, we report tunable interface charge transport in bilayer MoSe2 field effect transistors with Ti/Au contacts showing high on/off ratio up to 107 at room temperature. Our experiments reveal a detailed map of transport mechanisms obtained by controlling the interface band bending profile via temperature, gate and source-drain bias voltages. This comprehensive investigation leads to demarcating regimes and tuning in transport mechanisms while controlling the interface barrier profile. The careful analysis allows us to identify thermally activated regime at low carrier density, and Schottky barrier driven mechanisms at higher carrier density demonstrating the transition from low-field direct tunneling/ thermionic emission to high-field Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. Furthermore, we show that the transition voltage Vtrans to Fowler-Nordheim correlates directly to the difference between the chemical potential of the metal electrode and the conduction band minimum in the 2D semiconductor, which opens up opportunities for new theoretical and experimental investigations. Our approach being generic can be extended to other 2D materials, and the possibility of tuning contact transport regimes is promising for designing MoSe2 device applications.

A Perspective on the Clinical Translation of Scaffolds for Tissue Engineering

PubMed Central

Webber, Matthew J.; Khan, Omar F.; Sydlik, Stefanie A.; Tang, Benjamin C.; Langer, Robert

2016-01-01

Scaffolds have been broadly applied within tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to regenerate, replace, or augment diseased or damaged tissue. For a scaffold to perform optimally, several design considerations must be addressed, with an eye toward the eventual form, function, and tissue site. The chemical and mechanical properties of the scaffold must be tuned to optimize the interaction with cells and surrounding tissues. For complex tissue engineering, mass transport limitations, vascularization, and host tissue integration are important considerations. As the tissue architecture to be replaced becomes more complex and hierarchical, scaffold design must also match this complexity to recapitulate a functioning tissue. We outline these design constraints and highlight creative and emerging strategies to overcome limitations and modulate scaffold properties for optimal regeneration. We also highlight some of the most advanced strategies that have seen clinical application and discuss the hurdles that must be overcome for clinical use and commercialization of tissue engineering technologies. Finally, we provide a perspective on the future of scaffolds as a functional contributor to advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. PMID:25201605

A perspective on the clinical translation of scaffolds for tissue engineering.

PubMed

Webber, Matthew J; Khan, Omar F; Sydlik, Stefanie A; Tang, Benjamin C; Langer, Robert

2015-03-01

Scaffolds have been broadly applied within tissue engineering and regenerative medicine to regenerate, replace, or augment diseased or damaged tissue. For a scaffold to perform optimally, several design considerations must be addressed, with an eye toward the eventual form, function, and tissue site. The chemical and mechanical properties of the scaffold must be tuned to optimize the interaction with cells and surrounding tissues. For complex tissue engineering, mass transport limitations, vascularization, and host tissue integration are important considerations. As the tissue architecture to be replaced becomes more complex and hierarchical, scaffold design must also match this complexity to recapitulate a functioning tissue. We outline these design constraints and highlight creative and emerging strategies to overcome limitations and modulate scaffold properties for optimal regeneration. We also highlight some of the most advanced strategies that have seen clinical application and discuss the hurdles that must be overcome for clinical use and commercialization of tissue engineering technologies. Finally, we provide a perspective on the future of scaffolds as a functional contributor to advancing tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.

Foundations for value education in engineering: the Indian experience.

PubMed

Gupta, Amitabha

2015-04-01

The objective of this paper is to discuss some of the foundational issues centering around the question of integrating education in human values with professional engineering education: its necessity and justification. The paper looks at the efforts in 'tuning' the technical education system in India to the national goals in the various phases of curriculum development. The contribution of the engineering profession in national development and India's self-sufficiency is crucially linked with the institutionalization of expertise and the role of morality and responsibility. This linkage can be created through a proper understanding of the social role of the profession-what motivates the professionals and what makes professional life meaningful. Value education facilitates the process of moral maturity and the development of a 'holistic' mindset. This paper deals with the need to create such a mindset, the human values associated with it and gives examples of efforts to impart such education through 'action-oriented' programmes introduced in some institutes of engineering in India.

Determination of two-stroke engine exhaust noise by the method of characteristics

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, A. D.; Brown, G. L.

1981-01-01

A computational technique was developed for the method of characteristics solution of a one-dimensional flow in a duct as applied to the wave action in an engine exhaust system. By using the method, it was possible to compute the unsteady flow in both straight pipe and tuned expansion chamber exhaust systems as matched to the flow from the cylinder of a small two-stroke engine. The radiated exhaust noise was then determined by assuming monopole radiation from the tailpipe outlet. Very good agreement with experiment on an operation engine was achieved in the calculation of both the third octave radiated noise and the associated pressure cycles at several locations in the different exhaust systems. Of particular interest is the significance of nonlinear behavior which results in wave steepening and shock wave formation. The method computes the precise paths on the x-t plane of a finite number of C(sub +), C(sub -) and P characteristics, thereby obtaining high accuracy in determining the tailpipe outlet velocity and the radiated noise.

Users manual for program NYQUIST: Liquid rocket nyquist plots developed for use on a PC computer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Armstrong, Wilbur C.

1992-06-01

The piping in a liquid rocket can assume complex configurations due to multiple tanks, multiple engines, and structures that must be piped around. The capability to handle some of these complex configurations have been incorporated into the NYQUIST code. The capability to modify the input on line has been implemented. The configurations allowed include multiple tanks, multiple engines, and the splitting of a pipe into unequal segments going to different (or the same) engines. This program will handle the following type elements: straight pipes, bends, inline accumulators, tuned stub accumulators, Helmholtz resonators, parallel resonators, pumps, split pipes, multiple tanks, and multiple engines. The code is too large to compile as one program using Microsoft FORTRAN 5; therefore, the code was broken into two segments: NYQUIST1.FOR and NYQUIST2.FOR. These are compiled separately and then linked together. The final run code is not too large (approximately equals 344,000 bytes).

Determination of two-stroke engine exhaust noise by the method of characteristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jones, A. D.; Brown, G. L.

1981-06-01

A computational technique was developed for the method of characteristics solution of a one-dimensional flow in a duct as applied to the wave action in an engine exhaust system. By using the method, it was possible to compute the unsteady flow in both straight pipe and tuned expansion chamber exhaust systems as matched to the flow from the cylinder of a small two-stroke engine. The radiated exhaust noise was then determined by assuming monopole radiation from the tailpipe outlet. Very good agreement with experiment on an operation engine was achieved in the calculation of both the third octave radiated noise and the associated pressure cycles at several locations in the different exhaust systems. Of particular interest is the significance of nonlinear behavior which results in wave steepening and shock wave formation. The method computes the precise paths on the x-t plane of a finite number of C(sub +), C(sub -) and P characteristics, thereby obtaining high accuracy in determining the tailpipe outlet velocity and the radiated noise.

Design and assessment of engineered CRISPR-Cpf1 and its use for genome editing.

PubMed

Li, Bin; Zeng, Chunxi; Dong, Yizhou

2018-05-01

Cpf1, a CRISPR endonuclease discovered in Prevotella and Francisella 1 bacteria, offers an alternative platform for CRISPR-based genome editing beyond the commonly used CRISPR-Cas9 system originally discovered in Streptococcus pyogenes. This protocol enables the design of engineered CRISPR-Cpf1 components, both CRISPR RNAs (crRNAs) to guide the endonuclease and Cpf1 mRNAs to express the endonuclease protein, and provides experimental procedures for effective genome editing using this system. We also describe quantification of genome-editing activity and off-target effects of the engineered CRISPR-Cpf1 in human cell lines using both T7 endonuclease I (T7E1) assay and targeted deep sequencing. This protocol enables rapid construction and identification of engineered crRNAs and Cpf1 mRNAs to enhance genome-editing efficiency using the CRISPR-Cpf1 system, as well as assessment of target specificity within 2 months. This protocol may also be appropriate for fine-tuning other types of CRISPR systems.

Design and engineering of organic molecules for customizable Terahertz tags

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ray, Shaumik; Dash, Jyotirmayee; Nallappan, Kathirvel; Kaware, Vaibhav; Basutkar, Nitin; Ambade, Ashootosh; Joshi, Kavita; Pesala, Bala

2014-03-01

Terahertz (THz) frequency band lies between the microwave and infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum. Molecules having strong resonances in this frequency range are ideal for realizing "Terahertz tags" which can be easily incorporated into various materials. THz spectroscopy of molecules, especially at frequencies below 10 THz, provides valuable information on the low frequency vibrational modes, viz. intermolecular vibrational modes, hydrogen bond stretching, torsional vibrations in several chemical and biological compounds. So far there have been very few attempts to engineer molecules which can demonstrate customizable resonances in the THz frequency region. In this paper, Diamidopyridine (DAP) based molecules are used as a model system to demonstrate engineering of THz resonances (< 10 THz) by fine-tuning the molecular mass and bond strengths. Density Functional Theory (DFT) simulations have been carried out to explain the origin of THz resonances and factors contributing to the shift in resonances due to the addition of various functional groups. The design approach presented here can be easily extended to engineer various organic molecules suitable for THz tags application.

Users manual for program NYQUIST: Liquid rocket nyquist plots developed for use on a PC computer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Armstrong, Wilbur C.

1992-01-01

The piping in a liquid rocket can assume complex configurations due to multiple tanks, multiple engines, and structures that must be piped around. The capability to handle some of these complex configurations have been incorporated into the NYQUIST code. The capability to modify the input on line has been implemented. The configurations allowed include multiple tanks, multiple engines, and the splitting of a pipe into unequal segments going to different (or the same) engines. This program will handle the following type elements: straight pipes, bends, inline accumulators, tuned stub accumulators, Helmholtz resonators, parallel resonators, pumps, split pipes, multiple tanks, and multiple engines. The code is too large to compile as one program using Microsoft FORTRAN 5; therefore, the code was broken into two segments: NYQUIST1.FOR and NYQUIST2.FOR. These are compiled separately and then linked together. The final run code is not too large (approximately equals 344,000 bytes).

Engineering quorum sensing signaling of Pseudomonas for enhanced wastewater treatment and electricity harvest: A review.

PubMed

Yong, Yang-Chun; Wu, Xiang-Yang; Sun, Jian-Zhong; Cao, Ying-Xiu; Song, Hao

2015-12-01

Cell-cell communication that enables synchronized population behaviors in microbial communities dictates various biological processes. It is of great interest to unveil the underlying mechanisms of fine-tuning cell-cell communication to achieve environmental and energy applications. Pseudomonas is a ubiquitous microbe in environments that had wide applications in bioremediation and bioenergy generation. The quorum sensing (QS, a generic cell-cell communication mechanism) systems of Pseudomonas underlie the aromatics biodegradation, denitrification and electricity harvest. Here, we reviewed the recent progresses of the genetic strategies in engineering QS circuits to improve efficiency of wastewater treatment and the performance of microbial fuel cells. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Incorporating metals into de novo proteins.

PubMed

Peacock, Anna F A

2013-12-01

The de novo design of artificial metalloproteins from first-principles is a powerful strategy with which to establish the minimum structure required for function, as well as to identify the important design features for tuning the chemistry of the coordinated metal ion. Herein we describe recent contributions to this field, covering metallo-porphyrin, mononuclear and multinuclear metal ion sites engineered into de novo proteins. Using miniature artificial scaffolds these examples demonstrate that complex natural protein folds are not required to mimic naturally occurring metal ion sites in proteins. More importantly progress is being made to engineer de novo metalloproteins capable of performing functions not in the repertoire of biology. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering of gadofluoroprobes: Broad-spectrum applications from cancer diagnosis to therapy

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dutta, Ranu A., E-mail: ranu.dutta16@gmail.com; NanoeRA medicare Private Limited, Uttar Pradesh; Sharma, Prashant K.

2014-01-13

The engineering of the Gadolinium based nanostructures have been demonstrated in this paper. Nanostructures of α-Gd{sub 2}S{sub 3} exhibit a unique transition between ferromagnetic state and paramagnetic state of the system. It was demonstrated that their properties could be tuned for a wide range of applications ranging from hyperthermia to Magnetic Resonance Imaging, owing to their magnetic moments and large relaxivities. Metallic Gd nanoparticles obtained by reduction method were employed for cancer imaging in mice. The Gd nanoparticles were coated with Curcumin and their biomedical implications in the field of simultaneous diagnosis and therapy of cancer and related diseases hasmore » been discussed.« less

Synthesis of Colloidal Nanocrystal Heterostructures for High-Efficiency Light Emission

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Yifei

Group II-VI semiconductor nanocrystals, particularly those based on ZnCdS(Se), can be synthesized using well established chemical colloidal processes, and have been a subject of extensive research over the past decade. Their optical properties can be easily tuned through size and composition variations, making them very attractive for many optoelectronic applications including light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and solar cells. Incorporation of diverse internal heterostructures provides an additional means for tuning the optical and electronic properties of conventional ZnCdS(Se) nanocrystals. Extensive bandgap and strain engineering may be applied to the resultant nanocrystal heterostructures to achieve desirable properties and enhanced performance. Despite the high scientific and practical interests of this unique class of nanomaterials, limited efforts have been made to explore their synthesis and potential device applications. This thesis focuses on the synthesis, engineering, characterization, and device demonstration of two types of CdSe-based nanocrystal heterostructures: core/multishell quantum dots (QDs) and QD quantum wells (QDQWs). Their optical properties have been tuned by bandgap and strain engineering to achieve efficient photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL).Firstly, yellow light-emitting CdSe QDs with a strain-compensated ZnS/ZnCdS bilayer shell were synthesized using the successive ion layer adsorption and reaction technique and the effects of the shell on the luminescent properties were investigated. The core/shell/shell QDs enjoyed the benefits of excellent exciton confinement by the ZnS intermediate shell and strain compensation by the ZnCdS outer shell, and exhibited 40% stronger PL and a smaller peak redshift upon shell growth compared to conventional CdSe/ZnCdS/ZnS core/shell/shell QDs with an intermediate lattice adaptor. CdSe/ZnS/ZnCdS QD-LEDs had a luminance of 558 cd/m2 at 20 mA/cm 2, 28% higher than that of CdSe/ZnCdS/ZnS QD-LEDs. Secondly, CdS/CdSe/ZnS QDQWs were synthesized and their luminescence was tuned in an effort to realize efficient blue light emission from CdSe nanocrystals. CdSe QWs with a well width of 1.05 nm emitted at 467 nm with a spectral full-width-at-half-maximum of ~30 nm. With a 3-monolayer ZnS cladding layer which also acts as a passivating and strain-compensating layer, the QDQWs acquired a ~35% PL quantum yield (QY). Blue and green EL was obtained from QDQW-LEDs with 3-4.5 monolayers (MLs) QWs. It was found that as the well width and peak wavelength decreased, the overall EL was increasingly dominated by defect state emission, suggesting the device performance is mainly limited by poor charge injection into the QDQWs.

Data-Mining Toolset Developed for Determining Turbine Engine Part Life Consumption

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Litt, Jonathan S.

2003-01-01

The current practice in aerospace turbine engine maintenance is to remove components defined as life-limited parts after a fixed time, on the basis of a predetermined number of flight cycles. Under this schedule-based maintenance practice, the worst-case usage scenario is used to determine the usable life of the component. As shown, this practice often requires removing a part before its useful life is fully consumed, thus leading to higher maintenance cost. To address this issue, the NASA Glenn Research Center, in a collaborative effort with Pratt & Whitney, has developed a generic modular toolset that uses data-mining technology to parameterize life usage models for maintenance purposes. The toolset enables a "condition-based" maintenance approach, where parts are removed on the basis of the cumulative history of the severity of operation they have experienced. The toolset uses data-mining technology to tune life-consumption models on the basis of operating and maintenance histories. The flight operating conditions, represented by measured variables within the engine, are correlated with repair records for the engines, generating a relationship between the operating condition of the part and its service life. As shown, with the condition-based maintenance approach, the lifelimited part is in service until its usable life is fully consumed. This approach will lower maintenance costs while maintaining the safety of the propulsion system. The toolset is a modular program that is easily customizable by users. First, appropriate parametric damage accumulation models, which will be functions of engine variables, must be defined. The tool then optimizes the models to match the historical data by computing an effective-cycle metric that reduces the unexplained variability in component life due to each damage mode by accounting for the variability in operational severity. The damage increment due to operating conditions experienced during each flight is used to compute the effective cycles and ultimately the replacement time. Utilities to handle data problems, such as gaps in the flight data records, are included in the toolset. The tool was demonstrated using the first stage, high-pressure turbine blade of the PW4077 engine (Pratt & Whitney, East Hartford, CT). The damage modes considered were thermomechanical fatigue and oxidation/erosion. Each PW4077 engine contains 82 first-stage, high-pressure turbine blades, and data from a fleet of engines were used to tune the life-consumption models. The models took into account not only measured variables within the engine, but also unmeasured variables such as engine health parameters that are affected by degradation of the engine due to aging. The tool proved effective at predicting the average number of blades scrapped over time due to each damage mode, per engine, given the operating history of the engine. The customizable tools are available to interested parties within the aerospace community.

Tuning the dead-layer behavior of La{sub 0.67}Sr{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} via interfacial engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Peng, R.; Xu, H. C.; Xia, M.

The dead-layer behavior, deterioration of the bulk properties in near-interface layers, restricts the applications of many oxide heterostructures. We present the systematic study of the dead-layer in La{sub 0.67}Sr{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3}/SrTiO{sub 3} grown by ozone-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Dead-layer behavior is systematically tuned by varying the interfacial doping, while unchanged with varied doping at any other atomic layers. In situ photoemission and low energy electron diffraction measurements suggest intrinsic oxygen vacancies at the surface of ultra-thin La{sub 0.67}Sr{sub 0.33}MnO{sub 3}, which are more concentrated in thinner films. Our results show correlation between interfacial doping, oxygen vacancies, and the dead-layer, whichmore » can be explained by a simplified electrostatic model.« less

Tuning bad metal and non-Fermi liquid behavior in a Mott material: Rare-earth nickelate thin films

PubMed Central

Mikheev, Evgeny; Hauser, Adam J.; Himmetoglu, Burak; Moreno, Nelson E.; Janotti, Anderson; Van de Walle, Chris G.; Stemmer, Susanne

2015-01-01

Resistances that exceed the Mott-Ioffe-Regel limit (known as bad metal behavior) and non-Fermi liquid behavior are ubiquitous features of the normal state of many strongly correlated materials. We establish the conditions that lead to bad metal and non-Fermi liquid phases in NdNiO3, which exhibits a prototype bandwidth-controlled metal-insulator transition. We show that resistance saturation is determined by the magnitude of Ni eg orbital splitting, which can be tuned by strain in epitaxial films, causing the appearance of bad metal behavior under certain conditions. The results shed light on the nature of a crossover to a non-Fermi liquid metal phase and provide a predictive criterion for Anderson localization. They elucidate a seemingly complex phase behavior as a function of film strain and confinement and provide guidelines for orbital engineering and novel devices. PMID:26601140

Mini Photobioreactors for in Vivo Real-Time Characterization and Evolutionary Tuning of Bacterial Optogenetic Circuit.

PubMed

Wang, Hsinkai; Yang, Ya-Tang

2017-09-15

The current standard protocols for characterizing the optogenetic circuit of bacterial cells using flow cytometry in light tubes and light exposure of culture plates are tedious, labor-intensive, and cumbersome. In this work, we engineer a bioreactor with working volume of ∼10 mL for in vivo real-time optogenetic characterization of E. coli with a CcaS-CcaR light-sensing system. In the bioreactor, optical density measurements, reporter protein fluorescence detection, and light input stimuli are provided by four light-emitting diode sources and two photodetectors. Once calibrated, the device can cultivate microbial cells and record their growth and gene expression without human intervention. We measure gene expression during cell growth with different organic substrates (glucose, succinate, acetate, pyruvate) as carbon sources in minimal medium and demonstrate evolutionary tuning of the optogenetic circuit by serial dilution passages.

Piezoelectric tunable microwave superconducting cavity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carvalho, N. C.; Fan, Y.; Tobar, M. E.

2016-09-01

In the context of engineered quantum systems, there is a demand for superconducting tunable devices, able to operate with high-quality factors at power levels equivalent to only a few photons. In this work, we developed a 3D microwave re-entrant cavity with such characteristics ready to provide a very fine-tuning of a high-Q resonant mode over a large dynamic range. This system has an electronic tuning mechanism based on a mechanically amplified piezoelectric actuator, which controls the resonator dominant mode frequency by changing the cavity narrow gap by very small displacements. Experiments were conducted at room and dilution refrigerator temperatures showing a large dynamic range up to 4 GHz and 1 GHz, respectively, and were compared to a finite element method model simulated data. At elevated microwave power input, nonlinear thermal effects were observed to destroy the superconductivity of the cavity due to the large electric fields generated in the small gap of the re-entrant cavity.

Universal Stabilization of a Parametrically Coupled Qubit

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Yao; Chakram, S.; Leung, N.; Earnest, N.; Naik, R. K.; Huang, Ziwen; Groszkowski, Peter; Kapit, Eliot; Koch, Jens; Schuster, David I.

2017-10-01

We autonomously stabilize arbitrary states of a qubit through parametric modulation of the coupling between a fixed frequency qubit and resonator. The coupling modulation is achieved with a tunable coupling design, in which the qubit and the resonator are connected in parallel to a superconducting quantum interference device. This allows for quasistatic tuning of the qubit-cavity coupling strength from 12 MHz to more than 300 MHz. Additionally, the coupling can be dynamically modulated, allowing for single-photon exchange in 6 ns. Qubit coherence times exceeding 20 μ s are maintained over the majority of the range of tuning, limited primarily by the Purcell effect. The parametric stabilization technique realized using the tunable coupler involves engineering the qubit bath through a combination of photon nonconserving sideband interactions realized by flux modulation, and direct qubit Rabi driving. We demonstrate that the qubit can be stabilized to arbitrary states on the Bloch sphere with a worst-case fidelity exceeding 80%.

Tunable electronic and magnetic properties of two-dimensional materials and their one-dimensional derivatives.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhuhua; Liu, Xiaofei; Yu, Jin; Hang, Yang; Li, Yao; Guo, Yufeng; Xu, Ying; Sun, Xu; Zhou, Jianxin; Guo, Wanlin

2016-01-01

Low-dimensional materials exhibit many exceptional properties and functionalities which can be efficiently tuned by externally applied force or fields. Here we review the current status of research on tuning the electronic and magnetic properties of low-dimensional carbon, boron nitride, metal-dichalcogenides, phosphorene nanomaterials by applied engineering strain, external electric field and interaction with substrates, etc, with particular focus on the progress of computational methods and studies. We highlight the similarities and differences of the property modulation among one- and two-dimensional nanomaterials. Recent breakthroughs in experimental demonstration of the tunable functionalities in typical nanostructures are also presented. Finally, prospective and challenges for applying the tunable properties into functional devices are discussed. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2016, 6:324-350. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1251 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article.

Tuning the autophagy-inducing activity of lanthanide-based nanocrystals through specific surface-coating peptides

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Yunjiao; Zheng, Fang; Yang, Tianlong; Zhou, Wei; Liu, Yun; Man, Na; Zhang, Li; Jin, Nan; Dou, Qingqing; Zhang, Yong; Li, Zhengquan; Wen, Long-Ping

2012-09-01

The induction of autophagy on exposure of cells to a variety of nanoparticles represents both a safety concern and an application niche for engineered nanomaterials. Here, we show that a short synthetic peptide, RE-1, identified by means of phage display, binds to lanthanide (LN) oxide and upconversion nanocrystals (UCN), forms a stable coating layer on the nanoparticles’ surface, and effectively abrogates their autophagy-inducing activity. Furthermore, RE-1 peptide variants exhibit a differentially reduced binding capability, and correspondingly, a varied ability to reduce the autophagic response. We also show that the addition of an arginine-glycine-aspartic acid (RGD) motif to RE-1 enhances autophagy for LN UCN through the interaction with integrins. RE-1 and its variants provide a versatile tool for tuning material-cell interactions to achieve the desired level of autophagy, and may prove useful for the various diagnostic and therapeutic applications of LN-based nanomaterials and nanodevices.

Tailoring local density of optical states to control emission intensity and anisotropy of quantum dots in hybrid photonic-plasmonic templates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Indukuri, Chaitanya; Mukherjee, Arnab; Basu, J. K.

2015-03-01

We report results of controlled tuning of the local density of states (LDOS) in versatile, flexible, and hierarchical self assembled plasmonic templates. Using 5 nm diameter gold (Au) spherical nanoantenna within a polymer template randomly dispersed with quantum dots, we show how the photoluminescence intensity and lifetime anisotropy of these dots can be significantly enhanced through LDOS tuning. Finite difference time domain simulations corroborate the experimental observations and extend the regime of enhancement to a wider range of geometric and spectral parameters bringing out the versatility of these functional plasmonic templates. It is also demonstrated how the templates act as plasmonic resonators for effectively engineer giant enhancement of the scattering efficiency of these nano antenna embedded in the templates. Our work provides an alternative method to achieve spontaneous emission intensity and anisotropy enhancement with true nanoscale plasmon resonators.

Fly Photoreceptors Encode Phase Congruency

PubMed Central

Friederich, Uwe; Billings, Stephen A.; Hardie, Roger C.; Juusola, Mikko; Coca, Daniel

2016-01-01

More than five decades ago it was postulated that sensory neurons detect and selectively enhance behaviourally relevant features of natural signals. Although we now know that sensory neurons are tuned to efficiently encode natural stimuli, until now it was not clear what statistical features of the stimuli they encode and how. Here we reverse-engineer the neural code of Drosophila photoreceptors and show for the first time that photoreceptors exploit nonlinear dynamics to selectively enhance and encode phase-related features of temporal stimuli, such as local phase congruency, which are invariant to changes in illumination and contrast. We demonstrate that to mitigate for the inherent sensitivity to noise of the local phase congruency measure, the nonlinear coding mechanisms of the fly photoreceptors are tuned to suppress random phase signals, which explains why photoreceptor responses to naturalistic stimuli are significantly different from their responses to white noise stimuli. PMID:27336733

Scalable Engineering of Quantum Optical Information Processing Architectures (SEQUOIA)

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-12-13

arrays. Figure 4: An 8-channel fiber-coupled SNSPD array. 1.4 Post -fabrication-tunable linear optic fabrication We have analyzed the...performance of the programmable nanophotonic processor (PNP) that is dynamically tunable via post -fabrication active phase tuning to predict the scaling of...various device losses. PACS numbers: 42.50. Ex , 03.67.Dd, 03.67.Lx, 42.50.Dv I. INTRODUCTION Quantum key distribution (QKD) enables two distant authenticated

ML-o-Scope: A Diagnostic Visualization System for Deep Machine Learning Pipelines

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-05-16

ML-o-scope: a diagnostic visualization system for deep machine learning pipelines Daniel Bruckner Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences... machine learning pipelines 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR(S) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f...the system as a support for tuning large scale object-classification pipelines. 1 Introduction A new generation of pipelined machine learning models

Optical Tuning of the Reflection of Azobenzene Liquid Crystal Doped Cholesterics (Preprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-04-01

RG 6. AUTHOR(S) Uladzimir A . Hrozhyk, Svetlana V . Serak, and Nelson V . Tabiryan (Beam Engineering for Advanced Measurements Corporation) Timothy...Reflection of Azobenzene Liquid Crystal Doped Cholesterics** By Uladzimir A . Hrozhyk, Svetlana V Serak, Nelson V . Tabil)lall * and Timothy 1. Bunning...1249. [5] T. Ikeda, O. Tsutsumi, Science 1995, 268, 1873. [6] T. Ikeda, J Mat. Chern. 2003, 13, 2037. [7] A . Urbas, J. Klosterman, V . Tondiglia, L

Molecular Strategies for Morphology Control in Semiconducting Polymers for Optoelectronics.

PubMed

Rahmanudin, Aiman; Sivula, Kevin

2017-06-28

Solution-processable semiconducting polymers have been explored over the last decades for their potential applications in inexpensively fabricated transistors, diodes and photovoltaic cells. However, a remaining challenge in the field is to control the solid-state self-assembly of polymer chains in thin films devices, as the aspects of (semi)crystallinity, grain boundaries, and chain entanglement can drastically affect intra-and inter-molecular charge transport/transfer and thus device performance. In this short review we examine how the aspects of molecular weight and chain rigidity affect solid-state self-assembly and highlight molecular engineering strategies to tune thin film morphology. Side chain engineering, flexibly linking conjugation segments, and block co-polymer strategies are specifically discussed with respect to their effect on field effect charge carrier mobility in transistors and power conversion efficiency in solar cells. Example systems are taken from recent literature including work from our laboratories to illustrate the potential of molecular engineering semiconducting polymers.

Engineering the thermal conductivity along an individual silicon nanowire by selective helium ion irradiation.

PubMed

Zhao, Yunshan; Liu, Dan; Chen, Jie; Zhu, Liyan; Belianinov, Alex; Ovchinnikova, Olga S; Unocic, Raymond R; Burch, Matthew J; Kim, Songkil; Hao, Hanfang; Pickard, Daniel S; Li, Baowen; Thong, John T L

2017-06-27

The ability to engineer the thermal conductivity of materials allows us to control the flow of heat and derive novel functionalities such as thermal rectification, thermal switching and thermal cloaking. While this could be achieved by making use of composites and metamaterials at bulk length-scales, engineering the thermal conductivity at micro- and nano-scale dimensions is considerably more challenging. In this work, we show that the local thermal conductivity along a single Si nanowire can be tuned to a desired value (between crystalline and amorphous limits) with high spatial resolution through selective helium ion irradiation with a well-controlled dose. The underlying mechanism is understood through molecular dynamics simulations and quantitative phonon-defect scattering rate analysis, where the behaviour of thermal conductivity with dose is attributed to the accumulation and agglomeration of scattering centres at lower doses. Beyond a threshold dose, a crystalline-amorphous transition was observed.

Rationally engineered Troponin C modulates in vivo cardiac function and performance in health and disease.

PubMed

Shettigar, Vikram; Zhang, Bo; Little, Sean C; Salhi, Hussam E; Hansen, Brian J; Li, Ning; Zhang, Jianchao; Roof, Steve R; Ho, Hsiang-Ting; Brunello, Lucia; Lerch, Jessica K; Weisleder, Noah; Fedorov, Vadim V; Accornero, Federica; Rafael-Fortney, Jill A; Gyorke, Sandor; Janssen, Paul M L; Biesiadecki, Brandon J; Ziolo, Mark T; Davis, Jonathan P

2016-02-24

Treatment for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the world, has progressed little for several decades. Here we develop a protein engineering approach to directly tune in vivo cardiac contractility by tailoring the ability of the heart to respond to the Ca(2+) signal. Promisingly, our smartly formulated Ca(2+)-sensitizing TnC (L48Q) enhances heart function without any adverse effects that are commonly observed with positive inotropes. In a myocardial infarction (MI) model of heart failure, expression of TnC L48Q before the MI preserves cardiac function and performance. Moreover, expression of TnC L48Q after the MI therapeutically enhances cardiac function and performance, without compromising survival. We demonstrate engineering TnC can specifically and precisely modulate cardiac contractility that when combined with gene therapy can be employed as a therapeutic strategy for heart disease.

Rationally engineered Troponin C modulates in vivo cardiac function and performance in health and disease

PubMed Central

Shettigar, Vikram; Zhang, Bo; Little, Sean C.; Salhi, Hussam E.; Hansen, Brian J.; Li, Ning; Zhang, Jianchao; Roof, Steve R.; Ho, Hsiang-Ting; Brunello, Lucia; Lerch, Jessica K.; Weisleder, Noah; Fedorov, Vadim V.; Accornero, Federica; Rafael-Fortney, Jill A.; Gyorke, Sandor; Janssen, Paul M. L.; Biesiadecki, Brandon J.; Ziolo, Mark T.; Davis, Jonathan P.

2016-01-01

Treatment for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the world, has progressed little for several decades. Here we develop a protein engineering approach to directly tune in vivo cardiac contractility by tailoring the ability of the heart to respond to the Ca2+ signal. Promisingly, our smartly formulated Ca2+-sensitizing TnC (L48Q) enhances heart function without any adverse effects that are commonly observed with positive inotropes. In a myocardial infarction (MI) model of heart failure, expression of TnC L48Q before the MI preserves cardiac function and performance. Moreover, expression of TnC L48Q after the MI therapeutically enhances cardiac function and performance, without compromising survival. We demonstrate engineering TnC can specifically and precisely modulate cardiac contractility that when combined with gene therapy can be employed as a therapeutic strategy for heart disease. PMID:26908229

Engineering the thermal conductivity along an individual silicon nanowire by selective helium ion irradiation

PubMed Central

Zhao, Yunshan; Liu, Dan; Chen, Jie; Zhu, Liyan; Belianinov, Alex; Ovchinnikova, Olga S.; Unocic, Raymond R.; Burch, Matthew J.; Kim, Songkil; Hao, Hanfang; Pickard, Daniel S.; Li, Baowen; Thong, John T. L.

2017-01-01

The ability to engineer the thermal conductivity of materials allows us to control the flow of heat and derive novel functionalities such as thermal rectification, thermal switching and thermal cloaking. While this could be achieved by making use of composites and metamaterials at bulk length-scales, engineering the thermal conductivity at micro- and nano-scale dimensions is considerably more challenging. In this work, we show that the local thermal conductivity along a single Si nanowire can be tuned to a desired value (between crystalline and amorphous limits) with high spatial resolution through selective helium ion irradiation with a well-controlled dose. The underlying mechanism is understood through molecular dynamics simulations and quantitative phonon-defect scattering rate analysis, where the behaviour of thermal conductivity with dose is attributed to the accumulation and agglomeration of scattering centres at lower doses. Beyond a threshold dose, a crystalline-amorphous transition was observed. PMID:28653663

Engineering Globular Protein Vesicles through Tunable Self-Assembly of Recombinant Fusion Proteins

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jang, Yeongseon; Choi, Won Tae; Heller, William T.

Vesicles assembled from folded, globular proteins have potential for functions different from traditional lipid or polymeric vesicles. However, they also present challenges in understanding the assembly process and controlling vesicle properties. From detailed investigation of the assembly behavior of recombinant fusion proteins, this work reports a simple strategy to engineer protein vesicles containing functional, globular domains. This is achieved through tunable self-assembly of recombinant globular fusion proteins containing leucine zippers and elastin-like polypeptides. The fusion proteins form complexes in solution via high affinity binding of the zippers, and transition through dynamic coacervates to stable hollow vesicles upon warming. The thermalmore » driving force, which can be tuned by protein concentration or temperature, controls both vesicle size and whether vesicles are single or bi-layered. Lastly, these results provide critical information to engineer globular protein vesicles via self-assembly with desired size and membrane structure.« less

Engineering the thermal conductivity along an individual silicon nanowire by selective helium ion irradiation

DOE PAGES

Zhao, Yunshan; Liu, Dan; Chen, Jie; ...

2017-06-27

The ability to engineer the thermal conductivity of materials allows us to control the flow of heat and derive novel functionalities such as thermal rectification, thermal switching and thermal cloaking. While this could be achieved by making use of composites and metamaterials at bulk length-scales, engineering the thermal conductivity at micro- and nano-scale dimensions is considerably more challenging. Here, we show that the local thermal conductivity along a single Si nanowire can be tuned to a desired value (between crystalline and amorphous limits) with high spatial resolution through selective helium ion irradiation with a well-controlled dose. The underlying mechanism ismore » understood through molecular dynamics simulations and quantitative phonon-defect scattering rate analysis, where the behaviour of thermal conductivity with dose is attributed to the accumulation and agglomeration of scattering centres at lower doses. Finally, we observed threshold dose beyond a crystalline-amorphous transition.« less

Engineering Globular Protein Vesicles through Tunable Self-Assembly of Recombinant Fusion Proteins

DOE PAGES

Jang, Yeongseon; Choi, Won Tae; Heller, William T.; ...

2017-07-27

Vesicles assembled from folded, globular proteins have potential for functions different from traditional lipid or polymeric vesicles. However, they also present challenges in understanding the assembly process and controlling vesicle properties. From detailed investigation of the assembly behavior of recombinant fusion proteins, this work reports a simple strategy to engineer protein vesicles containing functional, globular domains. This is achieved through tunable self-assembly of recombinant globular fusion proteins containing leucine zippers and elastin-like polypeptides. The fusion proteins form complexes in solution via high affinity binding of the zippers, and transition through dynamic coacervates to stable hollow vesicles upon warming. The thermalmore » driving force, which can be tuned by protein concentration or temperature, controls both vesicle size and whether vesicles are single or bi-layered. Lastly, these results provide critical information to engineer globular protein vesicles via self-assembly with desired size and membrane structure.« less

Phase-coherent engineering of electronic heat currents with a Josephson modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fornieri, Antonio; Blanc, Christophe; Bosisio, Riccardo; D'Ambrosio, Sophie; Giazotto, Francesco

In this contribution we report the realization of the first balanced Josephson heat modulator designed to offer full control at the nanoscale over the phase-coherent component of electronic thermal currents. The ability to master the amount of heat transferred through two tunnel-coupled superconductors by tuning their phase difference is the core of coherent caloritronics, and is expected to be a key tool in a number of nanoscience fields, including solid state cooling, thermal isolation, radiation detection, quantum information and thermal logic. Our device provides magnetic-flux-dependent temperature modulations up to 40 mK in amplitude with a maximum of the flux-to-temperature transfer coefficient reaching 200 mK per flux quantum at a bath temperature of 25 mK. Foremost, it demonstrates the exact correspondence in the phase-engineering of charge and heat currents, breaking ground for advanced caloritronic nanodevices such as thermal splitters, heat pumps and time-dependent electronic engines.

Engineered promoters enable constant gene expression at any copy number in bacteria.

PubMed

Segall-Shapiro, Thomas H; Sontag, Eduardo D; Voigt, Christopher A

2018-04-01

The internal environment of growing cells is variable and dynamic, making it difficult to introduce reliable parts, such as promoters, for genetic engineering. Here, we applied control-theoretic ideas to design promoters that maintained constant levels of expression at any copy number. Theory predicts that independence to copy number can be achieved by using an incoherent feedforward loop (iFFL) if the negative regulation is perfectly non-cooperative. We engineered iFFLs into Escherichia coli promoters using transcription-activator-like effectors (TALEs). These promoters had near-identical expression in different genome locations and plasmids, even when their copy number was perturbed by genomic mutations or changes in growth medium composition. We applied the stabilized promoters to show that a three-gene metabolic pathway to produce deoxychromoviridans could retain function without re-tuning when the stabilized-promoter-driven genes were moved from a plasmid into the genome.

Side-chain Engineering of Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]dithiophene Core-structured Small Molecules for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells

PubMed Central

Yin, Xinxing; An, Qiaoshi; Yu, Jiangsheng; Guo, Fengning; Geng, Yongliang; Bian, Linyi; Xu, Zhongsheng; Zhou, Baojing; Xie, Linghai; Zhang, Fujun; Tang, Weihua

2016-01-01

Three novel small molecules have been developed by side-chain engineering on benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b’]dithiophene (BDT) core. The typical acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) structure is adopted with 4,8-functionalized BDT moieties as core, dioctylterthiophene as π bridge and 3-ethylrhodanine as electron-withdrawing end group. Side-chain engineering on BDT core exhibits small but measurable effect on the optoelectronic properties of small molecules. Theoretical simulation and X-ray diffraction study reveal the subtle tuning of interchain distance between conjugated backbones has large effect on the charge transport and thus the photovoltaic performance of these molecules. Bulk-heterojunction solar cells fabricated with a configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/SM:PC71BM/PFN/Al exhibit a highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.99% after solvent vapor annealing. PMID:27140224

Side-chain Engineering of Benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene Core-structured Small Molecules for High-Performance Organic Solar Cells.

PubMed

Yin, Xinxing; An, Qiaoshi; Yu, Jiangsheng; Guo, Fengning; Geng, Yongliang; Bian, Linyi; Xu, Zhongsheng; Zhou, Baojing; Xie, Linghai; Zhang, Fujun; Tang, Weihua

2016-05-03

Three novel small molecules have been developed by side-chain engineering on benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT) core. The typical acceptor-donor-acceptor (A-D-A) structure is adopted with 4,8-functionalized BDT moieties as core, dioctylterthiophene as π bridge and 3-ethylrhodanine as electron-withdrawing end group. Side-chain engineering on BDT core exhibits small but measurable effect on the optoelectronic properties of small molecules. Theoretical simulation and X-ray diffraction study reveal the subtle tuning of interchain distance between conjugated backbones has large effect on the charge transport and thus the photovoltaic performance of these molecules. Bulk-heterojunction solar cells fabricated with a configuration of ITO/PEDOT:PSS/SM:PC71BM/PFN/Al exhibit a highest power conversion efficiency (PCE) of 6.99% after solvent vapor annealing.

Engineering the thermal conductivity along an individual silicon nanowire by selective helium ion irradiation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Zhao, Yunshan; Liu, Dan; Chen, Jie

The ability to engineer the thermal conductivity of materials allows us to control the flow of heat and derive novel functionalities such as thermal rectification, thermal switching and thermal cloaking. While this could be achieved by making use of composites and metamaterials at bulk length-scales, engineering the thermal conductivity at micro- and nano-scale dimensions is considerably more challenging. Here, we show that the local thermal conductivity along a single Si nanowire can be tuned to a desired value (between crystalline and amorphous limits) with high spatial resolution through selective helium ion irradiation with a well-controlled dose. The underlying mechanism ismore » understood through molecular dynamics simulations and quantitative phonon-defect scattering rate analysis, where the behaviour of thermal conductivity with dose is attributed to the accumulation and agglomeration of scattering centres at lower doses. Finally, we observed threshold dose beyond a crystalline-amorphous transition.« less

Application of Time-Delay Absorber to Suppress Vibration of a Dynamical System to Tuned Excitation.

PubMed

El-Ganaini, W A A; El-Gohary, H A

2014-08-01

In this work, we present a comprehensive investigation of the time delay absorber effects on the control of a dynamical system represented by a cantilever beam subjected to tuned excitation forces. Cantilever beam is one of the most widely used system in too many engineering applications, such as mechanical and civil engineering. The main aim of this work is to control the vibration of the beam at simultaneous internal and combined resonance condition, as it is the worst resonance case. Control is conducted via time delay absorber to suppress chaotic vibrations. Time delays often appear in many control systems in the state, in the control input, or in the measurements. Time delay commonly exists in various engineering, biological, and economical systems because of the finite speed of the information processing. It is a source of performance degradation and instability. Multiple time scale perturbation method is applied to obtain a first order approximation for the nonlinear differential equations describing the system behavior. The different resonance cases are reported and studied numerically. The stability of the steady-state solution at the selected worst resonance case is investigated applying Runge-Kutta fourth order method and frequency response equations via Matlab 7.0 and Maple11. Time delay absorber is effective, but within a specified range of time delay. It is the critical factor in selecting such absorber. Time delay absorber is better than the ordinary one as from the effectiveness point of view. The effects of the different absorber parameters on the system behavior and stability are studied numerically. A comparison with the available published work showed a close agreement with some previously published work.

Tuning mechanical performance of poly(ethylene glycol) and agarose interpenetrating network hydrogels for cartilage tissue engineering.

PubMed

Rennerfeldt, Deena A; Renth, Amanda N; Talata, Zsolt; Gehrke, Stevin H; Detamore, Michael S

2013-11-01

Hydrogels are attractive for tissue engineering applications due to their incredible versatility, but they can be limited in cartilage tissue engineering applications due to inadequate mechanical performance. In an effort to address this limitation, our team previously reported the drastic improvement in the mechanical performance of interpenetrating networks (IPNs) of poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEG-DA) and agarose relative to pure PEG-DA and agarose networks. The goal of the current study was specifically to determine the relative importance of PEG-DA concentration, agarose concentration, and PEG-DA molecular weight in controlling mechanical performance, swelling characteristics, and network parameters. IPNs consistently had compressive and shear moduli greater than the additive sum of either single network when compared to pure PEG-DA gels with a similar PEG-DA content. IPNs withstood a maximum stress of up to 4.0 MPa in unconfined compression, with increased PEG-DA molecular weight being the greatest contributing factor to improved failure properties. However, aside from failure properties, PEG-DA concentration was the most influential factor for the large majority of properties. Increasing the agarose and PEG-DA concentrations as well as the PEG-DA molecular weight of agarose/PEG-DA IPNs and pure PEG-DA gels improved moduli and maximum stresses by as much as an order of magnitude or greater compared to pure PEG-DA gels in our previous studies. Although the viability of encapsulated chondrocytes was not significantly affected by IPN formulation, glycosaminoglycan (GAG) content was significantly influenced, with a 12-fold increase over a three-week period in gels with a lower PEG-DA concentration. These results suggest that mechanical performance of IPNs may be tuned with partial but not complete independence from biological performance of encapsulated cells. © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering optical properties using plasmonic nanostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tamma, Venkata Ananth

Plasmonic nanostructures can be engineered to take on unusual optical properties not found in natural materials. The optical responses of plasmonic materials are functions of the structural parameters and symmetry of the nanostructures, material parameters of the nanostructure and its surroundings and the incidence angle, frequency and polarization state of light. The scattering and hence the visibility of an object could be reduced by coating it with a plasmonic material. In this thesis, presented is an optical frequency scattering cancelation device composed of a silicon nanorod coated by a plasmonic gold nanostructure. The principle of operation was theoretically analyzed using Mie theory and the device design was verified by extensive numerical simulations. The device was fabricated using a combination of nanofabrication techniques such as electron beam lithography and focused ion beam milling. The optical responses of the scattering cancelation device and a control sample of bare silicon rod were directly visualized using near-field microscopy coupled with heterodyne interferometric detection. The experimental results were analyzed and found to match very well with theoretical prediction from numerical simulations thereby validating the design principles and our implementation. Plasmonic nanostructures could be engineered to exhibit unique optical properties such as Fano resonance characterized by narrow asymmetrical lineshape. We present dynamic tuning and symmetry lowering of Fano resonances in plasmonic nanostructures fabricated on flexible substrates. The tuning of Fano resonance was achieved by application of uniaxial mechanical stress. The design of the nanostructures was facilitated by extensive numerical simulations and the symmetry lowering was analyzed using group theoretical methods. The nanostructures were fabricated using electron beam lithography and optically characterized for various mechanical stress. The experimental results were in good agreement with the numerical simulations. The mechanically tunable plasmonic nanostructure could serve as a platform for dynamically tunable nanophotonic devices such as sensors and tunable filters.

A hybrid phononic crystal for roof application.

PubMed

Wan, Qingmian; Shao, Rong

2017-11-01

Phononic crystal is a type of acoustic material, and the study of phononic crystals has attracted great attention from national research institutions. Meanwhile, noise reduction in the low-frequency range has always encountered difficulties and troubles in the engineering field. In order to obtain a unique and effective low-frequency noise reduction method, in this paper a low frequency noise attenuation system based on phononic crystal structure is proposed and demonstrated. The finite element simulation of the band gap is consistent with the final test results. The effects of structure parameters on the band gaps were studied by changing the structure parameters and the band gaps can be controlled by suitably tuning structure parameters. The structure and results provide a good support for phononic crystal structures engineering application.

Photonic doping of epsilon-near-zero media

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liberal, Iñigo; Mahmoud, Ahmed M.; Li, Yue; Edwards, Brian; Engheta, Nader

2017-03-01

Doping a semiconductor with foreign atoms enables the control of its electrical and optical properties. We transplant the concept of doping to macroscopic photonics, demonstrating that two-dimensional dielectric particles immersed in a two-dimensional epsilon-near-zero medium act as dopants that modify the medium’s effective permeability while keeping its effective permittivity near zero, independently of their positions within the host. The response of a large body can be tuned with a single impurity, including cases such as engineering perfect magnetic conductor and epsilon-and-mu-near-zero media with nonmagnetic constituents. This effect is experimentally demonstrated at microwave frequencies via the observation of geometry-independent tunneling. This methodology might provide a new pathway for engineering electromagnetic metamaterials and reconfigurable optical systems.

Role of Physicochemical Properties in Nanoparticle Toxicity

PubMed Central

Shin, Seung Won; Song, In Hyun; Um, Soong Ho

2015-01-01

With the recent rapid growth of technological comprehension in nanoscience, researchers have aimed to adapt this knowledge to various research fields within engineering and applied science. Dramatic advances in nanomaterials marked a new epoch in biomedical engineering with the expectation that they would have huge contributions to healthcare. However, several questions regarding their safety and toxicity have arisen due to numerous novel properties. Here, recent studies of nanomaterial toxicology will be reviewed from several physiochemical perspectives. A variety of physiochemical properties such as size distribution, electrostatics, surface area, general morphology and aggregation may significantly affect physiological interactions between nanomaterials and target biological areas. Accordingly, it is very important to finely tune these properties in order to safely fulfill a bio-user’s purpose. PMID:28347068

A Route for Polymer Nanocomposites with Engineered Electrical Conductivity and Percolation Threshold

PubMed Central

Kalaitzidou, Kyriaki; Fukushima, Hiroyuki; Drzal, Lawrence T.

2010-01-01

Polymer nanocomposites with engineered electrical properties can be made by tuning the fabrication method, processing conditions and filler’s geometric and physical properties. This work focuses on investigating the effect of filler’s geometry (aspect ratio and shape), intrinsic electrical conductivity, alignment and dispersion within the polymer, and polymer crystallinity, on the percolation threshold and electrical conductivity of polypropylene based nanocomposites. The conductive reinforcements used are exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets, carbon black, vapor grown carbon fibers and polyacrylonitrile carbon fibers. The composites are made using melt mixing followed by injection molding. A coating method is also employed to improve the nanofiller’s dispersion within the polymer and compression molding is used to alter the nanofiller’s alignment.

Controlling resonant tunneling in graphene via Fermi velocity engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lima, Jonas R. F., E-mail: jonas.lima@ufrpe.br; Pereira, Luiz Felipe C.; Bezerra, C. G.

We investigate the resonant tunneling in a single layer graphene superlattice with modulated energy gap and Fermi velocity via an effective Dirac-like Hamiltonian. We calculate the transmission coefficient with the transfer matrix method and analyze the effect of a Fermi velocity modulation on the electronic transmission, in the case of normal and oblique incidence. We find it is possible to manipulate the electronic transmission in graphene by Fermi velocity engineering, and show that it is possible to tune the transmitivity from 0 to 1. We also analyze how a Fermi velocity modulation influences the total conductance and the Fano factor.more » Our results are relevant for the development of novel graphene-based electronic devices.« less

Simulate different environments TDLAS On the analysis of the test signal strength

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Xin; Zhou, Tao; Jia, Xiaodong

2014-12-01

TDLAS system is the use of the wavelength tuning characteristics of the laser diode, for detecting the absorption spectrum of the gas absorption line. Detecting the gas space, temperature, pressure and flow rate and concentration. The use of laboratory techniques TDLAS gas detection, experimental simulation engine combustion water vapor and smoke. using an optical lens system receives the signal acquisition and signal interference test analysis. Analog water vapor and smoke in two different environments in the sample pool interference. In both experiments environmental interference gas absorption in the optical signal acquisition, signal amplitude variation analysis, and records related to the signal data. In order to study site conditions in the engine combustion process for signal acquisition provides an ideal experimental data .

Chemical and Bandgap Engineering in Monolayer Hexagonal Boron Nitride

PubMed Central

Ba, Kun; Jiang, Wei; Cheng, Jingxin; Bao, Jingxian; Xuan, Ningning; Sun, Yangye; Liu, Bing; Xie, Aozhen; Wu, Shiwei; Sun, Zhengzong

2017-01-01

Monolayer hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) possesses a wide bandgap of ~6 eV. Trimming down the bandgap is technically attractive, yet poses remarkable challenges in chemistry. One strategy is to topological reform the h-BN’s hexagonal structure, which involves defects or grain boundaries (GBs) engineering in the basal plane. The other way is to invite foreign atoms, such as carbon, to forge bizarre hybrid structures like hetero-junctions or semiconducting h-BNC materials. Here we successfully developed a general chemical method to synthesize these different h-BN derivatives, showcasing how the chemical structure can be manipulated with or without a graphene precursor, and the bandgap be tuned to ~2 eV, only one third of the pristine one’s. PMID:28367992

A Verification-Driven Approach to Control Analysis and Tuning

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Crespo, Luis G.; Kenny, Sean P.; Giesy, Daniel P.

2008-01-01

This paper proposes a methodology for the analysis and tuning of controllers using control verification metrics. These metrics, which are introduced in a companion paper, measure the size of the largest uncertainty set of a given class for which the closed-loop specifications are satisfied. This framework integrates deterministic and probabilistic uncertainty models into a setting that enables the deformation of sets in the parameter space, the control design space, and in the union of these two spaces. In regard to control analysis, we propose strategies that enable bounding regions of the design space where the specifications are satisfied by all the closed-loop systems associated with a prescribed uncertainty set. When this is unfeasible, we bound regions where the probability of satisfying the requirements exceeds a prescribed value. In regard to control tuning, we propose strategies for the improvement of the robust characteristics of a baseline controller. Some of these strategies use multi-point approximations to the control verification metrics in order to alleviate the numerical burden of solving a min-max problem. Since this methodology targets non-linear systems having an arbitrary, possibly implicit, functional dependency on the uncertain parameters and for which high-fidelity simulations are available, they are applicable to realistic engineering problems..

Automatic Parameter Tuning for the Morpheus Vehicle Using Particle Swarm Optimization

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Birge, B.

2013-01-01

A high fidelity simulation using a PC based Trick framework has been developed for Johnson Space Center's Morpheus test bed flight vehicle. There is an iterative development loop of refining and testing the hardware, refining the software, comparing the software simulation to hardware performance and adjusting either or both the hardware and the simulation to extract the best performance from the hardware as well as the most realistic representation of the hardware from the software. A Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) based technique has been developed that increases speed and accuracy of the iterative development cycle. Parameters in software can be automatically tuned to make the simulation match real world subsystem data from test flights. Special considerations for scale, linearity, discontinuities, can be all but ignored with this technique, allowing fast turnaround both for simulation tune up to match hardware changes as well as during the test and validation phase to help identify hardware issues. Software models with insufficient control authority to match hardware test data can be immediately identified and using this technique requires very little to no specialized knowledge of optimization, freeing model developers to concentrate on spacecraft engineering. Integration of the PSO into the Morpheus development cycle will be discussed as well as a case study highlighting the tool's effectiveness.

Tune-out wavelength for the 1 s 2 s3 S - 1 s 3 p 3 P transition of helium: relativistic effects

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Drake, Gordon W. F.; Manalo, Jacob

2017-04-01

The tune-out wavelength is the wavelength at which the frequency dependent polarizability of an atom vanishes. It can be measured to very high precision by means of an interferometric comparison between two beams. This paper is part of a joint theoretical/ experimental project with K. Baldwin et al. (Australian National University) and L.-Y. Tang et al. (Wuhan Institute of Physics and Mathematics) to perform a high precision comparison between theory and experiment as a probe of atomic structure, including relativistic and quantum electrodynamic effects. We will report the results of calculations for the tune-out wavelength that is closest to the 1 s 2 s3 S - 1 s 3 p3 P transition of 4He. Our result for the M = 0 magnetic substate, obtained with a fully correlated Hylleraas basis set, is 413 . 079 958 51 (12) nm. This includes a leading relativistic contribution of - 0 . 059 218 5 (16) nm from the Breit interaction as a perturbation, and a relativistic recoil contribution of - 0 . 000 044 47 (17) nm. The results will be compared with recent relativistic CI calculations. Research supported by tha Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.

Minimizing the Discrepancy between Simulated and Historical Failures in Turbine Engines: A Simulation-Based Optimization Method (Postprint)

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-01-01

Procedure. The simulated annealing (SA) algorithm is a well-known local search metaheuristic used to address discrete, continuous, and multiobjective...design of experiments (DOE) to tune the parameters of the optimiza- tion algorithm . Section 5 shows the results of the case study. Finally, concluding... metaheuristic . The proposed method is broken down into two phases. Phase I consists of a Monte Carlo simulation to obtain the simulated percentage of failure

Tuning and synthesis of metallic nanostructures by mechanical compression

DOEpatents

Fan, Hongyou; Li, Binsong

2015-11-17

The present invention provides a pressure-induced phase transformation process to engineer metal nanoparticle architectures and to fabricate new nanostructured materials. The reversible changes of the nanoparticle unit cell dimension under pressure allow precise control over interparticle separation in 2D or 3D nanoparticle assemblies, offering unique robustness for interrogation of both quantum and classic coupling interactions. Irreversible changes above a threshold pressure of about 8 GPa enables new nanostructures, such as nanorods, nanowires, or nanosheets.

Bianisotropic metamaterial

DOEpatents

El-Kady, Ihab F.; Reinke, Charles M.

2017-07-18

The topology of the elements of a metamaterial can be engineered from its desired electromagnetic constitutive tensor using an inverse group theory method. Therefore, given a desired electromagnetic response and a generic metamaterial elemental design, group theory is applied to predict the various ways that the element can be arranged in three dimensions to produce the desired functionality. An optimizer can then be applied to an electromagnetic modeling tool to fine tune the values of the electromagnetic properties of the resulting metamaterial topology.

Molecular Self-Assembly and Interfacial Engineering for Highly Efficient Organic Field Effect Transistors and Solar Cells

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-09-23

balance between disordered SAMs to promote large pentacene grains and thick SAMs to aid in physically buffering the charge carriers in pentacene from...to 0.76 µF/cm2), and enhanced pentacene OFET device performance such as higher charge carrier mobility, current on/off ratio, and lower threshold...surface charge trap • Tuning of surface energy • Control of surface group orientation SAM/MO ultrathin dielectric: • Low-voltage operation

Enhancement of ferroelectric Curie temperature in BaTiO3 films via strain-induced defect dipole alignment.

PubMed

Damodaran, Anoop R; Breckenfeld, Eric; Chen, Zuhuang; Lee, Sungki; Martin, Lane W

2014-09-01

The combination of epitaxial strain and defect engineering facilitates the tuning of the transition temperature of BaTiO3 to >800 °C. Advances in thin-film deposition enable the utilization of both the electric and elastic dipoles of defects to extend the epitaxial strain to new levels, inducing unprecedented functionality and temperature stability in ferroelectrics. © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Tunable Resistance or Magnetoresistance Cusp and Extremely Large Magnetoresistance in Defect-Engineered HfTe5 -δ Single Crystals

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lv, Yang-Yang; Li, Xiao; Cao, Lin; Lin, Dajun; Yao, Shu-Hua; Chen, Si-Si; Dong, Song-Tao; Zhou, Jian; Chen, Y. B.; Chen, Yan-Feng

2018-05-01

The electrical transport behaviors of novel materials under the external magnetic field B , especially the large or tunable magnetoresistance (MR) effect, are of broad importance in both fundamental science and applications. Here three kinds of HfTe5 crystals with varied Te-deficiency concentrations are synthesized under different growth conditions, and they demonstrate distinct electrical and magnetotransport properties. The temperatures of the resistivity cusp or MR cusp of the as-grown HfTe5 -δ (δ =0.02 , 0.08, 0.13) crystals are tuned from 25 to 90 K. The maximum MR of these three HfTe5 -δ crystals, under 2 K and 9 T B , are 1.52 ×103% , 2.63 ×104% , and 6.91 ×103% for sample SI (HfTe4.98 ), SII (HfTe4.92 ), and SIII (HfTe4.87 ), respectively. The fitting of Hall data by the two-carrier model suggests that the extremely large MR effect of sample HfTe4.92 measured at 2 K is attributed to the cooperative action of the high mobility and the coexistence of the electron and hole carriers. Our work provides a viable route to tune superior MR properties in similar compounds through defect engineering, which may be promising to develop magnetic memory sensor devices.

Strain engineering of graphene nanoribbons: pseudomagnetic versus external magnetic fields

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prabhakar, Sanjay; Melnik, Roderick; Bonilla, Luis

2017-05-01

Bandgap opening due to strain engineering is a key architect for making graphene's optoelectronic, straintronic, and spintronic devices. We study the bandgap opening due to strain induced ripple waves and investigate the interplay between pseudomagnetic fields and externally applied magnetic fields on the band structures and spin relaxation in graphene nanoribbons (GNRs). We show that electron-hole bands of GNRs are highly influenced (i.e. level crossing of the bands are possible) by coupling two combined effects: pseudomagnetic fields (PMF) originating from strain tensor and external magnetic fields. In particular, we show that the tuning of the spin-splitting band extends to large externally applied magnetic fields with increasing values of pseudomagnetic fields. Level crossings of the bands in strained GNRs can also be observed due to the interplay between pseudomagnetic fields and externally applied magnetic fields. We also investigate the influence of this interplay on the electromagnetic field mediated spin relaxation mechanism in GNRs. In particular, we show that the spin hot spot can be observed at approximately B = 65 T (the externally applied magnetic field) and B0 = 53 T (the magnitude of induced pseudomagnetic field due to ripple waves) which may not be considered as an ideal location for the design of straintronic devices. Our analysis might be used for tuning the bandgaps in strained GNRs and utilized to design the optoelectronic devices for straintronic applications.

Engineering Yarrowia lipolytica for Use in Biotechnological Applications: A Review of Major Achievements and Recent Innovations.

PubMed

Madzak, Catherine

2018-06-25

Yarrowia lipolytica is an oleaginous saccharomycetous yeast with a long history of industrial use. It aroused interest several decades ago as host for heterologous protein production. Thanks to the development of numerous molecular and genetic tools, Y. lipolytica is now a recognized system for expressing heterologous genes and secreting the corresponding proteins of interest. As genomic and transcriptomic tools increased our basic knowledge on this yeast, we can now envision engineering its metabolic pathways for use as whole-cell factory in various bioconversion processes. Y. lipolytica is currently being developed as a workhorse for biotechnology, notably for single-cell oil production and upgrading of industrial wastes into valuable products. As it becomes more and more difficult to keep up with an ever-increasing literature on Y. lipolytica engineering technology, this article aims to provide basic and actualized knowledge on this research area. The most useful reviews on Y. lipolytica biology, use, and safety will be evoked, together with a resume of the engineering tools available in this yeast. This mini-review will then focus on recently developed tools and engineering strategies, with a particular emphasis on promoter tuning, metabolic pathways assembly, and genome editing technologies.

Development, modeling, simulation, and testing of a novel propane-fueled Brayton-Gluhareff cycle acoustically-pressurized ramjet engine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bramlette, Richard B.

In the 1950s, Eugene Gluhareff built the first working "pressure jet" engine, a variation on the classical ramjet engine with a pressurized inlet system relying on sonic tuning which allowed operation at subsonic speeds. The engine was an unqualified success. Unfortunately, after decades of sales and research, Gluhareff passed away leaving behind no significant published studies of the engine or detailed analysis of its operation. The design was at serious risk of being lost to history. This dissertation is intended to address that risk by studying a novel subscale modification of Gluhareff's original design operating on the same principles. Included is a background of related engine and how the pressure jet is distinct. The preliminary sizing of a pressure jet using closed-form expressions is then discussed followed by a review of propane oxidation modeling, how it integrates into the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) solver, and the modeling of the pressure jet engine cycle with CFD. The simulation was matched to experimental data recorded on a purpose-built test stand recording chamber pressure, exhaust speed (via a Pitot/static system), temperatures, and thrust force. The engine CFD simulation produced a wide range of qualitative results that matched the experimental data well and suggested strong recirculation flows through the engine confirming suspicions about how the engine operates. Engine operating frequency between CFD and experiment also showed good agreement and appeared to be driven by the "Kadenacy Effect." The research effort lastly opens the door for further study of the engine cycle, the use of pressurized intakes to produce static thrust in a ramjet engine, the Gluhareff pressure jet's original geometry, and a wide array of potential applications. A roadmap of further study and applications is detailed including a modeling and testing of larger engines.

Engineering central metabolism - a grand challenge for plant biologists.

PubMed

Sweetlove, Lee J; Nielsen, Jens; Fernie, Alisdair R

2017-05-01

The goal of increasing crop productivity and nutrient-use efficiency is being addressed by a number of ambitious research projects seeking to re-engineer photosynthetic biochemistry. Many of these projects will require the engineering of substantial changes in fluxes of central metabolism. However, as has been amply demonstrated in simpler systems such as microbes, central metabolism is extremely difficult to rationally engineer. This is because of multiple layers of regulation that operate to maintain metabolic steady state and because of the highly connected nature of central metabolism. In this review we discuss new approaches for metabolic engineering that have the potential to address these problems and dramatically improve the success with which we can rationally engineer central metabolism in plants. In particular, we advocate the adoption of an iterative 'design-build-test-learn' cycle using fast-to-transform model plants as test beds. This approach can be realised by coupling new molecular tools to incorporate multiple transgenes in nuclear and plastid genomes with computational modelling to design the engineering strategy and to understand the metabolic phenotype of the engineered organism. We also envisage that mutagenesis could be used to fine-tune the balance between the endogenous metabolic network and the introduced enzymes. Finally, we emphasise the importance of considering the plant as a whole system and not isolated organs: the greatest increase in crop productivity will be achieved if both source and sink metabolism are engineered. © 2016 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Nonlinear dissipative devices in structural vibration control: A review

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Zheng; Wang, Zixin; Zhou, Ying; Lu, Xilin

2018-06-01

Structural vibration is a common phenomenon existing in various engineering fields such as machinery, aerospace, and civil engineering. It should be noted that the effective suppression of structural vibration is conducive to enhancing machine performance, prolonging the service life of devices, and promoting the safety and comfort of structures. Conventional linear energy dissipative devices (linear dampers) are largely restricted for wider application owing to their low performance under certain conditions, such as the detuning effect of tuned mass dampers subjected to nonstationary excitations and the excessively large forces generated in linear viscous dampers at high velocities. Recently, nonlinear energy dissipative devices (nonlinear dampers) with broadband response and high robustness are being increasingly used in practical engineering. At the present stage, nonlinear dampers can be classified into three groups, namely nonlinear stiffness dampers, nonlinear-stiffness nonlinear-damping dampers, and nonlinear damping dampers. Corresponding to each nonlinear group, three types of nonlinear dampers that are widely utilized in practical engineering are reviewed in this paper: the nonlinear energy sink (NES), particle impact damper (PID), and nonlinear viscous damper (NVD), respectively. The basic concepts, research status, engineering applications, and design approaches of these three types of nonlinear dampers are summarized. A comparison between their advantages and disadvantages in practical engineering applications is also conducted, to provide a reference source for practical applications and new research.

The upside of noise: engineered dissipation as a resource in superconducting circuits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kapit, Eliot

2017-09-01

Historically, noise in superconducting circuits has been considered an obstacle to be removed. A large fraction of the research effort in designing superconducting circuits has focused on noise reduction, with great success, as coherence times have increased by four orders of magnitude in the past two decades. However, noise and dissipation can never be fully eliminated, and further, a rapidly growing body of theoretical and experimental work has shown that carefully tuned noise, in the form of engineered dissipation, can be a profoundly useful tool in designing and operating quantum circuits. In this article, I review important applications of engineered dissipation, including state generation, state stabilization, and autonomous quantum error correction, where engineered dissipation can mitigate the effect of intrinsic noise, reducing logical error rates in quantum information processing. Further, I provide a pedagogical review of the basic noise processes in superconducting qubits (photon loss and phase noise), and argue that any dissipative mechanism which can correct photon loss errors is very likely to automatically suppress dephasing. I also discuss applications for quantum simulation, and possible future research directions.

Generator Dynamic Model Validation and Parameter Calibration Using Phasor Measurements at the Point of Connection

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Huang, Zhenyu; Du, Pengwei; Kosterev, Dmitry

2013-05-01

Disturbance data recorded by phasor measurement units (PMU) offers opportunities to improve the integrity of dynamic models. However, manually tuning parameters through play-back events demands significant efforts and engineering experiences. In this paper, a calibration method using the extended Kalman filter (EKF) technique is proposed. The formulation of EKF with parameter calibration is discussed. Case studies are presented to demonstrate its validity. The proposed calibration method is cost-effective, complementary to traditional equipment testing for improving dynamic model quality.

Commissioning and first tests of the MAGIC telescope

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baixeras, C.; Bastieri, D.; Bigongiari, C.; Blanch, O.; Blanchot, G.; Bock, R.; Bretz, T.; Chilingarian, A.; Coarasa, J. A.; Colombo, E.; Contreras, J. C.; Corti, D.; Cortina, J.; Domingo, C.; Domingo, E.; Ferenc, D.; Fernández, E.; Flix, J.; Fonseca, V.; Font, L.; Galante, N.; Gaug, M.; Garczarczyk, M.; Gebauer, J.; Giller, M.; Goebel, F.; Hengstebeck, T.; Jacone, P.; de Jager, O. C.; Kalekin, O.; Kestel, M.; Kneiske, T.; Laille, A.; López, M.; López, J.; Lorenz, E.; Mannheim, K.; Mariotti, M.; Martínez, M.; Mase, K.; Merck, M.; Meucci, M.; Miralles, L.; Mirzoyan, R.; Moralejo, A.; Wilhelmi, E. Oña; Orduña, R.; Paneque, D.; Paoletti, R.; Pascoli, D.; Pavel, N.; Pegna, R.; Peruzzo, L.; Piccioli, A.; Roberts, A.; Reyes, R.; Saggion, A.; Sánchez, A.; Sartori, P.; Scalzotto, V.; Schweizer, T.; Sillanpaa, A.; Sobczynska, D.; Stamerra, A.; Stepanian, A.; Stiehler, R.; Takalo, L.; Teshima, M.; Tonello, N.; Torres, A.; Turini, N.; Vitale, V.; Volkov, S.; Wagner, R. M.; Wibig, T.; Wittek, W.

2004-02-01

Major Atmospheric Gamma Imaging Cherenkov telescope is starting its operations with a set of engineering runs to tune the telescope subsystem elements to be ready for the first physics campaign. Many technical improvements have been developed and implemented in several elements of the telescope to reach the lowest energy threshold ever obtained by an Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescope. A general description of the telescope is presented. The commissioning of the telescope's elements is described and the expected performances are reviewed with the final detector set-up.

Comparison of the Frequency Response and Voltage Tuning Characteristics of a FFP and a MEMS Fiber Optic Tunable Filter

DTIC Science & Technology

2004-05-12

Structural Engineering, La Jolla, CA 92093 14. ABSTRACT Tunable optical filters based on a Fabry - Perot element are a critical component in many...wavelength based fiber optic sensor systems. This report compares the performance of two fiber-pigtailed tunable optical filters, the fiber Fabry - Perot (FFP...both filters suggests that they can operate at frequencies up to 20 kHz and possibly as high as 100 kHz. 15. SUBJECT TERMS Tunable Fabry - Perot filters

Event reweighting with the NuWro neutrino interaction generator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pickering, Luke; Stowell, Patrick; Sobczyk, Jan

2017-09-01

Event reweighting has been implemented in the NuWro neutrino event generator for a number of free theory parameters in the interaction model. Event reweighting is a key analysis technique, used to efficiently study the effect of neutrino interaction model uncertainties. This opens up the possibility for NuWro to be used as a primary event generator by experimental analysis groups. A preliminary model tuning to ANL and BNL data of quasi-elastic and single pion production events was performed to validate the reweighting engine.

Acoustic cavity technology for high performance injectors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1976-01-01

The feasibility of damping more than one mode of rocket engine combustion instability by means of differently tuned acoustic cavities sharing a common entrance was shown. Analytical procedures and acoustic modeling techniques for predicting the stability behavior of acoustic cavity designs in hot firings were developed. Full scale testing of various common entrance, dual cavity configurations, and subscale testing for the purpose of obtaining motion pictures of the cavity entrance region, to aid in determining the mechanism of cavity damping were the two major aspects of the program.

Engineering negative differential conductance with the Cu(111) surface state.

PubMed

Heinrich, B W; Rastei, M V; Choi, D-J; Frederiksen, T; Limot, L

2011-12-09

Low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy and spectroscopy are employed to investigate electron tunneling from a C60-terminated tip into a Cu(111) surface. Tunneling between a C60 orbital and the Shockley surface states of copper is shown to produce negative differential conductance (NDC) contrary to conventional expectations. NDC can be tuned through barrier thickness or C60 orientation up to complete extinction. The orientation dependence of NDC is a result of a symmetry matching between the molecular tip and the surface states.

High-volume image quality assessment systems: tuning performance with an interactive data visualization tool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bresnahan, Patricia A.; Pukinskis, Madeleine; Wiggins, Michael

1999-03-01

Image quality assessment systems differ greatly with respect to the number and types of mags they need to evaluate, and their overall architectures. Managers of these systems, however, all need to be able to tune and evaluate system performance, requirements often overlooked or under-designed during project planning. Performance tuning tools allow users to define acceptable quality standards for image features and attributes by adjusting parameter settings. Performance analysis tools allow users to evaluate and/or predict how well a system performs in a given parameter state. While image assessment algorithms are becoming quite sophisticated, duplicating or surpassing the human decision making process in their speed and reliability, they often require a greater investment in 'training' or fine tuning of parameters in order to achieve optimum performance. This process may involve the analysis of hundreds or thousands of images, generating a large database of files and statistics that can be difficult to sort through and interpret. Compounding the difficulty is the fact that personnel charged with tuning and maintaining the production system may not have the statistical or analytical background required for the task. Meanwhile, hardware innovations have greatly increased the volume of images that can be handled in a given time frame, magnifying the consequences of running a production site with an inadequately tuned system. In this paper, some general requirements for a performance evaluation and tuning data visualization system are discussed. A custom engineered solution to the tuning and evaluation problem is then presented, developed within the context of a high volume image quality assessment, data entry, OCR, and image archival system. A key factor influencing the design of the system was the context-dependent definition of image quality, as perceived by a human interpreter. This led to the development of a five-level, hierarchical approach to image quality evaluation. Lower-level pass-fail conditions and decision rules were coded into the system. Higher-level image quality states were defined by allowing the users to interactively adjust the system's sensitivity to various image attributes by manipulating graphical controls. Results were presented in easily interpreted bar graphs. These graphs were mouse- sensitive, allowing the user to more fully explore the subsets of data indicated by various color blocks. In order to simplify the performance evaluation and tuning process, users could choose to view the results of (1) the existing system parameter state, (2) the results of any arbitrary parameter values they chose, or (3) the results of a quasi-optimum parameter state, derived by applying a decision rule to a large set of possible parameter states. Giving managers easy- to-use tools for defining the more subjective aspects of quality resulted in a system that responded to contextual cues that are difficult to hard-code. It had the additional advantage of allowing the definition of quality to evolve over time, as users became more knowledgeable as to the strengths and limitations of an automated quality inspection system.

Supporting performance and configuration management of GTE cellular networks

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tan, Ming; Lafond, C.; Jakobson, G.

GTE Laboratories, in cooperation with GTE Mobilnet, has developed and deployed PERFFEX (PERFormance Expert), an intelligent system for performance and configuration management of cellular networks. PERFEX assists cellular network performance and radio engineers in the analysis of large volumes of cellular network performance and configuration data. It helps them locate and determine the probable causes of performance problems, and provides intelligent suggestions about how to correct them. The system combines an expert cellular network performance tuning capability with a map-based graphical user interface, data visualization programs, and a set of special cellular engineering tools. PERFEX is in daily use atmore » more than 25 GTE Mobile Switching Centers. Since the first deployment of the system in late 1993, PERFEX has become a major GTE cellular network performance optimization tool.« less

Engineering the shape and structure of materials by fractal cut.

PubMed

Cho, Yigil; Shin, Joong-Ho; Costa, Avelino; Kim, Tae Ann; Kunin, Valentin; Li, Ju; Lee, Su Yeon; Yang, Shu; Han, Heung Nam; Choi, In-Suk; Srolovitz, David J

2014-12-09

In this paper we discuss the transformation of a sheet of material into a wide range of desired shapes and patterns by introducing a set of simple cuts in a multilevel hierarchy with different motifs. Each choice of hierarchical cut motif and cut level allows the material to expand into a unique structure with a unique set of properties. We can reverse-engineer the desired expanded geometries to find the requisite cut pattern to produce it without changing the physical properties of the initial material. The concept was experimentally realized and applied to create an electrode that expands to >800% the original area with only very minor stretching of the underlying material. The generality of our approach greatly expands the design space for materials so that they can be tuned for diverse applications.

Theoretical and Experimental Investigation of Mufflers with Comments on Engine-Exhaust Muffler Design

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Don D , Jr; Stokes, George M; Moore, Dewey; Stevens, George L , Jr

1954-01-01

Equations are presented for the attenuation characteristics of single-chamber and multiple-chamber mufflers of both the expansion-chamber and resonator types, for tuned side-branch tubes, and for the combination of an expansion chamber with a resonator. Experimental curves of attenuation plotted against frequency are presented for 77 different mufflers with a reflection-free tailpipe termination. The experiments were made at room temperature without flow; the sound source was a loud-speaker. A method is given for including the tailpipe reflections in the calculations. Experimental attenuation curves are presented for four different muffler-tailpipe combinations, and the results are compared with the theory. The application of the theory to the design of engine-exhaust mufflers is discussed, and charts are included for the assistance of the designer.

Engineer Medium and Feed for Modulating N-Glycosylation of Recombinant Protein Production in CHO Cell Culture.

PubMed

Fan, Yuzhou; Kildegaard, Helene Faustrup; Andersen, Mikael Rørdam

2017-01-01

Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have become the primary expression system for the production of complex recombinant proteins due to their long-term success in industrial scale production and generating appropriate protein N-glycans similar to that of humans. Control and optimization of protein N-glycosylation is crucial, as the structure of N-glycans can largely influence both biological and physicochemical properties of recombinant proteins. Protein N-glycosylation in CHO cell culture can be controlled and tuned by engineering medium, feed, culture process, as well as genetic elements of the cell. In this chapter, we will focus on how to carry out experiments for N-glycosylation modulation through medium and feed optimization. The workflow and typical methods involved in the experiment process will be presented.

Fluxonium-Based Artificial Molecule with a Tunable Magnetic Moment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kou, A.; Smith, W. C.; Vool, U.; Brierley, R. T.; Meier, H.; Frunzio, L.; Girvin, S. M.; Glazman, L. I.; Devoret, M. H.

2017-07-01

Engineered quantum systems allow us to observe phenomena that are not easily accessible naturally. The LEGO®-like nature of superconducting circuits makes them particularly suited for building and coupling artificial atoms. Here, we introduce an artificial molecule, composed of two strongly coupled fluxonium atoms, which possesses a tunable magnetic moment. Using an applied external flux, one can tune the molecule between two regimes: one in which the ground-excited state manifold has a magnetic dipole moment and one in which the ground-excited state manifold has only a magnetic quadrupole moment. By varying the applied external flux, we find the coherence of the molecule to be limited by local flux noise. The ability to engineer and control artificial molecules paves the way for building more complex circuits for quantum simulation and protected qubits.

NASA's MERBoard: An Interactive Collaborative Workspace Platform. Chapter 4

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Trimble, Jay; Wales, Roxana; Gossweiler, Rich

2003-01-01

This chapter describes the ongoing process by which a multidisciplinary group at NASA's Ames Research Center is designing and implementing a large interactive work surface called the MERBoard Collaborative Workspace. A MERBoard system involves several distributed, large, touch-enabled, plasma display systems with custom MERBoard software. A centralized server and database back the system. We are continually tuning MERBoard to support over two hundred scientists and engineers during the surface operations of the Mars Exploration Rover Missions. These scientists and engineers come from various disciplines and are working both in small and large groups over a span of space and time. We describe the multidisciplinary, human-centered process by which this h4ERBoard system is being designed, the usage patterns and social interactions that we have observed, and issues we are currently facing.

Active control of a plasmonic metamaterial for quantum state engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uriri, S. A.; Tashima, T.; Zhang, X.; Asano, M.; Bechu, M.; Güney, D. Ö.; Yamamoto, T.; Özdemir, Ş. K.; Wegener, M.; Tame, M. S.

2018-05-01

We experimentally demonstrate the active control of a plasmonic metamaterial operating in the quantum regime. A two-dimensional metamaterial consisting of unit cells made from gold nanorods is investigated. Using an external laser, we control the temperature of the metamaterial and carry out quantum process tomography on single-photon polarization-encoded qubits sent through, characterizing the metamaterial as a variable quantum channel. The overall polarization response can be tuned by up to 33% for particular nanorod dimensions. To explain the results, we develop a theoretical model and find that the experimental results match the predicted behavior well. This work goes beyond the use of simple passive quantum plasmonic systems and shows that external control of plasmonic elements enables a flexible device that can be used for quantum state engineering.

Coherent, atomically thin transition-metal dichalcogenide superlattices with engineered strain

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xie, Saien; Tu, Lijie; Han, Yimo; Huang, Lujie; Kang, Kibum; Lao, Ka Un; Poddar, Preeti; Park, Chibeom; Muller, David A.; DiStasio, Robert A.; Park, Jiwoong

2018-03-01

Epitaxy forms the basis of modern electronics and optoelectronics. We report coherent atomically thin superlattices in which different transition metal dichalcogenide monolayers—despite large lattice mismatches—are repeated and laterally integrated without dislocations within the monolayer plane. Grown by an omnidirectional epitaxy, these superlattices display fully matched lattice constants across heterointerfaces while maintaining an isotropic lattice structure and triangular symmetry. This strong epitaxial strain is precisely engineered via the nanoscale supercell dimensions, thereby enabling broad tuning of the optical properties and producing photoluminescence peak shifts as large as 250 millielectron volts. We present theoretical models to explain this coherent growth and the energetic interplay governing the ripple formation in these strained monolayers. Such coherent superlattices provide building blocks with targeted functionalities at the atomically thin limit.

Modeling Heat Loss through Piston and Effects of Thermal Boundary Coatings in Diesel Engine Simulations using Conjugate Heat Transfer models

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Kundu, Prithwish; Scarcelli, Riccardo; Som, Sibendu

Heat loss through wall boundaries play a dominant role in the overall performance and efficiency of internal combustion engines. Typical engine simulations use constant temperature wall boundary conditions. These boundary conditions cannot be estimated accurately from experiments due to the complexities involved with engine combustion. As a result they introduce a large uncertainty in engine simulations and serve as a tuning parameter. Modeling the process of heat transfer through the solid walls in an unsteady engine computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulation can lead to the development of higher fidelity engine calculations. These models can be used to study the impactmore » of heat loss on engine efficiency and explore new design methodologies that can reduce heat losses. In this work, a single cylinder diesel engine is modeled along with the solid piston coupled to the fluid domain. Conjugate heat transfer (CHT) modeling techniques were implemented to model heat losses for a full cycle of a Navistar diesel engine. This CFD model is then validated against experimental data available from thermocouples embedded inside the piston surface. The overall predictions from the model match closely with the experimental observations. The validated model is further used to explore the benefits of thermal barrier coatings (TBC) on piston bowls. The effect of TBC coatings were modeled as a thermal resistance in the heat transfer models. Full cycle 3D engine simulations provide quantitative insights into heat loss and thus calculate the efficiency gain by the use of TBC coatings. The work establishes a validated modeling framework for CHT modeling in reciprocating engine simulations.« less

Metabolic Engineering for the Production of Natural Products

PubMed Central

Pickens, Lauren B.; Tang, Yi; Chooi, Yit-Heng

2014-01-01

Natural products and natural product derived compounds play an important role in modern healthcare as frontline treatments for many diseases and as inspiration for chemically synthesized therapeutics. With advances in sequencing and recombinant DNA technology, many of the biosynthetic pathways responsible for the production of these chemically complex and pharmaceutically valuable compounds have been elucidated. With an ever expanding toolkit of biosynthetic components, metabolic engineering is an increasingly powerful method to improve natural product titers and generate novel compounds. Heterologous production platforms have enabled access to pathways from difficult to culture strains; systems biology and metabolic modeling tools have resulted in increasing predictive and analytic capabilities; advances in expression systems and regulation have enabled the fine-tuning of pathways for increased efficiency, and characterization of individual pathway components has facilitated the construction of hybrid pathways for the production of new compounds. These advances in the many aspects of metabolic engineering have not only yielded fascinating scientific discoveries but also make it an increasingly viable approach for the optimization of natural product biosynthesis. PMID:22432617

New and improved tools and methods for enhanced biosynthesis of natural products in microorganisms.

PubMed

Wang, Zhiqing; Cirino, Patrick C

2016-12-01

Engineering efficient biosynthesis of natural products in microorganisms requires optimizing gene expression levels to balance metabolite flux distributions and to minimize accumulation of toxic intermediates. Such metabolic optimization is challenged with identifying the right gene targets, and then determining and achieving appropriate gene expression levels. After decades of having a relatively limited set of gene regulation tools available, metabolic engineers are recently enjoying an ever-growing repertoire of more precise and tunable gene expression platforms. Here we review recent applications of natural and designed transcriptional and translational regulatory machinery for engineering biosynthesis of natural products in microorganisms. Customized trans-acting RNAs (sgRNA, asRNA and sRNA), along with appropriate accessory proteins, are allowing for unparalleled tuning of gene expression. Meanwhile metabolite-responsive transcription factors and riboswitches have been implemented in strain screening and evolution, and in dynamic gene regulation. Further refinements and expansions on these platform technologies will circumvent many long-term obstacles in natural products biosynthesis. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering Interface Structures and Thermal Stabilities via SPD Processing in Bulk Nanostructured Metals

DOE PAGES

Zheng, Shijian; Carpenter, John S.; McCabe, Rodney J.; ...

2014-02-27

Nanostructured metals achieve extraordinary strength but suffer from low thermal stability, both a consequence of a high fraction of interfaces. Overcoming this tradeoff relies on making the interfaces themselves thermally stable. In this paper, we show that the atomic structures of bi-metal interfaces in macroscale nanomaterials suitable for engineering structures can be significantly altered via changing the severe plastic deformation (SPD) processing pathway. Two types of interfaces are formed, both exhibiting a regular atomic structure and providing for excellent thermal stability, up to more than half the melting temperature of one of the constituents. Most importantly, the thermal stability ofmore » one is found to be significantly better than the other, indicating the exciting potential to control and optimize macroscale robustness via atomic-scale bimetal interface tuning. As a result, we demonstrate an innovative way to engineer pristine bimetal interfaces for a new class of simultaneously strong and thermally stable materials.« less

Quantum transport in coupled resonators enclosed synthetic magnetic flux

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Jin, L., E-mail: jinliang@nankai.edu.cn

Quantum transport properties are instrumental to understanding quantum coherent transport processes. Potential applications of quantum transport are widespread, in areas ranging from quantum information science to quantum engineering, and not restricted to quantum state transfer, control and manipulation. Here, we study light transport in a ring array of coupled resonators enclosed synthetic magnetic flux. The ring configuration, with an arbitrary number of resonators embedded, forms a two-arm Aharonov–Bohm interferometer. The influence of magnetic flux on light transport is investigated. Tuning the magnetic flux can lead to resonant transmission, while half-integer magnetic flux quantum leads to completely destructive interference and transmissionmore » zeros in an interferometer with two equal arms. -- Highlights: •The light transport is investigated through ring array of coupled resonators enclosed synthetic magnetic field. •Aharonov–Bohm ring interferometer of arbitrary configuration is investigated. •The half-integer magnetic flux quantum leads to destructive interference and transmission zeros for two-arm at equal length. •Complete transmission is available via tuning synthetic magnetic flux.« less

Tunable magnetization of infrared epsilon-near-zero media via field-effect modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Salary, Mohammad Mahdi; Mosallaei, Hossein

2018-04-01

In this letter, we demonstrate that field effect modulation enables electrical tuning of the effective permeability of epsilon-near-zero (ENZ) media at infrared frequencies. In particular, hexagonal silicon carbide (6H-SiC) is incorporated as an epsilon-near-zero host in a gated 6H-SiC/SiO2/Si heterostructure. The change in the applied voltage leads to a change in the carrier concentration of the accumulation layer formed at the interface of 6H-SiC and SiO2 which can alter the effective permeability of the heterostructure by virtue of the photonic doping effect. We will rigorously model and analyze the structure by linking charge transport and electromagnetic models. The presented mechanism allows for tuning the impedance and magnetization of ENZ materials in real-time while capturing extreme cases of epsilon-and-mu-near-zero and magnetic conductor. As such, it can be used for various applications such as real-time engineering of thermal emission, dynamic switching, reconfigurable tunneling, and holography.

Synthesizing a novel genetic sequential logic circuit: a push-on push-off switch

PubMed Central

Lou, Chunbo; Liu, Xili; Ni, Ming; Huang, Yiqi; Huang, Qiushi; Huang, Longwen; Jiang, Lingli; Lu, Dan; Wang, Mingcong; Liu, Chang; Chen, Daizhuo; Chen, Chongyi; Chen, Xiaoyue; Yang, Le; Ma, Haisu; Chen, Jianguo; Ouyang, Qi

2010-01-01

Design and synthesis of basic functional circuits are the fundamental tasks of synthetic biologists. Before it is possible to engineer higher-order genetic networks that can perform complex functions, a toolkit of basic devices must be developed. Among those devices, sequential logic circuits are expected to be the foundation of the genetic information-processing systems. In this study, we report the design and construction of a genetic sequential logic circuit in Escherichia coli. It can generate different outputs in response to the same input signal on the basis of its internal state, and ‘memorize' the output. The circuit is composed of two parts: (1) a bistable switch memory module and (2) a double-repressed promoter NOR gate module. The two modules were individually rationally designed, and they were coupled together by fine-tuning the interconnecting parts through directed evolution. After fine-tuning, the circuit could be repeatedly, alternatively triggered by the same input signal; it functions as a push-on push-off switch. PMID:20212522

Synthesizing a novel genetic sequential logic circuit: a push-on push-off switch.

PubMed

Lou, Chunbo; Liu, Xili; Ni, Ming; Huang, Yiqi; Huang, Qiushi; Huang, Longwen; Jiang, Lingli; Lu, Dan; Wang, Mingcong; Liu, Chang; Chen, Daizhuo; Chen, Chongyi; Chen, Xiaoyue; Yang, Le; Ma, Haisu; Chen, Jianguo; Ouyang, Qi

2010-01-01

Design and synthesis of basic functional circuits are the fundamental tasks of synthetic biologists. Before it is possible to engineer higher-order genetic networks that can perform complex functions, a toolkit of basic devices must be developed. Among those devices, sequential logic circuits are expected to be the foundation of the genetic information-processing systems. In this study, we report the design and construction of a genetic sequential logic circuit in Escherichia coli. It can generate different outputs in response to the same input signal on the basis of its internal state, and 'memorize' the output. The circuit is composed of two parts: (1) a bistable switch memory module and (2) a double-repressed promoter NOR gate module. The two modules were individually rationally designed, and they were coupled together by fine-tuning the interconnecting parts through directed evolution. After fine-tuning, the circuit could be repeatedly, alternatively triggered by the same input signal; it functions as a push-on push-off switch.

Low-loss curved subwavelength grating waveguide based on index engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zheng; Xu, Xiaochuan; Fan, D. L.; Wang, Yaoguo; Chen, Ray T.

2016-03-01

Subwavelength grating (SWG) waveguide is an intriguing alternative to conventional optical waveguides due to its freedom to tune a few important waveguide properties such as dispersion and refractive index. Devices based on SWG waveguide have demonstrated impressive performances compared to those of conventional waveguides. However, the large loss of SWG waveguide bends jeopardizes their applications in integrated photonics circuits. In this work, we propose that a predistorted refractive index distribution in SWG waveguide bends can effectively decrease the mode mismatch noise and radiation loss simultaneously, and thus significantly reduce the bend loss. Here, we achieved the pre-distortion refractive index distribution by using trapezoidal silicon pillars. This geometry tuning approach is numerically optimized and experimentally demonstrated. The average insertion loss of a 5 μm SWG waveguide bend can be reduced drastically from 5.58 dB to 1.37 dB per 90° bend for quasi-TE polarization. In the future, the proposed approach can be readily adopted to enhance performance of an array of SWG waveguide-based photonics devices.

Decoupling the Functional Pleiotropy of Stem Cell Factor by Tuning c-Kit Signaling

PubMed Central

Ho, Chia Chi M.; Chhabra, Akanksha; Starkl, Philipp; Schnorr, Peter-John; Wilmes, Stephan; Moraga, Ignacio; Kwon, Hye-Sook; Gaudenzio, Nicolas; Sibilano, Riccardo; Wehrman, Tom S.; Gakovic, Milica; Sockolosky, Jonathan T.; Tiffany, Matthew R.; Ring, Aaron M.; Piehler, Jacob; Weissman, Irving L.; Galli, Stephen J.; Shizuru, Judith A.; Garcia, K. Christopher

2017-01-01

SUMMARY Most secreted growth factors and cytokines are functionally pleiotropic because their receptors are expressed on diverse cell types. While important for normal mammalian physiology, pleiotropy limits the efficacy of cytokines and growth factors as therapeutics. Stem cell factor (SCF) is a growth factor that acts through the c-Kit receptor tyrosine kinase to elicit hematopoietic progenitor expansion, but can be toxic when administered in vivo because it concurrently activates mast cells. We engineered a mechanism-based SCF partial agonist that impaired c-Kit dimerization, truncating downstream signaling amplitude. This SCF variant elicited biased activation of hematopoietic progenitors over mast cells in vitro and in vivo. Mouse models of SCF-mediated anaphylaxis, radioprotection, and hematopoietic expansion revealed that this SCF partial agonist retained therapeutic efficacy while exhibiting virtually no anaphylactic off-target effects. The approach of biasing cell activation by tuning signaling thresholds and outputs has applications to many dimeric receptor-ligand systems. PMID:28283060

Reconfigurable Liquid Whispering Gallery Mode Microlasers

PubMed Central

Yang, Shancheng; Ta, Van Duong; Wang, Yue; Chen, Rui; He, Tingchao; Demir, Hilmi Volkan; Sun, Handong

2016-01-01

Engineering photonic devices from liquid has been emerging as a fascinating research avenue. Reconfigurably tuning liquid optical micro-devices are highly desirable but remain extremely challenging because of the fluidic nature. In this article we demonstrate an all-liquid tunable whispering gallery mode microlaser floating on a liquid surface fabricated by using inkjet print technique. We show that the cavity resonance of such liquid lasers could be reconfigurably manipulated by surface tension alteration originated from the tiny concentration change of the surfactant in the supporting liquid. As such, remarkable sensing of water-soluble organic compounds with a sensitivity of free spectral range as high as 19.85 THz / (mol · mL−1) and the detectivity limit around 5.56 × 10−3 mol · mL−1 is achieved. Our work provides not only a novel approach to effectively tuning a laser resonator but also new insight into potential applications in biological, chemical and environmental sensing. PMID:27256771

Quantum phase transition modulation in an atomtronic Mott switch

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McLain, Marie A.; Carr, Lincoln D.

2018-07-01

Mott insulators provide stable quantum states and long coherence times due to small number fluctuations, making them good candidates for quantum memory and atomic circuits. We propose a proof-of-principle for a 1D Mott switch using an ultracold Bose gas and optical lattice. With time-evolving block decimation simulations—efficient matrix product state methods—we design a means for transient parameter characterization via a local excitation for ease of engineering into more complex atomtronics. We perform the switch operation by tuning the intensity of the optical lattice, and thus the interaction strength through a conductance transition due to the confined modifications of the ‘wedding cake’ Mott structure. We demonstrate the time-dependence of Fock state transmission and fidelity of the excitation as a means of tuning up the device in a double well and as a measure of noise performance. Two-point correlations via the g (2) measure provide additional information regarding superfluid fragments on the Mott insulating background due to the confinement of the potential.

A novel approach for the fine tuning of resonance frequency of patch antenna

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mathur, Monika; Singh, Ghanshyam; Bhatnagar, S. K.

2013-01-01

When a patch antenna is fabricated, dimensions of the patch may be slightly different from the designed values due to tolerances in the fabrication process. This alters the resonance frequency of the antenna. To overcome this problem this paper presents a new design approach for fine tuning the resonance frequency by dielectric constant engineering. This approach is especially suited to low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) and similar processes where the antenna dielectric is composed of several layers. Composite dielectric constant of this multilayer structure is altered in such a way that the resonant frequency is set back to the designed value. It has been verified that for proposed micro strip antenna (MSA) design, the frequency-area curve follows a quadratic relation with a variable R (Ratio of cavity area to the patch area). This mathematical model is true up to R 1.27. After this saturation effects set in and the curve follows a straight line behavior.≡

Tunable electronic and magnetic properties of two‐dimensional materials and their one‐dimensional derivatives

PubMed Central

Zhang, Zhuhua; Liu, Xiaofei; Yu, Jin; Hang, Yang; Li, Yao; Guo, Yufeng; Xu, Ying; Sun, Xu; Zhou, Jianxin

2016-01-01

Low‐dimensional materials exhibit many exceptional properties and functionalities which can be efficiently tuned by externally applied force or fields. Here we review the current status of research on tuning the electronic and magnetic properties of low‐dimensional carbon, boron nitride, metal‐dichalcogenides, phosphorene nanomaterials by applied engineering strain, external electric field and interaction with substrates, etc, with particular focus on the progress of computational methods and studies. We highlight the similarities and differences of the property modulation among one‐ and two‐dimensional nanomaterials. Recent breakthroughs in experimental demonstration of the tunable functionalities in typical nanostructures are also presented. Finally, prospective and challenges for applying the tunable properties into functional devices are discussed. WIREs Comput Mol Sci 2016, 6:324–350. doi: 10.1002/wcms.1251 For further resources related to this article, please visit the WIREs website. Conflict of interest: The authors have declared no conflicts of interest for this article. PMID:27818710

Effect of potassium doping on electronic structure and thermoelectric properties of topological crystalline insulator

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Roychowdhury, Subhajit; Biswas, Kanishka, E-mail: kanishka@jncasr.ac.in; Sandhya Shenoy, U.

2016-05-09

Topological crystalline insulator (TCI), Pb{sub 0.6}Sn{sub 0.4}Te, exhibits metallic surface states protected by crystal mirror symmetry with negligibly small band gap. Enhancement of its thermoelectric performances needs tuning of its electronic structure particularly through engineering of its band gap. While physical perturbations tune the electronic structure of TCI by breaking of the crystal mirror symmetry, chemical means such as doping have been more attractive recently as they result in better thermoelectric performance in TCIs. Here, we demonstrate that K doping in TCI, Pb{sub 0.6}Sn{sub 0.4}Te, breaks the crystal mirror symmetry locally and widens electronic band gap, which is confirmed bymore » direct electronic absorption spectroscopy and electronic structure calculations. K doping in Pb{sub 0.6}Sn{sub 0.4}Te increases p-type carrier concentration and suppresses the bipolar conduction via widening a band gap, which collectively boosts the thermoelectric figure of merit (ZT) to 1 at 708 K.« less

Engineering polyelectrolyte multilayer structure at the nanometer length scale by tuning polymer solution conformation.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boddohi, Soheil; Killingsworth, Christopher; Kipper, Matt

2008-03-01

Chitosan (a weak polycation) and heparin (a strong polyanion) are used to make polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM). PEM thickness and composition are determined as a function of solution pH (4.6 to 5.8) and ionic strength (0.1 to 0.5 M). Over this range, increasing pH increases the PEM thickness; however, the sensitivity to changes in pH is a strong function of ionic strength. The PEM thickness data are correlated to the polymer conformation in solution. Polyelectrolyte conformation in solution is characterized by gel permeation chromatography (GPC). The highest sensitivity of PEM structure to pH is obtained at intermediate ionic strength. Different interactions govern the conformation and adsorption phenomena at low and high ionic strength, leading to reduced sensitivity to solution pH at extreme ionic strengths. The correspondence between PEM thickness and polymer solution conformation offers opportunities to tune polymer thin film structure at the nanometer length scale by controlling simple, reproducible processing conditions.

Tuning of electronic properties and dynamical stability of graphene oxide with different functional groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dabhi, Shweta D.; Jha, Prafulla K.

2017-09-01

The structural, electronic and vibrational properties of graphene oxide (GO) with varying proportion of epoxy and hydroxyl functional groups have been studied using density functional theory. The functional groups and oxygen density have an obvious influence on the electronic and vibrational properties. The dependence of band gap on associated functional groups and oxygen density shows a possibility of tuning the band gap of graphene by varying the functional groups as well as oxidation level. The absorption of high oxygen content in graphene leads to the gap opening and resulting in a transition from semimetal to semiconductor. Phonon dispersion curves show no imaginary frequency or no softening of any phonon mode throughout the Brillouin zone which confirms the dynamical stability of all considered GO models. Different groups and different oxygen density result into the varying characteristics of phonon modes. The computed results show good agreement with the experimental observations. Our results present interesting possibilities for engineering the electronic properties of graphene and GO and impact the fabrication of new electronics.

Tuning the band gap in silicene by oxidation.

PubMed

Du, Yi; Zhuang, Jincheng; Liu, Hongsheng; Xu, Xun; Eilers, Stefan; Wu, Kehui; Cheng, Peng; Zhao, Jijun; Pi, Xiaodong; See, Khay Wai; Peleckis, Germanas; Wang, Xiaolin; Dou, Shi Xue

2014-10-28

Silicene monolayers grown on Ag(111) surfaces demonstrate a band gap that is tunable by oxygen adatoms from semimetallic to semiconducting type. With the use of low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy, we find that the adsorption configurations and amounts of oxygen adatoms on the silicene surface are critical for band gap engineering, which is dominated by different buckled structures in √13 × √13, 4 × 4, and 2√3 × 2√3 silicene layers. The Si-O-Si bonds are the most energy-favored species formed on √13 × √13, 4 × 4, and 2√3 × 2√3 structures under oxidation, which is verified by in situ Raman spectroscopy as well as first-principles calculations. The silicene monolayers retain their structures when fully covered by oxygen adatoms. Our work demonstrates the feasibility of tuning the band gap of silicene with oxygen adatoms, which, in turn, expands the base of available two-dimensional electronic materials for devices with properties that is hardly achieved with graphene oxide.

Performance Optimization Control of ECH using Fuzzy Inference Application

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dubey, Abhay Kumar

Electro-chemical honing (ECH) is a hybrid electrolytic precision micro-finishing technology that, by combining physico-chemical actions of electro-chemical machining and conventional honing processes, provides the controlled functional surfaces-generation and fast material removal capabilities in a single operation. Process multi-performance optimization has become vital for utilizing full potential of manufacturing processes to meet the challenging requirements being placed on the surface quality, size, tolerances and production rate of engineering components in this globally competitive scenario. This paper presents an strategy that integrates the Taguchi matrix experimental design, analysis of variances and fuzzy inference system (FIS) to formulate a robust practical multi-performance optimization methodology for complex manufacturing processes like ECH, which involve several control variables. Two methodologies one using a genetic algorithm tuning of FIS (GA-tuned FIS) and another using an adaptive network based fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) have been evaluated for a multi-performance optimization case study of ECH. The actual experimental results confirm their potential for a wide range of machining conditions employed in ECH.

Tunable Supermode Dielectric Resonators for Axion Dark-Matter Haloscopes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McAllister, Ben T.; Flower, Graeme; Tobar, Lucas E.; Tobar, Michael E.

2018-01-01

We present frequency-tuning mechanisms for dielectric resonators, which undergo "supermode" interactions as they tune. The tunable schemes are based on dielectric materials strategically placed inside traditional cylindrical resonant cavities, necessarily operating in transverse-magnetic modes for use in axion haloscopes. The first technique is based on multiple dielectric disks with radii smaller than that of the cavity. The second scheme relies on hollow dielectric cylinders similar to a Bragg resonator, but with a different location and dimension. Specifically, we engineer a significant increase in form factor for the TM030 mode utilizing a variation of a distributed Bragg reflector resonator. Additionally, we demonstrate an application of traditional distributed Bragg reflectors in TM modes which may be applied to a haloscope. Theoretical and experimental results are presented showing an increase in Q factor and tunability due to the supermode effect. The TM030 ring-resonator mode offers a between 1 and 2-order-of-magnitude improvement in axion sensitivity over current conventional cavity systems and will be employed in the forthcoming ORGAN experiment.

Tuning the Fermi velocity in Dirac materials with an electric field.

PubMed

Díaz-Fernández, A; Chico, Leonor; González, J W; Domínguez-Adame, F

2017-08-14

Dirac materials are characterized by energy-momentum relations that resemble those of relativistic massless particles. Commonly denominated Dirac cones, these dispersion relations are considered to be their essential feature. These materials comprise quite diverse examples, such as graphene and topological insulators. Band-engineering techniques should aim to a full control of the parameter that characterizes the Dirac cones: the Fermi velocity. We propose a general mechanism that enables the fine-tuning of the Fermi velocity in Dirac materials in a readily accessible way for experiments. By embedding the sample in a uniform electric field, the Fermi velocity is substantially modified. We first prove this result analytically, for the surface states of a topological insulator/semiconductor interface, and postulate its universality in other Dirac materials. Then we check its correctness in carbon-based Dirac materials, namely graphene nanoribbons and nanotubes, thus showing the validity of our hypothesis in different Dirac systems by means of continuum, tight-binding and ab-initio calculations.

Enhanced doping effect on tuning structural phases of monolayer antimony

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Jizhang; Yang, Teng; Zhang, Zhidong; Yang, Li

2018-05-01

Doping is capable to control the atomistic structure, electronic structure, and even to dynamically realize a semiconductor-metal transition in two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs). However, the high critical doping density (˜1014 electron/cm2), compound nature, and relatively low carrier mobility of TMDs limits broader applications. Using first-principles calculations, we predict that, via a small transition potential, a substantially lower hole doping density (˜6 × 1012 hole/cm2) can switch the ground-state structure of monolayer antimony from the hexagonal β-phase, a 2D semiconductor with excellent transport performance and air stability but an indirect bandgap, to the orthorhombic α phase with a direct bandgap and potentially better carrier mobility. We further show that this structural engineering can be achieved by the established electrostatic doping, surface functional adsorption, or directly using graphene substrate. This gives hope to dynamically tuning and large-scale production of 2D single-element semiconductors that simultaneously exhibit remarkable transport and optical performance.

Anisotropic MoS2 Nanosheets Grown on Self-Organized Nanopatterned Substrates.

PubMed

Martella, Christian; Mennucci, Carlo; Cinquanta, Eugenio; Lamperti, Alessio; Cappelluti, Emmanuele; Buatier de Mongeot, Francesco; Molle, Alessandro

2017-05-01

Manipulating the anisotropy in 2D nanosheets is a promising way to tune or trigger functional properties at the nanoscale. Here, a novel approach is presented to introduce a one-directional anisotropy in MoS 2 nanosheets via chemical vapor deposition (CVD) onto rippled patterns prepared on ion-sputtered SiO 2 /Si substrates. The optoelectronic properties of MoS 2 are dramatically affected by the rippled MoS 2 morphology both at the macro- and the nanoscale. In particular, strongly anisotropic phonon modes are observed depending on the polarization orientation with respect to the ripple axis. Moreover, the rippled morphology induces localization of strain and charge doping at the nanoscale, thus causing substantial redshifts of the phonon mode frequencies and a topography-dependent modulation of the MoS 2 workfunction, respectively. This study paves the way to a controllable tuning of the anisotropy via substrate pattern engineering in CVD-grown 2D nanosheets. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Monoclinic Tungsten Oxide with {100} Facet Orientation and Tuned Electronic Band Structure for Enhanced Photocatalytic Oxidations.

PubMed

Zhang, Ning; Chen, Chen; Mei, Zongwei; Liu, Xiaohe; Qu, Xiaolei; Li, Yunxiang; Li, Siqi; Qi, Weihong; Zhang, Yuanjian; Ye, Jinhua; Roy, Vellaisamy A L; Ma, Renzhi

2016-04-27

Exploring surface-exposed highly active crystal facets for photocatalytic oxidations is promising in utilizing monoclinic WO3 semiconductor. However, the previously reported highly active facets for monoclinic WO3 were mainly toward enhancing photocatalytic reductions. Here we report that the WO3 with {100} facet orientation and tuned surface electronic band structure can effectively enhance photocatalytic oxidation properties. The {100} faceted WO3 single crystals are synthesized via a facile hydrothermal method. The UV-visible diffuse reflectance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy valence band spectra, and photoelectrochemical measurements suggest that the {100} faceted WO3 has a much higher energy level of valence band maximum compared with the normal WO3 crystals without preferred orientation of the crystal face. The density functional theory calculations reveal that the shift of O 2p and W 5d states in {100} face induce a unique band structure. In comparison with the normal WO3, the {100} faceted WO3 exhibits an O2 evolution rate about 5.1 times in water splitting, and also shows an acetone evolution rate of 4.2 times as well as CO2 evolution rate of 3.8 times in gaseous degradation of 2-propanol. This study demonstrates an efficient crystal face engineering route to tune the surface electronic band structure for enhanced photocatalytic oxidations.

An L-band transit-time oscillator with mechanical frequency tunability

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Song, Lili; He, Juntao; Ling, Junpu; Cao, Yibing

2017-02-01

An L-band coaxial Transit-time Oscillator (TTO) with mechanical frequency tunability is introduced in this paper. Particle-in-cell simulations have been done. The output power efficiency has been improved at least 20% under a 10.2 GW input power and with a tunable range from 1.57 GHz to 1.90 GHz by modulating the outer conductor. It is worth to note that the efficiency can reach as high as 41% at 1.75 GHz. The mechanical engineering method is also detailed in this work. The frequency tuning range of the coaxial TTO is 22.6% of the central frequency. On the other hand, the frequency can be tuned from 1.6 GHz to 1.85 GHz by modulating the inner conductor. The author highlights a hollow structure of the L-band coaxial TTO which can work from 1.03 GHz to 1.31 GHz via modulating the outer conductor in the rest of the article. The frequency tuning range of the hollow TTO is 21.4% of the central frequency. More importantly, the hollow TTO can be easily achieved after the inner conductor is removed from the coaxial TTO. The electric field distributions of the coaxial and hollow TTOs are analyzed, resulting in that the longitudinal and transverse working modes are TM01 and π mode, respectively. The same working mode from these two structures implies the stability of the TTOs mentioned above.

3D Printing Polymers with Supramolecular Functionality for Biological Applications.

PubMed

Pekkanen, Allison M; Mondschein, Ryan J; Williams, Christopher B; Long, Timothy E

2017-09-11

Supramolecular chemistry continues to experience widespread growth, as fine-tuned chemical structures lead to well-defined bulk materials. Previous literature described the roles of hydrogen bonding, ionic aggregation, guest/host interactions, and π-π stacking to tune mechanical, viscoelastic, and processing performance. The versatility of reversible interactions enables the more facile manufacturing of molded parts with tailored hierarchical structures such as tissue engineered scaffolds for biological applications. Recently, supramolecular polymers and additive manufacturing processes merged to provide parts with control of the molecular, macromolecular, and feature length scales. Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing, generates customizable constructs desirable for many applications, and the introduction of supramolecular interactions will potentially increase production speed, offer a tunable surface structure for controlling cell/scaffold interactions, and impart desired mechanical properties through reinforcing interlayer adhesion and introducing gradients or self-assembled structures. This review details the synthesis and characterization of supramolecular polymers suitable for additive manufacture and biomedical applications as well as the use of supramolecular polymers in additive manufacturing for drug delivery and complex tissue scaffold formation. The effect of supramolecular assembly and its dynamic behavior offers potential for controlling the anisotropy of the printed objects with exquisite geometrical control. The potential for supramolecular polymers to generate well-defined parts, hierarchical structures, and scaffolds with gradient properties/tuned surfaces provides an avenue for developing next-generation biomedical devices and tissue scaffolds.

Auxetic metamaterials from disordered networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Reid, Daniel R.; Pashine, Nidhi; Wozniak, Justin M.; Jaeger, Heinrich M.; Liu, Andrea J.; Nagel, Sidney R.; de Pablo, Juan J.

2018-02-01

Recent theoretical work suggests that systematic pruning of disordered networks consisting of nodes connected by springs can lead to materials that exhibit a host of unusual mechanical properties. In particular, global properties such as Poisson’s ratio or local responses related to deformation can be precisely altered. Tunable mechanical responses would be useful in areas ranging from impact mitigation to robotics and, more generally, for creation of metamaterials with engineered properties. However, experimental attempts to create auxetic materials based on pruning-based theoretical ideas have not been successful. Here we introduce a more realistic model of the networks, which incorporates angle-bending forces and the appropriate experimental boundary conditions. A sequential pruning strategy of select bonds in this model is then devised and implemented that enables engineering of specific mechanical behaviors upon deformation, both in the linear and in the nonlinear regimes. In particular, it is shown that Poisson’s ratio can be tuned to arbitrary values. The model and concepts discussed here are validated by preparing physical realizations of the networks designed in this manner, which are produced by laser cutting 2D sheets and are found to behave as predicted. Furthermore, by relying on optimization algorithms, we exploit the networks’ susceptibility to tuning to design networks that possess a distribution of stiffer and more compliant bonds and whose auxetic behavior is even greater than that of homogeneous networks. Taken together, the findings reported here serve to establish that pruned networks represent a promising platform for the creation of unique mechanical metamaterials.

Protein-engineered block-copolymers as stem cell delivery vehicles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heilshorn, Sarah

2015-03-01

Stem cell transplantation is a promising therapy for a myriad of debilitating diseases and injuries; however, current delivery protocols are inadequate. Transplantation by direct injection, which is clinically preferred for its minimal invasiveness, commonly results in less than 5% cell viability, greatly inhibiting clinical outcomes. We demonstrate that mechanical membrane disruption results in significant acute loss of viability at clinically relevant injection rates. As a strategy to protect cells from these damaging forces, we show that cell encapsulation within hydrogels of specific mechanical properties will significantly improve viability. Building on these fundamental studies, we have designed a reproducible, bio-resorbable, customizable hydrogel using protein-engineering technology. In our Mixing-Induced Two-Component Hydrogel (MITCH), network assembly is driven by specific and stoichiometric peptide-peptide binding interactions. By integrating protein science methodologies with simple polymer physics models, we manipulate the polypeptide chain interactions and demonstrate the direct ability to tune the network crosslinking density, sol-gel phase behavior, and gel mechanics. This is in contrast to many other physical hydrogels, where predictable tuning of bulk mechanics from the molecular level remains elusive due to the reliance on non-specific and non-stoichiometric chain interactions for network formation. Furthermore, the hydrogel network can be easily modified to deliver a variety of bioactive payloads including growth factors, peptide drugs, and hydroxyapatite nanoparticles. Through a series of in vitro and in vivo studies, we demonstrate that these materials may significantly improve transplanted stem cell retention and function.

Prediction of peak response values of structures with and without TMD subjected to random pedestrian flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lievens, Klaus; Van Nimmen, Katrien; Lombaert, Geert; De Roeck, Guido; Van den Broeck, Peter

2016-09-01

In civil engineering and architecture, the availability of high strength materials and advanced calculation techniques enables the construction of slender footbridges, generally highly sensitive to human-induced excitation. Due to the inherent random character of the human-induced walking load, variability on the pedestrian characteristics must be considered in the response simulation. To assess the vibration serviceability of the footbridge, the statistics of the stochastic dynamic response are evaluated by considering the instantaneous peak responses in a time range. Therefore, a large number of time windows are needed to calculate the mean value and standard deviation of the instantaneous peak values. An alternative method to evaluate the statistics is based on the standard deviation of the response and a characteristic frequency as proposed in wind engineering applications. In this paper, the accuracy of this method is evaluated for human-induced vibrations. The methods are first compared for a group of pedestrians crossing a lightly damped footbridge. Small differences of the instantaneous peak value were found by the method using second order statistics. Afterwards, a TMD tuned to reduce the peak acceleration to a comfort value, was added to the structure. The comparison between both methods in made and the accuracy is verified. It is found that the TMD parameters are tuned sufficiently and good agreements between the two methods are found for the estimation of the instantaneous peak response for a strongly damped structure.

3D printing of novel osteochondral scaffolds with graded microstructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nowicki, Margaret A.; Castro, Nathan J.; Plesniak, Michael W.; Zhang, Lijie Grace

2016-10-01

Osteochondral tissue has a complex graded structure where biological, physiological, and mechanical properties vary significantly over the full thickness spanning from the subchondral bone region beneath the joint surface to the hyaline cartilage region at the joint surface. This presents a significant challenge for tissue-engineered structures addressing osteochondral defects. Fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D bioprinters present a unique solution to this problem. The objective of this study is to use FDM-based 3D bioprinting and nanocrystalline hydroxyapatite for improved bone marrow human mesenchymal stem cell (hMSC) adhesion, growth, and osteochondral differentiation. FDM printing parameters can be tuned through computer aided design and computer numerical control software to manipulate scaffold geometries in ways that are beneficial to mechanical performance without hindering cellular behavior. Additionally, the ability to fine-tune 3D printed scaffolds increases further through our investment casting procedure which facilitates the inclusion of nanoparticles with biochemical factors to further elicit desired hMSC differentiation. For this study, FDM was used to print investment-casting molds innovatively designed with varied pore distribution over the full thickness of the scaffold. The mechanical and biological impacts of the varied pore distributions were compared and evaluated to determine the benefits of this physical manipulation. The results indicate that both mechanical properties and cell performance improve in the graded pore structures when compared to homogeneously distributed porous and non-porous structures. Differentiation results indicated successful osteogenic and chondrogenic manipulation in engineered scaffolds.

Fine tuning of optical signals in nanoporous anodic alumina photonic crystals by apodized sinusoidal pulse anodisation.

PubMed

Santos, Abel; Law, Cheryl Suwen; Chin Lei, Dominique Wong; Pereira, Taj; Losic, Dusan

2016-11-03

In this study, we present an advanced nanofabrication approach to produce gradient-index photonic crystal structures based on nanoporous anodic alumina. An apodization strategy is for the first time applied to a sinusoidal pulse anodisation process in order to engineer the photonic stop band of nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA) in depth. Four apodization functions are explored, including linear positive, linear negative, logarithmic positive and logarithmic negative, with the aim of finely tuning the characteristic photonic stop band of these photonic crystal structures. We systematically analyse the effect of the amplitude difference (from 0.105 to 0.840 mA cm -2 ), the pore widening time (from 0 to 6 min), the anodisation period (from 650 to 950 s) and the anodisation time (from 15 to 30 h) on the quality and the position of the characteristic photonic stop band and the interferometric colour of these photonic crystal structures using the aforementioned apodization functions. Our results reveal that a logarithmic negative apodisation function is the most optimal approach to obtain unprecedented well-resolved and narrow photonic stop bands across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum of NAA-based gradient-index photonic crystals. Our study establishes a fully comprehensive rationale towards the development of unique NAA-based photonic crystal structures with finely engineered optical properties for advanced photonic devices such as ultra-sensitive optical sensors, selective optical filters and all-optical platforms for quantum computing.

Comparison of measured electron energy spectra for six matched, radiotherapy accelerators.

PubMed

McLaughlin, David J; Hogstrom, Kenneth R; Neck, Daniel W; Gibbons, John P

2018-05-01

This study compares energy spectra of the multiple electron beams of individual radiotherapy machines, as well as the sets of spectra across multiple matched machines. Also, energy spectrum metrics are compared with central-axis percent depth-dose (PDD) metrics. A lightweight, permanent magnet spectrometer was used to measure energy spectra for seven electron beams (7-20 MeV) on six matched Elekta Infinity accelerators with the MLCi2 treatment head. PDD measurements in the distal falloff region provided R 50 and R 80-20 metrics in Plastic Water ® , which correlated with energy spectrum metrics, peak mean energy (PME) and full-width at half maximum (FWHM). Visual inspection of energy spectra and their metrics showed whether beams on single machines were properly tuned, i.e., FWHM is expected to increase and peak height decrease monotonically with increased PME. Also, PME spacings are expected to be approximately equal for 7-13 MeV beams (0.5-cm R 90 spacing) and for 13-16 MeV beams (1.0-cm R 90 spacing). Most machines failed these expectations, presumably due to tolerances for initial beam matching (0.05 cm in R 90 ; 0.10 cm in R 80-20 ) and ongoing quality assurance (0.2 cm in R 50 ). Also, comparison of energy spectra or metrics for a single beam energy (six machines) showed outlying spectra. These variations in energy spectra provided ample data spread for correlating PME and FWHM with PDD metrics. Least-squares fits showed that R 50 and R 80-20 varied linearly and supralinearly with PME, respectively; however, both suggested a secondary dependence on FWHM. Hence, PME and FWHM could serve as surrogates for R 50 and R 80-20 for beam tuning by the accelerator engineer, possibly being more sensitive (e.g., 0.1 cm in R 80-20 corresponded to 2.0 MeV in FWHM). Results of this study suggest a lightweight, permanent magnet spectrometer could be a useful beam-tuning instrument for the accelerator engineer to (a) match electron beams prior to beam commissioning, (b) tune electron beams for the duration of their clinical use, and (c) provide estimates of PDD metrics following machine maintenance. However, a real-time version of the spectrometer is needed to be practical. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Clinical Medical Physics published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of American Association of Physicists in Medicine.

Metabolic engineering of higher plants and algae for isoprenoid production.

PubMed

Kempinski, Chase; Jiang, Zuodong; Bell, Stephen; Chappell, Joe

2015-01-01

Isoprenoids are a class of compounds derived from the five carbon precursors, dimethylallyl diphosphate, and isopentenyl diphosphate. These molecules present incredible natural chemical diversity, which can be valuable for humans in many aspects such as cosmetics, agriculture, and medicine. However, many terpenoids are only produced in small quantities by their natural hosts and can be difficult to generate synthetically. Therefore, much interest and effort has been directed toward capturing the genetic blueprint for their biochemistry and engineering it into alternative hosts such as plants and algae. These autotrophic organisms are attractive when compared to traditional microbial platforms because of their ability to utilize atmospheric CO2 as a carbon substrate instead of supplied carbon sources like glucose. This chapter will summarize important techniques and strategies for engineering the accumulation of isoprenoid metabolites into higher plants and algae by choosing the correct host, avoiding endogenous regulatory mechanisms, and optimizing potential flux into the target compound. Future endeavors will build on these efforts by fine-tuning product accumulation levels via the vast amount of available "-omic" data and devising metabolic engineering schemes that integrate this into a whole-organism approach. With the development of high-throughput transformation protocols and synthetic biology molecular tools, we have only begun to harness the power and utility of plant and algae metabolic engineering.

Improving Antibody-Based Cancer Therapeutics Through Glycan Engineering.

PubMed

Yu, Xiaojie; Marshall, Michael J E; Cragg, Mark S; Crispin, Max

2017-06-01

Antibody-based therapeutics has emerged as a major tool in cancer treatment. Guided by the superb specificity of the antibody variable domain, it allows the precise targeting of tumour markers. Recently, eliciting cellular effector functions, mediated by the Fc domain, has gained traction as a means by which to generate more potent antibody therapeutics. Extensive mutagenesis studies of the Fc protein backbone has enabled the generation of Fc variants that more optimally engage the Fcγ receptors known to mediate cellular effector functions such as antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) and cellular phagocytosis. In addition to the protein backbone, the homodimeric Fc domain contains two opposing N-linked glycans, which represent a further point of potential immunomodulation, independent of the Fc protein backbone. For example, a lack of core fucose usually attached to the IgG Fc glycan leads to enhanced ADCC activity, whereas a high level of terminal sialylation is associated with reduced inflammation. Significant growth in knowledge of Fc glycosylation over the last decade, combined with advancement in genetic engineering, has empowered glyco-engineering to fine-tune antibody therapeutics. This has culminated in the approval of two glyco-engineered antibodies for cancer therapy: the anti-CCR4 mogamulizumab approved in 2012 and the anti-CD20 obinutuzumab in 2013. We discuss here the technological platforms for antibody glyco-engineering and review the current clinical landscape of glyco-engineered antibodies.

Precise metabolic engineering of carotenoid biosynthesis in Escherichia coli towards a low-cost biosensor.

PubMed

Watstein, Daniel M; McNerney, Monica P; Styczynski, Mark P

2015-09-01

Micronutrient deficiencies, including zinc deficiency, are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths annually. A key obstacle to allocating scarce treatment resources is the ability to measure population blood micronutrient status inexpensively and quickly enough to identify those who most need treatment. This paper develops a metabolically engineered strain of Escherichia coli to produce different colored pigments (violacein, lycopene, and β-carotene) in response to different extracellular zinc levels, for eventual use in an inexpensive blood zinc diagnostic test. However, obtaining discrete color states in the carotenoid pathway required precise engineering of metabolism to prevent reaction at low zinc concentrations but allow complete reaction at higher concentrations, and all under the constraints of natural regulator limitations. Hence, the metabolic engineering challenge was not to improve titer, but to enable precise control of pathway state. A combination of gene dosage, post-transcriptional, and post-translational regulation was necessary to allow visible color change over physiologically relevant ranges representing a small fraction of the regulator's dynamic response range, with further tuning possible by modulation of precursor availability. As metabolic engineering expands its applications and develops more complex systems, tight control of system components will likely become increasingly necessary, and the approach presented here can be generalized to other natural sensing systems for precise control of pathway state. Copyright © 2015 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

High-Speed Multiplexed Spatiotemporally Resolved Measurements of Exhaust Gas Recirculation Dynamics in a Multi-Cylinder Engine Using Laser Absorption Spectroscopy.

PubMed

Yoo, Jihyung; Prikhodko, Vitaly; Parks, James E; Perfetto, Anthony; Geckler, Sam; Partridge, William P

2016-04-01

The need for more environmentally friendly and efficient energy conversion is of paramount importance in developing and designing next-generation internal combustion (IC) engines for transportation applications. One effective solution to reducing emissions of mono-nitrogen oxides (NOx) is exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), which has been widely implemented in modern vehicles. However, cylinder-to-cylinder and cycle-to-cycle variations in the charge-gas uniformity can be a major barrier to optimum EGR implementation on multi-cylinder engines, and can limit performance, stability, and efficiency. Precise knowledge and fine control over the EGR system is therefore crucial, particularly for optimizing advanced engine concepts such as reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI). An absorption-based laser diagnostic was developed to study spatiotemporal charge-gas distributions in an IC engine intake manifold in real-time. The laser was tuned to an absorption band of carbon dioxide (CO2), a standard exhaust-gas marker, near 2.7 µm. The sensor was capable of probing four separate measurement locations simultaneously, and independently analyzing EGR fraction at speeds of 5 kHz (1.2 crank-angle degree (CAD) at 1 k RPM) or faster with high accuracy. The probes were used to study spatiotemporal EGR non-uniformities in the intake manifold and ultimately promote the development of more efficient and higher performance engines. © The Author(s) 2016.

Optimization of enzyme parameters for fermentative production of biorenewable fuels and chemicals

PubMed Central

Jarboe, Laura R.; Liu, Ping; Kautharapu, Kumar Babu; Ingram, Lonnie O.

2012-01-01

Microbial biocatalysts such as Escherichia coli and Saccharomyces cerevisiae have been extensively subjected to Metabolic Engineering for the fermentative production of biorenewable fuels and chemicals. This often entails the introduction of new enzymes, deletion of unwanted enzymes and efforts to fine-tune enzyme abundance in order to attain the desired strain performance. Enzyme performance can be quantitatively described in terms of the Michaelis-Menten type parameters Km, turnover number kcat and Ki, which roughly describe the affinity of an enzyme for its substrate, the speed of a reaction and the enzyme sensitivity to inhibition by regulatory molecules. Here we describe examples of where knowledge of these parameters have been used to select, evolve or engineer enzymes for the desired performance and enabled increased production of biorenewable fuels and chemicals. Examples include production of ethanol, isobutanol, 1-butanol and tyrosine and furfural tolerance. The Michaelis-Menten parameters can also be used to judge the cofactor dependence of enzymes and quantify their preference for NADH or NADPH. Similarly, enzymes can be selected, evolved or engineered for the preferred cofactor preference. Examples of exporter engineering and selection are also discussed in the context of production of malate, valine and limonene. PMID:24688665

Tunable thermal conductivity via domain structure engineering in ferroelectric thin films: A phase-field simulation

DOE PAGES

Wang, Jian -Jun; Wang, Yi; Ihlefeld, Jon F.; ...

2016-04-06

Effective thermal conductivity as a function of domain structure is studied by solving the heat conduction equation using a spectral iterative perturbation algorithm in materials with inhomogeneous thermal conductivity distribution. Using this proposed algorithm, the experimentally measured effective thermal conductivities of domain-engineered {001} p-BiFeO 3 thin films are quantitatively reproduced. In conjunction with two other testing examples, this proposed algorithm is proven to be an efficient tool for interpreting the relationship between the effective thermal conductivity and micro-/domain-structures. By combining this algorithm with the phase-field model of ferroelectric thin films, the effective thermal conductivity for PbZr 1-xTi xO 3 filmsmore » under different composition, thickness, strain, and working conditions is predicted. It is shown that the chemical composition, misfit strain, film thickness, film orientation, and a Piezoresponse Force Microscopy tip can be used to engineer the domain structures and tune the effective thermal conductivity. Furthermore, we expect our findings will stimulate future theoretical, experimental and engineering efforts on developing devices based on the tunable effective thermal conductivity in ferroelectric nanostructures.« less

Tunable thermal conductivity via domain structure engineering in ferroelectric thin films: A phase-field simulation

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Wang, Jian -Jun; Wang, Yi; Ihlefeld, Jon F.

Effective thermal conductivity as a function of domain structure is studied by solving the heat conduction equation using a spectral iterative perturbation algorithm in materials with inhomogeneous thermal conductivity distribution. Using this proposed algorithm, the experimentally measured effective thermal conductivities of domain-engineered {001} p-BiFeO 3 thin films are quantitatively reproduced. In conjunction with two other testing examples, this proposed algorithm is proven to be an efficient tool for interpreting the relationship between the effective thermal conductivity and micro-/domain-structures. By combining this algorithm with the phase-field model of ferroelectric thin films, the effective thermal conductivity for PbZr 1-xTi xO 3 filmsmore » under different composition, thickness, strain, and working conditions is predicted. It is shown that the chemical composition, misfit strain, film thickness, film orientation, and a Piezoresponse Force Microscopy tip can be used to engineer the domain structures and tune the effective thermal conductivity. Furthermore, we expect our findings will stimulate future theoretical, experimental and engineering efforts on developing devices based on the tunable effective thermal conductivity in ferroelectric nanostructures.« less

Emerging Strategies for Developing Next-Generation Protein Therapeutics for Cancer Treatment.

PubMed

Kintzing, James R; Filsinger Interrante, Maria V; Cochran, Jennifer R

2016-12-01

Protein-based therapeutics have been revolutionizing the oncology space since they first appeared in the clinic two decades ago. Unlike traditional small-molecule chemotherapeutics, protein biologics promote active targeting of cancer cells by binding to cell-surface receptors and other markers specifically associated with or overexpressed on tumors versus healthy tissue. While the first approved cancer biologics were monoclonal antibodies, the burgeoning field of protein engineering is spawning research on an expanded range of protein formats and modifications that allow tuning of properties such as target-binding affinity, serum half-life, stability, and immunogenicity. In this review we highlight some of these strategies and provide examples of modified and engineered proteins under development as preclinical and clinical-stage drug candidates for the treatment of cancer. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Engineering electric and magnetic dipole coupling in arrays of dielectric nanoparticles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiaqi; Verellen, Niels; Van Dorpe, Pol

2018-02-01

Dielectric nanoparticles with both strong electric and magnetic dipole (ED and MD) resonances offer unique opportunities for efficient manipulation of light-matter interactions. Here, based on numerical simulations, we show far-field diffractive coupling of the ED and MD modes in a periodic rectangular array. By using unequal periodicities in the orthogonal directions, each dipole mode is separately coupled and strongly tuned. With this method, the electric and magnetic response of the dielectric nanoparticles can be deliberately engineered to accomplish various optical functionalities. Remarkably, an ultra-sharp MD resonance with sub-10 nm linewidth is achieved with a large enhancement factor for the magnetic field intensity on the order of ˜103. Our results will find useful applications for the detection of chemical and biological molecules as well as the design of novel photonic metadevices.

Dispersion flattened single etch-step waveguide based on subwavelength grating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jafari, Zeinab; Zarifkar, Abbas

2017-06-01

A novel subwavelength-grating-assisted (SWG-assisted) waveguide is proposed for dispersion flattening. Tuning the refractive index, which is a powerful tool in dispersion engineering, can be carried out through adjusting the properties of the SWG regions. It is particularly beneficial for controlling the flattened dispersion bandwidth. This will also eliminate the need for integration of other less compatible materials with silicon. Moreover, the SWG-assisted waveguide can be easily fabricated through a single etch-step process. By engineering the structural parameters of the waveguide, an ultra-flat dispersion profile with a total dispersion variation of 10 (ps/nm/km) over a wide bandwidth of 1615 nm is obtained. The possibility of bandwidth expansion, the fabrication friendly design, and the flattened dispersion profile of the proposed waveguide make it promising for wideband nonlinear applications.

DNA-binding specificity prediction with FoldX.

PubMed

Nadra, Alejandro D; Serrano, Luis; Alibés, Andreu

2011-01-01

With the advent of Synthetic Biology, a field between basic science and applied engineering, new computational tools are needed to help scientists reach their goal, their design, optimizing resources. In this chapter, we present a simple and powerful method to either know the DNA specificity of a wild-type protein or design new specificities by using the protein design algorithm FoldX. The only basic requirement is having a good resolution structure of the complex. Protein-DNA interaction design may aid the development of new parts designed to be orthogonal, decoupled, and precise in its target. Further, it could help to fine-tune the systems in terms of specificity, discrimination, and binding constants. In the age of newly developed devices and invented systems, computer-aided engineering promises to be an invaluable tool. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Achievement of needle-like focus by engineering radial-variant vector fields.

PubMed

Gu, Bing; Wu, Jia-Lu; Pan, Yang; Cui, Yiping

2013-12-16

We present and demonstrate a novel method for engineering the radial-variant polarization on the incident field to achieve a needle of transversally polarized field without any pupil filters. We generate a new kind of localized linearly-polarized vector fields with distributions of states of polarization (SoPs) describing by the radius to the power p and explore its tight focusing, nonparaxial focusing, and paraxial focusing properties. By tuning the power p, we obtain the needle-like focal field with hybrid SoPs and give the formula for describing the length of the needle. Experimentally, we systematically investigate both the intensity distributions and the polarization evolution of the optical needle by paraxial focusing the generated vector field. Such an optical needle, which enhances the light-matter interaction, has intriguing applications in optical microma-chining and nonlinear optics.

Artificial muscles on heat

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McKay, Thomas G.; Shin, Dong Ki; Percy, Steven; Knight, Chris; McGarry, Scott; Anderson, Iain A.

2014-03-01

Many devices and processes produce low grade waste heat. Some of these include combustion engines, electrical circuits, biological processes and industrial processes. To harvest this heat energy thermoelectric devices, using the Seebeck effect, are commonly used. However, these devices have limitations in efficiency, and usable voltage. This paper investigates the viability of a Stirling engine coupled to an artificial muscle energy harvester to efficiently convert heat energy into electrical energy. The results present the testing of the prototype generator which produced 200 μW when operating at 75°C. Pathways for improved performance are discussed which include optimising the electronic control of the artificial muscle, adjusting the mechanical properties of the artificial muscle to work optimally with the remainder of the system, good sealing, and tuning the resonance of the displacer to minimise the power required to drive it.

Strain-induced band engineering in monolayer stanene on Sb(111)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gou, Jian; Kong, Longjuan; Li, Hui; Zhong, Qing; Li, Wenbin; Cheng, Peng; Chen, Lan; Wu, Kehui

2017-10-01

The two-dimensional (2D) allotrope of tin with low buckled honeycomb structure named stanene is proposed to be an ideal 2D topological insulator with a nontrivial gap larger than 0.1 eV. Theoretical works also pointed out the topological property of stanene amenability to strain tuning. In this paper we report the successful realization of high quality, monolayer stanene film as well as monolayer stanene nanoribbons on Sb(111) surface by molecular-beam epitaxy, providing an ideal platform to the study of stanene. More importantly, we observed a continuous evolution of the electronic bands of stanene across the nanoribbon, related to the strain field gradient in stanene. Our work experimentally confirmed that strain is an effective method for band engineering in stanene, which is important for fundamental research and application of stanene.

CPG-inspired workspace trajectory generation and adaptive locomotion control for quadruped robots.

PubMed

Liu, Chengju; Chen, Qijun; Wang, Danwei

2011-06-01

This paper deals with the locomotion control of quadruped robots inspired by the biological concept of central pattern generator (CPG). A control architecture is proposed with a 3-D workspace trajectory generator and a motion engine. The workspace trajectory generator generates adaptive workspace trajectories based on CPGs, and the motion engine realizes joint motion imputes. The proposed architecture is able to generate adaptive workspace trajectories online by tuning the parameters of the CPG network to adapt to various terrains. With feedback information, a quadruped robot can walk through various terrains with adaptive joint control signals. A quadruped platform AIBO is used to validate the proposed locomotion control system. The experimental results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed control architecture. A comparison by experiments shows the superiority of the proposed method against the traditional CPG-joint-space control method.

Monolayer coated gold nanoparticles for delivery applications

PubMed Central

Rana, Subinoy; Bajaj, Avinash; Mout, Rubul; Rotello, Vincent M.

2011-01-01

Gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) provide attractive vehicles for delivery of drugs, genetic materials, proteins, and small molecules. AuNPs feature low core toxicity coupled with the ability to parametrically control particle size and surface properties. In this review, we focus on engineering of the AuNP surface monolayer, highlighting recent advances in tuning monolayer structures for efficient delivery of drugs and biomolecules. This review covers two broad categories of particle functionalization, organic monolayers and biomolecule coatings, and discusses their applications in drug, DNA/RNA, protein and small molecule delivery. PMID:21925556

Inducible, tunable and multiplex human gene regulation using CRISPR-Cpf1-based transcription factors | Office of Cancer Genomics

Cancer.gov

Targeted and inducible regulation of mammalian gene expression is a broadly important research capability that may also enable development of novel therapeutics for treating human diseases. Here we demonstrate that a catalytically inactive RNA-guided CRISPR-Cpf1 nuclease fused to transcriptional activation domains can up-regulate endogenous human gene expression. We engineered drug-inducible Cpf1-based activators and show how this system can be used to tune the regulation of endogenous gene transcription in human cells.

Silicon Carbide Defect Qubits/Quantum Memory with Field-Tuning: OSD Quantum Science and Engineering Program (QSEP)

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-01

accessories for mounting e. Laser power supply f. TEC power supply 12. Optical filters from SEMROCK ®, THORLABS Inc., EDMUND OPTICS® a. 532-nm, laser...line filter ( SEMROCK ®) b. 550-nm, hard-coated, short-pass filter (THORLABS Inc.) c. 532-nm long-pass filter ( SEMROCK ®) d. 808-nm laser-line filter... SEMROCK ®) e. 850-nm /10-nm full width at half maximum (FWHM) bandpass filter ( SEMROCK ®) f. 980-nm bandpass filter ( SEMROCK ®) g. 976-nm laser-line

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heroux, Michael Allen; Marker, Bryan

This report summarizes the progress made as part of a one year lab-directed research and development (LDRD) project to fund the research efforts of Bryan Marker at the University of Texas at Austin. The goal of the project was to develop new techniques for automatically tuning the performance of dense linear algebra kernels. These kernels often represent the majority of computational time in an application. The primary outcome from this work is a demonstration of the value of model driven engineering as an approach to accurately predict and study performance trade-offs for dense linear algebra computations.

Realizing parameterless automatic classification of remote sensing imagery using ontology engineering and cyberinfrastructure techniques

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sun, Ziheng; Fang, Hui; Di, Liping; Yue, Peng

2016-09-01

It was an untouchable dream for remote sensing experts to realize total automatic image classification without inputting any parameter values. Experts usually spend hours and hours on tuning the input parameters of classification algorithms in order to obtain the best results. With the rapid development of knowledge engineering and cyberinfrastructure, a lot of data processing and knowledge reasoning capabilities become online accessible, shareable and interoperable. Based on these recent improvements, this paper presents an idea of parameterless automatic classification which only requires an image and automatically outputs a labeled vector. No parameters and operations are needed from endpoint consumers. An approach is proposed to realize the idea. It adopts an ontology database to store the experiences of tuning values for classifiers. A sample database is used to record training samples of image segments. Geoprocessing Web services are used as functionality blocks to finish basic classification steps. Workflow technology is involved to turn the overall image classification into a total automatic process. A Web-based prototypical system named PACS (Parameterless Automatic Classification System) is implemented. A number of images are fed into the system for evaluation purposes. The results show that the approach could automatically classify remote sensing images and have a fairly good average accuracy. It is indicated that the classified results will be more accurate if the two databases have higher quality. Once the experiences and samples in the databases are accumulated as many as an expert has, the approach should be able to get the results with similar quality to that a human expert can get. Since the approach is total automatic and parameterless, it can not only relieve remote sensing workers from the heavy and time-consuming parameter tuning work, but also significantly shorten the waiting time for consumers and facilitate them to engage in image classification activities. Currently, the approach is used only on high resolution optical three-band remote sensing imagery. The feasibility using the approach on other kinds of remote sensing images or involving additional bands in classification will be studied in future.

Engineering Sensorial Delay to Control Phototaxis and Emergent Collective Behaviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mijalkov, Mite; McDaniel, Austin; Wehr, Jan; Volpe, Giovanni

2016-01-01

Collective motions emerging from the interaction of autonomous mobile individuals play a key role in many phenomena, from the growth of bacterial colonies to the coordination of robotic swarms. For these collective behaviors to take hold, the individuals must be able to emit, sense, and react to signals. When dealing with simple organisms and robots, these signals are necessarily very elementary; e.g., a cell might signal its presence by releasing chemicals and a robot by shining light. An additional challenge arises because the motion of the individuals is often noisy; e.g., the orientation of cells can be altered by Brownian motion and that of robots by an uneven terrain. Therefore, the emphasis is on achieving complex and tunable behaviors from simple autonomous agents communicating with each other in robust ways. Here, we show that the delay between sensing and reacting to a signal can determine the individual and collective long-term behavior of autonomous agents whose motion is intrinsically noisy. We experimentally demonstrate that the collective behavior of a group of phototactic robots capable of emitting a radially decaying light field can be tuned from segregation to aggregation and clustering by controlling the delay with which they change their propulsion speed in response to the light intensity they measure. We track this transition to the underlying dynamics of this system, in particular, to the ratio between the robots' sensorial delay time and the characteristic time of the robots' random reorientation. Supported by numerics, we discuss how the same mechanism can be applied to control active agents, e.g., airborne drones, moving in a three-dimensional space. Given the simplicity of this mechanism, the engineering of sensorial delay provides a potentially powerful tool to engineer and dynamically tune the behavior of large ensembles of autonomous mobile agents; furthermore, this mechanism might already be at work within living organisms such as chemotactic cells.

Finite element modelling and updating of a lively footbridge: The complete process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Živanović, Stana; Pavic, Aleksandar; Reynolds, Paul

2007-03-01

The finite element (FE) model updating technology was originally developed in the aerospace and mechanical engineering disciplines to automatically update numerical models of structures to match their experimentally measured counterparts. The process of updating identifies the drawbacks in the FE modelling and the updated FE model could be used to produce more reliable results in further dynamic analysis. In the last decade, the updating technology has been introduced into civil structural engineering. It can serve as an advanced tool for getting reliable modal properties of large structures. The updating process has four key phases: initial FE modelling, modal testing, manual model tuning and automatic updating (conducted using specialist software). However, the published literature does not connect well these phases, although this is crucial when implementing the updating technology. This paper therefore aims to clarify the importance of this linking and to describe the complete model updating process as applicable in civil structural engineering. The complete process consisting the four phases is outlined and brief theory is presented as appropriate. Then, the procedure is implemented on a lively steel box girder footbridge. It was found that even a very detailed initial FE model underestimated the natural frequencies of all seven experimentally identified modes of vibration, with the maximum error being almost 30%. Manual FE model tuning by trial and error found that flexible supports in the longitudinal direction should be introduced at the girder ends to improve correlation between the measured and FE-calculated modes. This significantly reduced the maximum frequency error to only 4%. It was demonstrated that only then could the FE model be automatically updated in a meaningful way. The automatic updating was successfully conducted by updating 22 uncertain structural parameters. Finally, a physical interpretation of all parameter changes is discussed. This interpretation is often missing in the published literature. It was found that the composite slabs were less stiff than originally assumed and that the asphalt layer contributed considerably to the deck stiffness.

Modifying the Genetic Regulation of Bone and Cartilage Cells and Associated Tissue by EMF Stimulation Fields and Uses Thereof

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Goodwin, Thomas J. (Inventor); Shackelford, Linda C. (Inventor)

2014-01-01

An apparatus and method to modify the genetic regulation of mammalian tissue, bone, or any combination. The method may be comprised of the steps of tuning at least one predetermined profile associated with at least one time-varying stimulation field thereby resulting in at least one tuned time-varying stimulation field comprised of at least one tuned predetermined profile, wherein said at least one tuned predetermined profile is comprised of a plurality of tuned predetermined figures of merit and is controllable through at least one of said plurality of tuned predetermined figures of merit, wherein said plurality of predetermined tuned figures of merit is comprised of a tuned B-Field magnitude, tuned rising slew rate, tuned rise time, tuned falling slew rate, tuned fall time, tuned frequency, tuned wavelength, and tuned duty cycle; and exposing mammalian chondrocytes, osteoblasts, osteocytes, osteoclasts, nucleus pulposus, associated tissue, or any combination to said at least one tuned time-varying stimulation field comprised of said at least one tuned predetermined profile for a predetermined tuned exposure time or plurality of tuned exposure time sequences.

Polymer-Based Protein Engineering: Synthesis and Characterization of Armored, High Graft Density Polymer-Protein Conjugates.

PubMed

Carmali, Sheiliza; Murata, Hironobu; Cummings, Chad; Matyjaszewski, Krzysztof; Russell, Alan J

2017-01-01

Atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) from the surface of a protein can generate remarkably dense polymer shells that serve as armor and rationally tune protein function. Using straightforward chemistry, it is possible to covalently couple or display multiple small molecule initiators onto a protein surface. The chemistry is fine-tuned to be sequence specific (if one desires a single targeted site) at controlled density. Once the initiator is anchored on the protein surface, ATRP is used to grow polymers on protein surface, in situ. The technique is so powerful that a single-protein polymer conjugate molecule can contain more than 90% polymer coating by weight. If desired, stimuli-responsive polymers can be "grown" from the initiated sites to prepare enzyme conjugates that respond to external triggers such as temperature or pH, while still maintaining enzyme activity and stability. Herein, we focus mainly on the synthesis of chymotrypsin-polymer conjugates. Control of the number of covalently coupled initiator sites by changing the stoichiometric ratio between enzyme and the initiator during the synthesis of protein-initiator complexes allowed fine-tuning of the grafting density. For example, very high grafting density chymotrypsin conjugates were prepared from protein-initiator complexes to grow the temperature-responsive polymers, poly(N-isopropylacrylamide), and poly[N,N'-dimethyl(methacryloyloxyethyl) ammonium propane sulfonate]. Controlled growth of polymers from protein surfaces enables one to predictably manipulate enzyme kinetics and stability without the need for molecular biology-dependent mutagenesis. © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On the tuning of electrical and thermal transport in thermoelectrics: an integrated theory–experiment perspective

DOE PAGES

Yang, Jiong; Xi, Lili; Qiu, Wujie; ...

2016-02-26

During the last two decades, we have witnessed great progress in research on thermoelectrics. There are two primary focuses. One is the fundamental understanding of electrical and thermal transport, enabled by the interplay of theory and experiment; the other is the substantial enhancement of the performance of various thermoelectric materials, through synergistic optimisation of those intercorrelated transport parameters. In this article, we review some of the successful strategies for tuning electrical and thermal transport. For electrical transport, we start from the classical but still very active strategy of tuning band degeneracy (or band convergence), then discuss the engineering of carriermore » scattering, and finally address the concept of conduction channels and conductive networks that emerge in complex thermoelectric materials. For thermal transport, we summarise the approaches for studying thermal transport based on phonon–phonon interactions valid for conventional solids, as well as some quantitative efforts for nanostructures. We also discuss the thermal transport in complex materials with chemical-bond hierarchy, in which a portion of the atoms (or subunits) are weakly bonded to the rest of the structure, leading to an intrinsic manifestation of part-crystalline part-liquid state at elevated temperatures. In this review, we provide a summary of achievements made in recent studies of thermoelectric transport properties, and demonstrate how they have led to improvements in thermoelectric performance by the integration of modern theory and experiment, and point out some challenges and possible directions.« less

Nanoscale phase engineering of thermal transport with a Josephson heat modulator.

PubMed

Fornieri, Antonio; Blanc, Christophe; Bosisio, Riccardo; D'Ambrosio, Sophie; Giazotto, Francesco

2016-03-01

Macroscopic quantum phase coherence has one of its pivotal expressions in the Josephson effect, which manifests itself both in charge and energy transport. The ability to master the amount of heat transferred through two tunnel-coupled superconductors by tuning their phase difference is the core of coherent caloritronics, and is expected to be a key tool in a number of nanoscience fields, including solid-state cooling, thermal isolation, radiation detection, quantum information and thermal logic. Here, we show the realization of the first balanced Josephson heat modulator designed to offer full control at the nanoscale over the phase-coherent component of thermal currents. Our device provides magnetic-flux-dependent temperature modulations up to 40 mK in amplitude with a maximum of the flux-to-temperature transfer coefficient reaching 200 mK per flux quantum at a bath temperature of 25 mK. Foremost, it demonstrates the exact correspondence in the phase engineering of charge and heat currents, breaking ground for advanced caloritronic nanodevices such as thermal splitters, heat pumps and time-dependent electronic engines.

Diffusion-Limited Cargo Loading of an Engineered Protein Container.

PubMed

Zschoche, Reinhard; Hilvert, Donald

2015-12-30

The engineered bacterial nanocompartment AaLS-13 is a promising artificial encapsulation system that exploits electrostatic interactions for cargo loading. In order to study its ability to take up and retain guests, a pair of fluorescent proteins was developed which allows spectroscopic determination of the extent of encapsulation by Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET). The encapsulation process is generally complete within a second, suggesting low energetic barriers for proteins to cross the capsid shell. Formation of intermediate aggregates upon mixing host and guest in vitro complicates capsid loading at low ionic strength, but can be sidestepped by increasing salt concentrations or diluting the components. Encapsulation of guests is completely reversible, and the position of the equilibrium is easily tuned by varying the ionic strength. These results, which challenge the notion that AaLS-13 is a continuous rigid shell, provide valuable information about cargo loading that will guide ongoing efforts to engineer functional host-guest complexes. Moreover, it should be possible to adapt the protein FRET pair described in this report to characterize functional capsid-cargo complexes generated by other encapsulation systems.

Fabrication of co-continuous poly(ε-caprolactone)/polyglycolide blend scaffolds for tissue engineering

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Allaf, Rula M.; Rivero, Iris V.; Ivanov, Ilia N.

2015-06-06

The apparent inability of a single biomaterial to meet all the requirements for tissue engineering scaffolds has led to continual research in novel engineered biomaterials. One method to provide new materials and fine-tune their properties is via mixing materials. Here in this study, a biodegradable powder blend of poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL), polyglycolide (PGA), and poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO) was prepared and three-dimensional interconnected porous PCL/PGA scaffolds were fabricated by combining cryomilling and compression molding/polymer leaching techniques. The resultant porous scaffolds exhibited co-continuous morphologies with ~50% porosity. Mean pore sizes of 24 and 56 μm were achieved by varying milling time. The scaffoldsmore » displayed high mechanical properties and water uptake, in addition to a remarkably fast degradation rate. The results demonstrate the potential of this fabrication approach to obtain PCL/PGA blend scaffolds with interconnected porosity. In general, these results provide significant insight into an approach that will lead to the development of new composites and blends in scaffold manufacturing.« less

Lyotropic liquid crystal engineering moving beyond binary compositional space - ordered nanostructured amphiphile self-assembly materials by design.

PubMed

van 't Hag, Leonie; Gras, Sally L; Conn, Charlotte E; Drummond, Calum J

2017-05-22

Ordered amphiphile self-assembly materials with a tunable three-dimensional (3D) nanostructure are of fundamental interest, and crucial for progressing several biological and biomedical applications, including in meso membrane protein crystallization, as drug and medical contrast agent delivery vehicles, and as biosensors and biofuel cells. In binary systems consisting of an amphiphile and a solvent, the ability to tune the 3D cubic phase nanostructure, lipid bilayer properties and the lipid mesophase is limited. A move beyond the binary compositional space is therefore required for efficient engineering of the required material properties. In this critical review, the phase transitions upon encapsulation of more than 130 amphiphilic and soluble additives into the bicontinuous lipidic cubic phase under excess hydration are summarized. The data are interpreted using geometric considerations, interfacial curvature, electrostatic interactions, partition coefficients and miscibility of the alkyl chains. The obtained lyotropic liquid crystal engineering design rules can be used to enhance the formulation of self-assembly materials and provides a large library of these materials for use in biomedical applications (242 references).

Nanoscale phase engineering of thermal transport with a Josephson heat modulator

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fornieri, Antonio; Blanc, Christophe; Bosisio, Riccardo; D'Ambrosio, Sophie; Giazotto, Francesco

2016-03-01

Macroscopic quantum phase coherence has one of its pivotal expressions in the Josephson effect, which manifests itself both in charge and energy transport. The ability to master the amount of heat transferred through two tunnel-coupled superconductors by tuning their phase difference is the core of coherent caloritronics, and is expected to be a key tool in a number of nanoscience fields, including solid-state cooling, thermal isolation, radiation detection, quantum information and thermal logic. Here, we show the realization of the first balanced Josephson heat modulator designed to offer full control at the nanoscale over the phase-coherent component of thermal currents. Our device provides magnetic-flux-dependent temperature modulations up to 40 mK in amplitude with a maximum of the flux-to-temperature transfer coefficient reaching 200 mK per flux quantum at a bath temperature of 25 mK. Foremost, it demonstrates the exact correspondence in the phase engineering of charge and heat currents, breaking ground for advanced caloritronic nanodevices such as thermal splitters, heat pumps and time-dependent electronic engines.

Self-Assembled Proteins and Peptides as Scaffolds for Tissue Regeneration.

PubMed

Loo, Yihua; Goktas, Melis; Tekinay, Ayse B; Guler, Mustafa O; Hauser, Charlotte A E; Mitraki, Anna

2015-11-18

Self-assembling proteins and peptides are increasingly gaining interest for potential use as scaffolds in tissue engineering applications. They self-organize from basic building blocks under mild conditions into supramolecular structures, mimicking the native extracellular matrix. Their properties can be easily tuned through changes at the sequence level. Moreover, they can be produced in sufficient quantities with chemical synthesis or recombinant technologies to allow them to address homogeneity and standardization issues required for applications. Here. recent advances in self-assembling proteins, peptides, and peptide amphiphiles that form scaffolds suitable for tissue engineering are reviewed. The focus is on a variety of motifs, ranging from minimalistic dipeptides, simplistic ultrashort aliphatic peptides, and peptide amphiphiles to large "recombinamer" proteins. Special emphasis is placed on the rational design of self-assembling motifs and biofunctionalization strategies to influence cell behavior and modulate scaffold stability. Perspectives for combination of these "bottom-up" designer strategies with traditional "top-down" biofabrication techniques for new generations of tissue engineering scaffolds are highlighted. © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Indium selenide monolayer: strain-enhanced optoelectronic response and dielectric environment-tunable 2D exciton features

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ben Amara, Imen; Hichri, Aida; Jaziri, Sihem

2017-12-01

Electronic and optical performances of the β-InSe monolayer (ML) are considerably boosted by tuning the corresponding band energies through lattice in-plane compressive strain engineering. First principles calculations show an indirect-direct gap transition with a large bandgap size. The crossover is due to different responses of the near-gap state energies with respect to strain. This is explained by the variation of In-Se bond length, the bond nature of near-band-edge electronic orbital and of the momentum angular contribution versus in-plane compressive strain. The effective masses of charge carriers are also found to be highly modulated and significantly light at the indirect-direct-gap transition. The tuned optical response of the resulting direct-gap ML β-InSe is evaluated versus applied energy to infer the allowed optical transitions, dielectric constants, semiconductor-metal behavior and refractive index. The environmental dielectric engineering of exciton behavior of the resulting direct-gap ML β-InSe is handled within the effective mass Wannier-Mott model and is expected to be important. Our results highlight the increase of binding energy and red-shifted exciton energy with decreasing screening substrates, resulting in a stable exciton at room temperature. The intensity and energy of the ground-state exciton emission are expected to be strongly influenced under substrate screening effect. According to our findings, the direct-gap ML β-InSe assures tremendous 2D optoelectronic and nanoelectronic merits that could overcome several limitations of unstrained ML β-InSe.

A nanophotonic solar thermophotovoltaic device.

PubMed

Lenert, Andrej; Bierman, David M; Nam, Youngsuk; Chan, Walker R; Celanović, Ivan; Soljačić, Marin; Wang, Evelyn N

2014-02-01

The most common approaches to generating power from sunlight are either photovoltaic, in which sunlight directly excites electron-hole pairs in a semiconductor, or solar-thermal, in which sunlight drives a mechanical heat engine. Photovoltaic power generation is intermittent and typically only exploits a portion of the solar spectrum efficiently, whereas the intrinsic irreversibilities of small heat engines make the solar-thermal approach best suited for utility-scale power plants. There is, therefore, an increasing need for hybrid technologies for solar power generation. By converting sunlight into thermal emission tuned to energies directly above the photovoltaic bandgap using a hot absorber-emitter, solar thermophotovoltaics promise to leverage the benefits of both approaches: high efficiency, by harnessing the entire solar spectrum; scalability and compactness, because of their solid-state nature; and dispatchablility, owing to the ability to store energy using thermal or chemical means. However, efficient collection of sunlight in the absorber and spectral control in the emitter are particularly challenging at high operating temperatures. This drawback has limited previous experimental demonstrations of this approach to conversion efficiencies around or below 1% (refs 9, 10, 11). Here, we report on a full solar thermophotovoltaic device, which, thanks to the nanophotonic properties of the absorber-emitter surface, reaches experimental efficiencies of 3.2%. The device integrates a multiwalled carbon nanotube absorber and a one-dimensional Si/SiO2 photonic-crystal emitter on the same substrate, with the absorber-emitter areas optimized to tune the energy balance of the device. Our device is planar and compact and could become a viable option for high-performance solar thermophotovoltaic energy conversion.

Printing nature: Unraveling the role of nacre's mineral bridges.

PubMed

Gu, Grace X; Libonati, Flavia; Wettermark, Susan D; Buehler, Markus J

2017-12-01

Creating materials with strength and toughness has been a long-sought goal. Conventional engineering materials often face a trade-off between strength and toughness, prompting researchers seeking to overcome these limitations to explore more sophisticated materials, such as composites. This paradigm shift in material design is spurred by nature, which exhibits a plethora of heterogeneous materials that offer outstanding material properties, and many natural materials are widely regarded as examples of high-performing hybrid materials. A classic example is nacre, also known as mother-of-pearl, which boasts a combination of high stiffness, strength, and fracture toughness. Various microstructural features contribute to the toughness of nacre, including mineral bridges (MBs), nano-asperities, and waviness of the constituent platelets. Recent research in biomimicry suggests that MBs contribute to the high strength and toughness observed in nacre and nacre-inspired materials. However, previous work in this area did not allow for complete control over the length scale of the bridges and had limitations on the volume fraction of mineral content. In this work, we present a systematic investigation elucidating the effects of structural parameters, such as volume fraction of mineral phase and density of MBs, on the mechanical response of nacre-inspired additive manufactured composites. Our results demonstrate that it is possible to tune the composite properties by tuning sizes and content of structural features (e.g. MBs and mineral content) in a heterogeneous material. Looking forward, this systematic approach enables materials-by-design of complex architectures to tackle demanding engineering challenges in the future. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Adaptive-passive vibration control systems for industrial applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mayer, D.; Pfeiffer, T.; Vrbata, J.; Melz, T.

2015-04-01

Tuned vibration absorbers have become common for passive vibration reduction in many industrial applications. Lightly damped absorbers (also called neutralizers) can be used to suppress narrowband disturbances by tuning them to the excitation frequency. If the resonance is adapted in-operation, the performance of those devices can be significantly enhanced, or inertial mass can be decreased. However, the integration of actuators, sensors and control electronics into the system raises new design challenges. In this work, the development of adaptive-passive systems for vibration reduction at an industrial scale is presented. As an example, vibration reduction of a ship engine was studied in a full scale test. Simulations were used to study the feasibility and evaluate the system concept at an early stage. Several ways to adjust the resonance of the neutralizer were evaluated, including piezoelectric actuation and common mechatronic drives. Prototypes were implemented and tested. Since vibration absorbers suffer from high dynamic loads, reliability tests were used to assess the long-term behavior under operational conditions and to improve the components. It was proved that the adaptive systems are capable to withstand the mechanical loads in an industrial application. Also a control strategy had to be implemented in order to track the excitation frequency. The most mature concepts were integrated into the full scale test. An imbalance exciter was used to simulate the engine vibrations at a realistic level experimentally. The neutralizers were tested at varying excitation frequencies to evaluate the tracking capabilities of the control system. It was proved that a significant vibration reduction is possible.

Dynamic control and information processing in chemical reaction systems by tuning self-organization behavior

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lebiedz, Dirk; Brandt-Pollmann, Ulrich

2004-09-01

Specific external control of chemical reaction systems and both dynamic control and signal processing as central functions in biochemical reaction systems are important issues of modern nonlinear science. For example nonlinear input-output behavior and its regulation are crucial for the maintainance of the life process that requires extensive communication between cells and their environment. An important question is how the dynamical behavior of biochemical systems is controlled and how they process information transmitted by incoming signals. But also from a general point of view external forcing of complex chemical reaction processes is important in many application areas ranging from chemical engineering to biomedicine. In order to study such control issues numerically, here, we choose a well characterized chemical system, the CO oxidation on Pt(110), which is interesting per se as an externally forced chemical oscillator model. We show numerically that tuning of temporal self-organization by input signals in this simple nonlinear chemical reaction exhibiting oscillatory behavior can in principle be exploited for both specific external control of dynamical system behavior and processing of complex information.

Unexpected pressure induced ductileness tuning in sulfur doped polycrystalline nickel metal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Cheng; Yang, Yan; Tan, Liuxi; Lei, Jialin; Guo, Shengmin; Chen, Bin; Yan, Jinyuan; Yang, Shizhong

2018-02-01

The sulfur induced embrittlement of polycrystalline nickel (Ni) metal has been a long-standing mystery. It is suggested that sulfur impurity makes ductile Ni metal brittle in many industry applications due to various mechanisms, such as impurity segregation and disorder-induced melting etc. Here we report an observation that the most ductile measurement occurs at a critical sulfur doping concentration, 14 at.% at pressure from 14 GPa up to 29 GPa through texture evolution analysis. The synchrotron-based high pressure texturing measurements using radial diamond anvil cell (rDAC) X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques reveal that the activities of slip systems in the polycrystalline nickel metal are affected by sulfur impurities and external pressures, giving rise to the changes in the plastic deformation of the nickel metal. Dislocation dynamics (DD) simulation on dislocation density and velocity further confirms the pressure induced ductilization changes in S doped Ni metal. This observation and simulation suggests that the ductilization of the doped polycrystalline nickel metal can be optimized by engineering the sulfur concentration under pressure, shedding a light on tuning the mechanical properties of this material for better high pressure applications.

Precise precursor rebalancing for isoprenoids production by fine control of gapA expression in Escherichia coli.

PubMed

Jung, Juyoung; Lim, Jae Hyung; Kim, Se Yeon; Im, Dae-Kyun; Seok, Joo Yeon; Lee, Seung-Jae V; Oh, Min-Kyu; Jung, Gyoo Yeol

2016-11-01

Biosynthesis of isoprenoids via the 1-deoxy-D-xylulose-5-phosphate (DXP) pathway requires equimolar glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate and pyruvate to divert carbon flux toward the products of interest. Here, we demonstrate that precursor balancing is one of the critical steps for the production of isoprenoids in Escherichia coli. First, the implementation of the synthetic lycopene production pathway as a model system and the amplification of the native DXP pathway were accomplished using synthetic constitutive promoters and redesigned 5'-untranslated regions (5'-UTRs). Next, fine-controlled precursor balancing was investigated by tuning phosphoenolpyruvate synthase (PpsA) or glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH). The results showed that tuning-down of gapA improved the specific lycopene content by 45% compared to the overexpression of ppsA. The specific lycopene content in the strains with down-regulated gapA increased by 97% compared to that in the parental strain. Our results indicate that gapA is the best target for precursor balancing to increase biosynthesis of isoprenoids. Copyright © 2016 International Metabolic Engineering Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Thickness-dependent surface plasmon resonance of ITO nanoparticles for ITO/In-Sn bilayer structure.

PubMed

Wei, Wenzuo; Hong, Ruijin; Jing, Ming; Shao, Wen; Tao, Chunxian; Zhang, Dawei

2018-01-05

Tuning the localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) in doped semiconductor nanoparticles (NPs), which represents an important characteristic in LSPR sensor applications, still remains a challenge. Here, indium tin oxide/indium tin alloy (ITO/In-Sn) bilayer films were deposited by electron beam evaporation and the properties, such as the LSPR and surface morphology, were investigated by UV-VIS-NIR double beam spectrophotometer and atomic force microscopy (AFM), respectively. By simply engineering the thickness of ITO/In-Sn NPs without any microstructure fabrications, the LSPR wavelength of ITO NPs can be tuned by a large amount from 858 to 1758 nm. AFM images show that the strong LSPR of ITO NPs is closely related to the enhanced coupling between ITO and In-Sn NPs. Blue shifts of ITO LSPR from 1256 to 1104 nm are also observed in the as-annealed samples due to the higher free carrier concentration. Meanwhile, we also demonstrated that the ITO LSPR in ITO/In-Sn NPs structures has good sensitivity to the surrounding media and stability after 30 d exposure in air, enabling its application prospects in many biosensing devices.

Amorphous oxide alloys as interfacial layers with broadly tunable electronic structures for organic photovoltaic cells

PubMed Central

Zhou, Nanjia; Kim, Myung-Gil; Loser, Stephen; Smith, Jeremy; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Guo, Xugang; Song, Charles; Jin, Hosub; Chen, Zhihua; Yoon, Seok Min; Freeman, Arthur J.; Chang, Robert P. H.; Facchetti, Antonio; Marks, Tobin J.

2015-01-01

In diverse classes of organic optoelectronic devices, controlling charge injection, extraction, and blocking across organic semiconductor–inorganic electrode interfaces is crucial for enhancing quantum efficiency and output voltage. To this end, the strategy of inserting engineered interfacial layers (IFLs) between electrical contacts and organic semiconductors has significantly advanced organic light-emitting diode and organic thin film transistor performance. For organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices, an electronically flexible IFL design strategy to incrementally tune energy level matching between the inorganic electrode system and the organic photoactive components without varying the surface chemistry would permit OPV cells to adapt to ever-changing generations of photoactive materials. Here we report the implementation of chemically/environmentally robust, low-temperature solution-processed amorphous transparent semiconducting oxide alloys, In-Ga-O and Ga-Zn-Sn-O, as IFLs for inverted OPVs. Continuous variation of the IFL compositions tunes the conduction band minima over a broad range, affording optimized OPV power conversion efficiencies for multiple classes of organic active layer materials and establishing clear correlations between IFL/photoactive layer energetics and device performance. PMID:26080437

Amorphous oxide alloys as interfacial layers with broadly tunable electronic structures for organic photovoltaic cells

DOE PAGES

Zhou, Nanjia; Kim, Myung -Gil; Loser, Stephen; ...

2015-06-15

In diverse classes of organic optoelectronic devices, controlling charge injection, extraction, and blocking across organic semiconductor– inorganic electrode interfaces is crucial for enhancing quantum efficiency and output voltage. To this end, the strategy of inserting engineered interfacial layers (IFLs) between electrical contacts and organic semiconductors has significantly advanced organic light-emitting diode and organic thin film transistor performance. For organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices, an electronically flexible IFL design strategy to incrementally tune energy level matching between the inorganic electrode system and the organic photoactive components without varying the surface chemistry would permit OPV cells to adapt to ever-changing generations of photoactivemore » materials. Here we report the implementation of chemically/environmentally robust, low-temperature solution-processed amorphous transparent semiconducting oxide alloys, In-Ga-O and Ga-Zn-Sn-O, as IFLs for inverted OPVs. Lastly, continuous variation of the IFL compositions tunes the conduction band minima over a broad range, affording optimized OPV power conversion efficiencies for multiple classes of organic active layer materials and establishing clear correlations between IFL/photoactive layer energetics and device performance.« less

Chemically Responsive Elastomers Exhibiting Unity-Order Refractive Index Modulation.

PubMed

Wu, Di M; Solomon, Michelle L; Naik, Gururaj V; García-Etxarri, Aitzol; Lawrence, Mark; Salleo, Alberto; Dionne, Jennifer A

2018-02-01

Chameleons are masters of light, expertly changing their color, pattern, and reflectivity in response to their environment. Engineered materials that share this tunability can be transformative, enabling active camouflage, tunable holograms, and novel colorimetric medical sensors. While progress has been made in creating artificial chameleon skin, existing schemes often require external power, are not continuously tunable, and may prove too stiff or bulky for applications. Here, a chemically tunable, large-area metamaterial is demonstrated that accesses a wide range of colors and refractive indices. An ordered monolayer of nanoresonators is fabricated, then its optical response is dynamically tuned by infiltrating its polymer substrate with solvents. The material shows a strong magnetic response with a dependence on resonator spacing that leads to a highly tunable effective permittivity, permeability, and refractive index spanning negative and positive values. The unity-order index tuning exceeds that of traditional electro-optic and photochromic materials and is robust to cycling, providing a path toward programmable optical elements and responsive light routing. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Tuning the band structure and superconductivity in single-layer FeSe by interface engineering.

PubMed

Peng, R; Xu, H C; Tan, S Y; Cao, H Y; Xia, M; Shen, X P; Huang, Z C; Wen, C H P; Song, Q; Zhang, T; Xie, B P; Gong, X G; Feng, D L

2014-09-26

The interface between transition metal compounds provides a rich playground for emergent phenomena. Recently, significantly enhanced superconductivity has been reported for single-layer FeSe on Nb-doped SrTiO3 substrate. Yet it remains mysterious how the interface affects the superconductivity. Here we use in situ angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to investigate various FeSe-based heterostructures grown by molecular beam epitaxy, and uncover that electronic correlations and superconducting gap-closing temperature (Tg) are tuned by interfacial effects. Tg up to 75 K is observed in extremely tensile-strained single-layer FeSe on Nb-doped BaTiO3, which sets a record high pairing temperature for both Fe-based superconductor and monolayer-thick films, providing a promising prospect on realizing more cost-effective superconducting device. Moreover, our results exclude the direct correlation between superconductivity and tensile strain or the energy of an interfacial phonon mode, and highlight the critical and non-trivial role of FeSe/oxide interface on the high Tg, which provides new clues for understanding its origin.

Amorphous oxide alloys as interfacial layers with broadly tunable electronic structures for organic photovoltaic cells.

PubMed

Zhou, Nanjia; Kim, Myung-Gil; Loser, Stephen; Smith, Jeremy; Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Guo, Xugang; Song, Charles; Jin, Hosub; Chen, Zhihua; Yoon, Seok Min; Freeman, Arthur J; Chang, Robert P H; Facchetti, Antonio; Marks, Tobin J

2015-06-30

In diverse classes of organic optoelectronic devices, controlling charge injection, extraction, and blocking across organic semiconductor-inorganic electrode interfaces is crucial for enhancing quantum efficiency and output voltage. To this end, the strategy of inserting engineered interfacial layers (IFLs) between electrical contacts and organic semiconductors has significantly advanced organic light-emitting diode and organic thin film transistor performance. For organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices, an electronically flexible IFL design strategy to incrementally tune energy level matching between the inorganic electrode system and the organic photoactive components without varying the surface chemistry would permit OPV cells to adapt to ever-changing generations of photoactive materials. Here we report the implementation of chemically/environmentally robust, low-temperature solution-processed amorphous transparent semiconducting oxide alloys, In-Ga-O and Ga-Zn-Sn-O, as IFLs for inverted OPVs. Continuous variation of the IFL compositions tunes the conduction band minima over a broad range, affording optimized OPV power conversion efficiencies for multiple classes of organic active layer materials and establishing clear correlations between IFL/photoactive layer energetics and device performance.

Recurrent Neural Network Applications for Astronomical Time Series

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Protopapas, Pavlos

2017-06-01

The benefits of good predictive models in astronomy lie in early event prediction systems and effective resource allocation. Current time series methods applicable to regular time series have not evolved to generalize for irregular time series. In this talk, I will describe two Recurrent Neural Network methods, Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) and Echo State Networks (ESNs) for predicting irregular time series. Feature engineering along with a non-linear modeling proved to be an effective predictor. For noisy time series, the prediction is improved by training the network on error realizations using the error estimates from astronomical light curves. In addition to this, we propose a new neural network architecture to remove correlation from the residuals in order to improve prediction and compensate for the noisy data. Finally, I show how to set hyperparameters for a stable and performant solution correctly. In this work, we circumvent this obstacle by optimizing ESN hyperparameters using Bayesian optimization with Gaussian Process priors. This automates the tuning procedure, enabling users to employ the power of RNN without needing an in-depth understanding of the tuning procedure.

Design of Tunable Oscillatory Dynamics in a Synthetic NF-κB Signaling Circuit.

PubMed

Zhang, Zhi-Bo; Wang, Qiu-Yue; Ke, Yu-Xi; Liu, Shi-Yu; Ju, Jian-Qi; Lim, Wendell A; Tang, Chao; Wei, Ping

2017-11-22

Although oscillatory circuits are prevalent in transcriptional regulation, it is unclear how a circuit's structure and the specific parameters that describe its components determine the shape of its oscillations. Here, we engineer a minimal, inducible human nuclear factor κB (NF-κB)-based system that is composed of NF-κB (RelA) and degradable inhibitor of NF-κB (IκBα), into the yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae. We define an oscillation's waveform quantitatively as a function of signal amplitude, rest time, rise time, and decay time; by systematically tuning RelA concentration, the strength of negative feedback, and the degradation rate of IκBα, we demonstrate that peak shape and frequency of oscillations can be controlled in vivo and predicted mathematically. In addition, we show that nested negative feedback loops can be employed to specifically tune the frequency of oscillations while leaving their peak shape unchanged. In total, this work establishes design principles that enable function-guided design of oscillatory signaling controllers in diverse synthetic biology applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Engineering plasmonic nanostructured surfaces by pulsed laser deposition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ghidelli, Matteo; Mascaretti, Luca; Bricchi, Beatrice Roberta; Zapelli, Andrea; Russo, Valeria; Casari, Carlo Spartaco; Li Bassi, Andrea

2018-03-01

The synthesis and the optical response of gold nanoparticles (NPs) and thin nanostructured films grown by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) are here studied. Different PLD process parameters - including background gas pressure and the number of laser shots as well as post-deposition annealing treatments - have been varied to control the growth of Au NPs and films, thus tuning the surface plasmon characteristics. The mechanisms of NPs and film growth have been explored performing a morphological characterization by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM), and the correlation with the optical behavior is investigated. We show that the size distribution and the morphology of the as deposited Au NPs depend on growth mechanisms which are controlled by tuning the deposition process, while the optical behavior is strongly affected by the average size and surface density of NPs or by the length of percolated Au domains. Furthermore, nucleation in gas phase has been reported at high (1000 Pa Ar) background pressures, enabling independent control of NP size and coverage, contrary to surface driven NP growth by diffusion and aggregation on substrate.

Gate-Tuned Thermoelectric Power in Black Phosphorus.

PubMed

Saito, Yu; Iizuka, Takahiko; Koretsune, Takashi; Arita, Ryotaro; Shimizu, Sunao; Iwasa, Yoshihiro

2016-08-10

The electric field effect is a useful means of elucidating intrinsic material properties as well as for designing functional devices. The electric-double-layer transistor (EDLT) enables the control of carrier density in a wide range, which is recently proved to be an effective tool for the investigation of thermoelectric properties. Here, we report the gate-tuning of thermoelectric power in a black phosphorus (BP) single crystal flake with the thickness of 40 nm. Using an EDLT configuration, we successfully control the thermoelectric power (S) and find that the S of ion-gated BP reached +510 μV/K at 210 K in the hole depleted state, which is much higher than the reported bulk single crystal value of +340 μV/K at 300 K. We compared this experimental data with the first-principles-based calculation and found that this enhancement is qualitatively explained by the effective thinning of the conduction channel of the BP flake and nonuniformity of the channel owing to the gate operation in a depletion mode. Our results provide new opportunities for further engineering BP as a thermoelectric material in nanoscale.

Ferroelastically and magnetically co-coupled resistive switching in Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3/PMN-PT(011) multiferroic heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, Ming; Xu, Xiao-Ke; Ni, Hao; Qi, Ya-Ping; Li, Xiao-Min; Gao, Ju

2018-03-01

The phase separation, i.e., the competition between coexisting multi-phases, can be adjusted by external stimuli, such as magnetic field, electric field, current, light, and strain. Here, a multiferroic heterostructure composed of a charge-ordered Nd0.5Sr0.5MnO3 thin film and a ferroelectric Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3-PbTiO3 single crystal is fabricated to investigate the lattice strain and magnetic field co-control of phase separation in resistive switching. The stable and nonvolatile resistance tuning is realized at room temperature using the electric-field-induced reversible ferroelastic strain effect, which can be enhanced by 84% under the magnetic field. Moreover, the magnetoresistance can be effectively tuned by the electrically driven ferroelastic strain. These findings reveal that the ferroelastic strain and the magnetic field strongly correlate with each other and are mediated by phase separation. Our work provides an approach to design strain-engineered multifunctional memory devices based on complex oxides by introducing an extra magnetic field stimulus.

Piezoelectric Vibration Damping Study for Rotating Composite Fan Blades

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Min, James B.; Duffy, Kirsten P.; Choi, Benjamin B.; Provenza, Andrew J.; Kray, Nicholas

2012-01-01

Resonant vibrations of aircraft engine blades cause blade fatigue problems in engines, which can lead to thicker and aerodynamically lower performing blade designs, increasing engine weight, fuel burn, and maintenance costs. In order to mitigate undesirable blade vibration levels, active piezoelectric vibration control has been investigated, potentially enabling thinner blade designs for higher performing blades and minimizing blade fatigue problems. While the piezoelectric damping idea has been investigated by other researchers over the years, very little study has been done including rotational effects. The present study attempts to fill this void. The particular objectives of this study were: (a) to develop and analyze a multiphysics piezoelectric finite element composite blade model for harmonic forced vibration response analysis coupled with a tuned RLC circuit for rotating engine blade conditions, (b) to validate a numerical model with experimental test data, and (c) to achieve a cost-effective numerical modeling capability which enables simulation of rotating blades within the NASA Glenn Research Center (GRC) Dynamic Spin Rig Facility. A numerical and experimental study for rotating piezoelectric composite subscale fan blades was performed. It was also proved that the proposed numerical method is feasible and effective when applied to the rotating blade base excitation model. The experimental test and multiphysics finite element modeling technique described in this paper show that piezoelectric vibration damping can significantly reduce vibrations of aircraft engine composite fan blades.

Systems metabolic engineering in an industrial setting.

PubMed

Sagt, Cees M J

2013-03-01

Systems metabolic engineering is based on systems biology, synthetic biology, and evolutionary engineering and is now also applied in industry. Industrial use of systems metabolic engineering focuses on strain and process optimization. Since ambitious yields, titers, productivities, and low costs are key in an industrial setting, the use of effective and robust methods in systems metabolic engineering is becoming very important. Major improvements in the field of proteomics and metabolomics have been crucial in the development of genome-wide approaches in strain and process development. This is accompanied by a rapid increase in DNA sequencing and synthesis capacity. These developments enable the use of systems metabolic engineering in an industrial setting. Industrial systems metabolic engineering can be defined as the combined use of genome-wide genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to modify strains or processes. This approach has become very common since the technology for generating large data sets of all levels of the cellular processes has developed quite fast into robust, reliable, and affordable methods. The main challenge and scope of this mini review is how to translate these large data sets in relevant biological leads which can be tested for strain or process improvements. Experimental setup, heterogeneity of the culture, and sample pretreatment are important issues which are easily underrated. In addition, the process of structuring, filtering, and visualization of data is important, but also, the availability of a genetic toolbox and equipment for medium/high-throughput fermentation is a key success factor. For an efficient bioprocess, all the different components in this process have to work together. Therefore, mutual tuning of these components is an important strategy.

Engineering of the function of diamond-like carbon binding peptides through structural design.

PubMed

Gabryelczyk, Bartosz; Szilvay, Géza R; Singh, Vivek K; Mikkilä, Joona; Kostiainen, Mauri A; Koskinen, Jari; Linder, Markus B

2015-02-09

The use of phage display to select material-specific peptides provides a general route towards modification and functionalization of surfaces and interfaces. However, a rational structural engineering of the peptides for optimal affinity is typically not feasible because of insufficient structure-function understanding. Here, we investigate the influence of multivalency of diamond-like carbon (DLC) binding peptides on binding characteristics. We show that facile linking of peptides together using different lengths of spacers and multivalency leads to a tuning of affinity and kinetics. Notably, increased length of spacers in divalent systems led to significantly increased affinities. Making multimers influenced also kinetic aspects of surface competition. Additionally, the multivalent peptides were applied as surface functionalization components for a colloidal form of DLC. The work suggests the use of a set of linking systems to screen parameters for functional optimization of selected material-specific peptides.

Lyophilized Silk Sponges: A Versatile Biomaterial Platform for Soft Tissue Engineering

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

We present a silk biomaterial platform with highly tunable mechanical and degradation properties for engineering and regeneration of soft tissues such as, skin, adipose, and neural tissue, with elasticity properties in the kilopascal range. Lyophilized silk sponges were prepared under different process conditions and the effect of silk molecular weight, concentration and crystallinity on 3D scaffold formation, structural integrity, morphology, mechanical and degradation properties, and cell interactions in vitro and in vivo were studied. Tuning the molecular weight distribution (via degumming time) of silk allowed the formation of stable, highly porous, 3D scaffolds that held form with silk concentrations as low as 0.5% wt/v. Mechanical properties were a function of silk concentration and scaffold degradation was driven by beta-sheet content. Lyophilized silk sponges supported the adhesion of mesenchymal stem cells throughout 3D scaffolds, cell proliferation in vitro, and cell infiltration and scaffold remodeling when implanted subcutaneously in vivo. PMID:25984573

Nanoscale Bio-engineering Solutions for Space Exploration: The Nanopore Sequencer

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Stolc, Viktor; Cozmuta, Ioana

2004-01-01

Characterization of biological systems at the molecular level and extraction of essential information for nano-engineering design to guide the nano-fabrication of solid-state sensors and molecular identification devices is a computational challenge. The alpha hemolysin protein ion channel is used as a model system for structural analysis of nucleic acids like DNA. Applied voltage draws a DNA strand and surrounding ionic solution through the biological nanopore. The subunits in the DNA strand block ion flow by differing amounts. Atomistic scale simulations are employed using NASA supercomputers to study DNA translocation, with the aim to enhance single DNA subunit identification. Compared to protein channels, solid-state nanopores offer a better temporal control of the translocation of DNA and the possibility to easily tune its chemistry to increase the signal resolution. Potential applications for NASA missions, besides real-time genome sequencing include astronaut health, life detection and decoding of various genomes.

Control of hierarchical polymer mechanics with bioinspired metal-coordination dynamics

PubMed Central

Grindy, Scott C.; Learsch, Robert; Mozhdehi, Davoud; Cheng, Jing; Barrett, Devin G.; Guan, Zhibin; Messersmith, Phillip B.; Holten-Andersen, Niels

2015-01-01

In conventional polymer materials, mechanical performance is traditionally engineered via material structure, using motifs such as polymer molecular weight, polymer branching, or copolymer-block design1. Here, by means of a model system of 4-arm poly(ethylene glycol) hydrogels crosslinked with multiple, kinetically distinct dynamic metal-ligand coordinate complexes, we show that polymer materials with decoupled spatial structure and mechanical performance can be designed. By tuning the relative concentration of two types of metal-ligand crosslinks, we demonstrate control over the material’s mechanical hierarchy of energy-dissipating modes under dynamic mechanical loading, and therefore the ability to engineer a priori the viscoelastic properties of these materials by controlling the types of crosslinks rather than by modifying the polymer itself. This strategy to decouple material mechanics from structure may inform the design of soft materials for use in complex mechanical environments. PMID:26322715

A single-layer platform for Boolean logic and arithmetic through DNA excision in mammalian cells

PubMed Central

Weinberg, Benjamin H.; Hang Pham, N. T.; Caraballo, Leidy D.; Lozanoski, Thomas; Engel, Adrien; Bhatia, Swapnil; Wong, Wilson W.

2017-01-01

Genetic circuits engineered for mammalian cells often require extensive fine-tuning to perform their intended functions. To overcome this problem, we present a generalizable biocomputing platform that can engineer genetic circuits which function in human cells with minimal optimization. We used our Boolean Logic and Arithmetic through DNA Excision (BLADE) platform to build more than 100 multi-input-multi-output circuits. We devised a quantitative metric to evaluate the performance of the circuits in human embryonic kidney and Jurkat T cells. Of 113 circuits analysed, 109 functioned (96.5%) with the correct specified behavior without any optimization. We used our platform to build a three-input, two-output Full Adder and six-input, one-output Boolean Logic Look Up Table. We also used BLADE to design circuits with temporal small molecule-mediated inducible control and circuits that incorporate CRISPR/Cas9 to regulate endogenous mammalian genes. PMID:28346402

Highly tensile-strained Ge/InAlAs nanocomposites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jung, Daehwan; Faucher, Joseph; Mukherjee, Samik; Akey, Austin; Ironside, Daniel J.; Cabral, Matthew; Sang, Xiahan; Lebeau, James; Bank, Seth R.; Buonassisi, Tonio; Moutanabbir, Oussama; Lee, Minjoo Larry

2017-01-01

Self-assembled nanocomposites have been extensively investigated due to the novel properties that can emerge when multiple material phases are combined. Growth of epitaxial nanocomposites using lattice-mismatched constituents also enables strain-engineering, which can be used to further enhance material properties. Here, we report self-assembled growth of highly tensile-strained Ge/In0.52Al0.48As (InAlAs) nanocomposites by using spontaneous phase separation. Transmission electron microscopy shows a high density of single-crystalline germanium nanostructures coherently embedded in InAlAs without extended defects, and Raman spectroscopy reveals a 3.8% biaxial tensile strain in the germanium nanostructures. We also show that the strain in the germanium nanostructures can be tuned to 5.3% by altering the lattice constant of the matrix material, illustrating the versatility of epitaxial nanocomposites for strain engineering. Photoluminescence and electroluminescence results are then discussed to illustrate the potential for realizing devices based on this nanocomposite material.

Engineering Metallic Nanoparticles for Enhancing and Probing Catalytic Reactions.

PubMed

Collins, Gillian; Holmes, Justin D

2016-07-01

Recent developments in tailoring the structural and chemical properties of colloidal metal nanoparticles (NPs) have led to significant enhancements in catalyst performance. Controllable colloidal synthesis has also allowed tailor-made NPs to serve as mechanistic probes for catalytic processes. The innovative use of colloidal NPs to gain fundamental insights into catalytic function will be highlighted across a variety of catalytic and electrocatalytic applications. The engineering of future heterogenous catalysts is also moving beyond size, shape and composition considerations. Advancements in understanding structure-property relationships have enabled incorporation of complex features such as tuning surface strain to influence the behavior of catalytic NPs. Exploiting plasmonic properties and altering colloidal surface chemistry through functionalization are also emerging as important areas for rational design of catalytic NPs. This news article will highlight the key developments and challenges to the future design of catalytic NPs. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Directed Evolution as a Powerful Synthetic Biology Tool

PubMed Central

Cobb, Ryan E.; Sun, Ning; Zhao, Huimin

2012-01-01

At the heart of synthetic biology lies the goal of rationally engineering a complete biological system to achieve a specific objective, such as bioremediation and synthesis of a valuable drug, chemical, or biofuel molecule. However, the inherent complexity of natural biological systems has heretofore precluded generalized application of this approach. Directed evolution, a process which mimics Darwinian selection on a laboratory scale, has allowed significant strides to be made in the field of synthetic biology by allowing rapid identification of desired properties from large libraries of variants. Improvement in biocatalyst activity and stability, engineering of biosynthetic pathways, tuning of functional regulatory systems and logic circuits, and development of desired complex phenotypes in industrial host organisms have all been achieved by way of directed evolution. Here, we review recent contributions of directed evolution to synthetic biology at the protein, pathway, network, and whole cell levels. PMID:22465795

An advanced search engine for patent analytics in medicinal chemistry.

PubMed

Pasche, Emilie; Gobeill, Julien; Teodoro, Douglas; Gaudinat, Arnaud; Vishnykova, Dina; Lovis, Christian; Ruch, Patrick

2012-01-01

Patent collections contain an important amount of medical-related knowledge, but existing tools were reported to lack of useful functionalities. We present here the development of TWINC, an advanced search engine dedicated to patent retrieval in the domain of health and life sciences. Our tool embeds two search modes: an ad hoc search to retrieve relevant patents given a short query and a related patent search to retrieve similar patents given a patent. Both search modes rely on tuning experiments performed during several patent retrieval competitions. Moreover, TWINC is enhanced with interactive modules, such as chemical query expansion, which is of prior importance to cope with various ways of naming biomedical entities. While the related patent search showed promising performances, the ad-hoc search resulted in fairly contrasted results. Nonetheless, TWINC performed well during the Chemathlon task of the PatOlympics competition and experts appreciated its usability.

Orbital Engineering in Symmetry-Breaking Polar Heterostructures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Disa, Ankit S.; Kumah, Divine P.; Malashevich, Andrei; Chen, Hanghui; Arena, Dario A.; Specht, Eliot D.; Ismail-Beigi, Sohrab; Walker, F. J.; Ahn, Charles H.

2015-01-01

We experimentally demonstrate a novel approach to substantially modify orbital occupations and symmetries in electronically correlated oxides. In contrast to methods using strain or confinement, this orbital tuning is achieved by exploiting charge transfer and inversion symmetry breaking using atomically layered heterostructures. We illustrate the technique in the LaTiO3-LaNiO3-LaAlO3 system; a combination of x-ray absorption spectroscopy and ab initio theory reveals electron transfer and concomitant polar fields, resulting in a ˜50 % change in the occupation of Ni d orbitals. This change is sufficiently large to remove the orbital degeneracy of bulk LaNiO3 and creates an electronic configuration approaching a single-band Fermi surface. Furthermore, we theoretically show that such three-component heterostructuring is robust and tunable by choice of insulator in the heterostructure, providing a general method for engineering orbital configurations and designing novel electronic systems.

Synthetic biology platform technologies for antimicrobial applications.

PubMed

Braff, Dana; Shis, David; Collins, James J

2016-10-01

The growing prevalence of antibiotic resistance calls for new approaches in the development of antimicrobial therapeutics. Likewise, improved diagnostic measures are essential in guiding the application of targeted therapies and preventing the evolution of therapeutic resistance. Discovery platforms are also needed to form new treatment strategies and identify novel antimicrobial agents. By applying engineering principles to molecular biology, synthetic biologists have developed platforms that improve upon, supplement, and will perhaps supplant traditional broad-spectrum antibiotics. Efforts in engineering bacteriophages and synthetic probiotics demonstrate targeted antimicrobial approaches that can be fine-tuned using synthetic biology-derived principles. Further, the development of paper-based, cell-free expression systems holds promise in promoting the clinical translation of molecular biology tools for diagnostic purposes. In this review, we highlight emerging synthetic biology platform technologies that are geared toward the generation of new antimicrobial therapies, diagnostics, and discovery channels. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Nano Polymeric Carrier Fabrication Technologies for Advanced Antitumor Therapy

PubMed Central

Li, Wei; Zhao, Mengxin; Ke, Changhong; Zhang, Ge; Zhang, Li; Li, Huafei; Zhang, Fulei; Sun, Yun; Dai, Jianxin; Wang, Hao; Guo, Yajun

2013-01-01

Comparing with the traditional therapeutic methods, newly developed cancer therapy based on the nanoparticulates attracted extensively interest due to its unique advantages. However, there are still some drawbacks such as the unfavorable in vivo performance for nanomedicine and undesirable tumor escape from the immunotherapy. While as we know that the in vivo performance strongly depended on the nanocarrier structural properties, thus, the big gap between in vitro and in vivo can be overcome by nanocarrier's structural tailoring by fine chemical design and microstructural tuning. In addition, this fine nanocarrier's engineering can also provide practical solution to solve the problems in traditional cancer immunotherapy. In this paper, we review the latest development in nanomedicine, cancer therapy, and nanoimmunotherapy. We then give an explanation why fine nanocanrrie's engineering with special focus on the unique pathology of tumor microenvironments and properties of immunocells can obviously promote the in vivo performance and improve the therapeutic index of nanoimmunotherapy. PMID:24369011

Design Principles for the Atomic and Electronic Structure of Halide Perovskite Photovoltaic Materials: Insights from Computation.

PubMed

Berger, Robert F

2018-02-09

In the current decade, perovskite solar cell research has emerged as a remarkably active, promising, and rapidly developing field. Alongside breakthroughs in synthesis and device engineering, halide perovskite photovoltaic materials have been the subject of predictive and explanatory computational work. In this Minireview, we focus on a subset of this computation: density functional theory (DFT)-based work highlighting the ways in which the electronic structure and band gap of this class of materials can be tuned via changes in atomic structure. We distill this body of computational literature into a set of underlying design principles for the band gap engineering of these materials, and rationalize these principles from the viewpoint of band-edge orbital character. We hope that this perspective provides guidance and insight toward the rational design and continued improvement of perovskite photovoltaics. © 2018 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Highly tensile-strained Ge/InAlAs nanocomposites

PubMed Central

Jung, Daehwan; Faucher, Joseph; Mukherjee, Samik; Akey, Austin; Ironside, Daniel J.; Cabral, Matthew; Sang, Xiahan; Lebeau, James; Bank, Seth R.; Buonassisi, Tonio; Moutanabbir, Oussama; Lee, Minjoo Larry

2017-01-01

Self-assembled nanocomposites have been extensively investigated due to the novel properties that can emerge when multiple material phases are combined. Growth of epitaxial nanocomposites using lattice-mismatched constituents also enables strain-engineering, which can be used to further enhance material properties. Here, we report self-assembled growth of highly tensile-strained Ge/In0.52Al0.48As (InAlAs) nanocomposites by using spontaneous phase separation. Transmission electron microscopy shows a high density of single-crystalline germanium nanostructures coherently embedded in InAlAs without extended defects, and Raman spectroscopy reveals a 3.8% biaxial tensile strain in the germanium nanostructures. We also show that the strain in the germanium nanostructures can be tuned to 5.3% by altering the lattice constant of the matrix material, illustrating the versatility of epitaxial nanocomposites for strain engineering. Photoluminescence and electroluminescence results are then discussed to illustrate the potential for realizing devices based on this nanocomposite material. PMID:28128282

Towards Versatile and Sustainable Hydrogen Production through Electrocatalytic Water Splitting: Electrolyte Engineering

PubMed Central

Shinagawa, Tatsuya

2017-01-01

Abstract Recent advances in power generation from renewable resources necessitate conversion of electricity to chemicals and fuels in an efficient manner. Electrocatalytic water splitting is one of the most powerful and widespread technologies. The development of highly efficient, inexpensive, flexible, and versatile water electrolysis devices is desired. This review discusses the significance and impact of the electrolyte on electrocatalytic performance. Depending on the circumstances under which the water splitting reaction is conducted, the required solution conditions, such as the identity and molarity of ions, may significantly differ. Quantitative understanding of such electrolyte properties on electrolysis performance is effective to facilitate the development of efficient electrocatalytic systems. The electrolyte can directly participate in reaction schemes (kinetics), affect electrode stability, and/or indirectly impact the performance by influencing the concentration overpotential (mass transport). This review aims to guide fine‐tuning of the electrolyte properties, or electrolyte engineering, for (photo)electrochemical water splitting reactions. PMID:27984671

Difference in electrodynamic transduction between speaker and alternator in thermoacoustic applications.

PubMed

Gonen, Eran; Grossman, Gershon

2015-09-01

Conventional reciprocating pistons, normally found in thermoacoustic engines, tend to introduce complex impedance characteristics, including acoustic, mechanical, and electrical portions. System behavior and performance usually rely on proper tuning processes and selection of an optimal point of operation, affected substantially by complementary hardware, typically adjusted for the specific application. The present study proposes an alternative perspective on the alternator behavior, by considering the relative motion between gas and piston during the engine mode of operation. Direct analytical derivation of the velocity distribution inside a tight seal gap and the associated impedance is employed to estimate the electro-acoustic conversion efficiency, thus indicating how to improve the system performance. The influence of acoustic phase, gap dimensions, and working conditions is examined, suggesting the need to develop tighter and longer seal gaps, having increased impedance, to allow optimization for use in upcoming sustainable power generation solutions and smart grids.

Engineering of frustration in colloidal artificial ices realized on microfeatured grooved lattices

PubMed Central

Ortiz-Ambriz, Antonio; Tierno, Pietro

2016-01-01

Artificial spin ice systems, namely lattices of interacting single domain ferromagnetic islands, have been used to date as microscopic models of frustration induced by lattice topology, allowing for the direct visualization of spin arrangements and textures. However, the engineering of frustrated ice states in which individual spins can be manipulated in situ and the real-time observation of their collective dynamics remain both challenging tasks. Inspired by recent theoretical advances, here we realize a colloidal version of an artificial spin ice system using interacting polarizable particles confined to lattices of bistable gravitational traps. We show quantitatively that ice-selection rules emerge in this frustrated soft matter system by tuning the strength of the pair interactions between the microscopic units. Via independent control of particle positioning and dipolar coupling, we introduce monopole-like defects and strings and use loops with defined chirality as an elementary unit to store binary information. PMID:26830629

Engineering of frustration in colloidal artificial ices realized on microfeatured grooved lattices.

PubMed

Ortiz-Ambriz, Antonio; Tierno, Pietro

2016-02-01

Artificial spin ice systems, namely lattices of interacting single domain ferromagnetic islands, have been used to date as microscopic models of frustration induced by lattice topology, allowing for the direct visualization of spin arrangements and textures. However, the engineering of frustrated ice states in which individual spins can be manipulated in situ and the real-time observation of their collective dynamics remain both challenging tasks. Inspired by recent theoretical advances, here we realize a colloidal version of an artificial spin ice system using interacting polarizable particles confined to lattices of bistable gravitational traps. We show quantitatively that ice-selection rules emerge in this frustrated soft matter system by tuning the strength of the pair interactions between the microscopic units. Via independent control of particle positioning and dipolar coupling, we introduce monopole-like defects and strings and use loops with defined chirality as an elementary unit to store binary information.

Engineering the electronic structure of graphene superlattices via Fermi velocity modulation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lima, Jonas R. F.

2017-01-01

Graphene superlattices have attracted much research interest in the last years, since it is possible to manipulate the electronic properties of graphene in these structures. It has been verified that extra Dirac points appear in the electronic structure of the system. The electronic structure in the vicinity of these points has been studied for a gapless and gapped graphene superlattice and for a graphene superlattice with a spatially modulated energy gap. In each case a different behavior was obtained. In this work we show that via Fermi velocity engineering it is possible to tune the electronic properties of a graphene superlattice to match all the previous cases studied. We also obtained new features of the system never observed before, reveling that the electronic structure of graphene is very sensitive to the modulation of the Fermi velocity. The results obtained here are relevant for the development of novel graphene-based electronic devices.

Potential of Bioactive Glasses for Cardiac and Pulmonary Tissue Engineering

PubMed Central

Hamzehlou, Sepideh

2017-01-01

Repair and regeneration of disorders affecting cardiac and pulmonary tissues through tissue-engineering-based approaches is currently of particular interest. On this matter, different families of bioactive glasses (BGs) have recently been given much consideration with respect to treating refractory diseases of these tissues, such as myocardial infarction. The inherent properties of BGs, including their ability to bond to hard and soft tissues, to stimulate angiogenesis, and to elicit antimicrobial effects, along with their excellent biocompatibility, support these newly proposed strategies. Moreover, BGs can also act as a bioactive reinforcing phase to finely tune the mechanical properties of polymer-based constructs used to repair the damaged cardiac and pulmonary tissues. In the present study, we evaluated the potential of different forms of BGs, alone or in combination with other materials (e.g., polymers), in regards to repair and regenerate injured tissues of cardiac and pulmonary systems. PMID:29244726

Engineering of frustration in colloidal artificial ices realized on microfeatured grooved lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tierno, Pietro

Artificial spin-ice systems, namely lattices of interacting single domain ferromagnetic islands, have been used to date as microscopic models of frustration induced by lattice topology, allowing for the direct visualization of spin arrangements and textures. However, the engineering of frustrated ice states in which individual spins can be manipulated in situ and the real-time observation of their collective dynamics remain both challenging tasks. Inspired by recent theoretical advances, we realize a colloidal version of an artificial spin ice system using interacting polarizable particles confined to lattices of bistable gravitational traps. We show quantitatively that ice-selection rules emerge in this frustrated soft matter system by tuning the strength of the pair-interactions between the microscopic units. Via independent control of particle positioning and dipolar coupling, we introduce monopole-like defects and strings and use loops with defined chirality as an elementary unit to store binary information.

Engineering of frustration in colloidal artificial ices realized on microfeatured grooved lattices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortiz-Ambriz, Antonio; Tierno, Pietro

2016-02-01

Artificial spin ice systems, namely lattices of interacting single domain ferromagnetic islands, have been used to date as microscopic models of frustration induced by lattice topology, allowing for the direct visualization of spin arrangements and textures. However, the engineering of frustrated ice states in which individual spins can be manipulated in situ and the real-time observation of their collective dynamics remain both challenging tasks. Inspired by recent theoretical advances, here we realize a colloidal version of an artificial spin ice system using interacting polarizable particles confined to lattices of bistable gravitational traps. We show quantitatively that ice-selection rules emerge in this frustrated soft matter system by tuning the strength of the pair interactions between the microscopic units. Via independent control of particle positioning and dipolar coupling, we introduce monopole-like defects and strings and use loops with defined chirality as an elementary unit to store binary information.

Dispersion engineering of mode-locked fibre lasers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Woodward, R. I.

2018-03-01

Mode-locked fibre lasers are important sources of ultrashort pulses, where stable pulse generation is achieved through a balance of periodic amplitude and phase evolutions. A range of distinct cavity pulse dynamics have been revealed, arising from the interplay between dispersion and nonlinearity in addition to dissipative processes such as filtering. This has led to the discovery of numerous novel operating regimes, offering significantly improved laser performance. In this Topical Review, we summarise the main steady-state pulse dynamics reported to date through cavity dispersion engineering, including average solitons, dispersion-managed solitons, dissipative solitons, giant-chirped pulses and similaritons. Characteristic features and the stabilisation mechanism of each regime are described, supported by numerical modelling, in addition to the typical performance and limitations. Opportunities for further pulse energy scaling are discussed, in addition to considering other recent advances including automated self-tuning cavities and fluoride-fibre-based mid-infrared mode-locked lasers.

Programmable and reversible plasmon mode engineering.

PubMed

Yang, Ankun; Hryn, Alexander J; Bourgeois, Marc R; Lee, Won-Kyu; Hu, Jingtian; Schatz, George C; Odom, Teri W

2016-12-13

Plasmonic nanostructures with enhanced localized optical fields as well as narrow linewidths have driven advances in numerous applications. However, the active engineering of ultranarrow resonances across the visible regime-and within a single system-has not yet been demonstrated. This paper describes how aluminum nanoparticle arrays embedded in an elastomeric slab may exhibit high-quality resonances with linewidths as narrow as 3 nm at wavelengths not accessible by conventional plasmonic materials. We exploited stretching to improve and tune simultaneously the optical response of as-fabricated nanoparticle arrays by shifting the diffraction mode relative to single-particle dipolar or quadrupolar resonances. This dynamic modulation of particle-particle spacing enabled either dipolar or quadrupolar lattice modes to be selectively accessed and individually optimized. Programmable plasmon modes offer a robust way to achieve real-time tunable materials for plasmon-enhanced molecular sensing and plasmonic nanolasers and opens new possibilities for integrating with flexible electronics.

Donor specificity of YjiC glycosyltransferase determines the conjugation of cytosolic NDP-sugar in in vivo glycosylation reactions.

PubMed

Pandey, Ramesh Prasad; Parajuli, Prakash; Gurung, Rit Bahadur; Sohng, Jae Kyung

2016-09-01

Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) was engineered by blocking glucose-1-phosphate utilizing glucose phosphate isomerase (pgi), glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (zwf) and uridylyltransferase (galU) genes to produce pool of four different rare dTDP-sugars. The cytosolic pool of dTDP-l-rhamnose, dTDP-d-viosamine, dTDP-4-amino 4,6-dideoxy-d-galactose, and dTDP-3-amino 3,6-dideoxy-d-galactose was generated by overexpressing respective dTDP-sugars biosynthesis genes from various microbial sources. A flexible glycosyltransferase YjiC, from Bacillus licheniformis DSM 13 was also overexpressed to transfer sugar moieties to 3-hydroxyl group of 3-hydroxyflavone, a core unit of flavonoids. Among four rare dTDP-sugars generated in cytosol of engineered strains, YjiC solely transferred l-rhamnose from dTDP-l-rhamnose and tuned to rhamnosyltransferase. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

New Quality Metrics for Web Search Results

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Metaxas, Panagiotis Takis; Ivanova, Lilia; Mustafaraj, Eni

Web search results enjoy an increasing importance in our daily lives. But what can be said about their quality, especially when querying a controversial issue? The traditional information retrieval metrics of precision and recall do not provide much insight in the case of web information retrieval. In this paper we examine new ways of evaluating quality in search results: coverage and independence. We give examples on how these new metrics can be calculated and what their values reveal regarding the two major search engines, Google and Yahoo. We have found evidence of low coverage for commercial and medical controversial queries, and high coverage for a political query that is highly contested. Given the fact that search engines are unwilling to tune their search results manually, except in a few cases that have become the source of bad publicity, low coverage and independence reveal the efforts of dedicated groups to manipulate the search results.

How to turn a genetic circuit into a synthetic tunable oscillator, or a bistable switch.

PubMed

Marucci, Lucia; Barton, David A W; Cantone, Irene; Ricci, Maria Aurelia; Cosma, Maria Pia; Santini, Stefania; di Bernardo, Diego; di Bernardo, Mario

2009-12-07

Systems and Synthetic Biology use computational models of biological pathways in order to study in silico the behaviour of biological pathways. Mathematical models allow to verify biological hypotheses and to predict new possible dynamical behaviours. Here we use the tools of non-linear analysis to understand how to change the dynamics of the genes composing a novel synthetic network recently constructed in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for In-vivo Reverse-engineering and Modelling Assessment (IRMA). Guided by previous theoretical results that make the dynamics of a biological network depend on its topological properties, through the use of simulation and continuation techniques, we found that the network can be easily turned into a robust and tunable synthetic oscillator or a bistable switch. Our results provide guidelines to properly re-engineering in vivo the network in order to tune its dynamics.

Nano polymeric carrier fabrication technologies for advanced antitumor therapy.

PubMed

Li, Wei; Zhao, Mengxin; Ke, Changhong; Zhang, Ge; Zhang, Li; Li, Huafei; Zhang, Fulei; Sun, Yun; Dai, Jianxin; Wang, Hao; Guo, Yajun

2013-01-01

Comparing with the traditional therapeutic methods, newly developed cancer therapy based on the nanoparticulates attracted extensively interest due to its unique advantages. However, there are still some drawbacks such as the unfavorable in vivo performance for nanomedicine and undesirable tumor escape from the immunotherapy. While as we know that the in vivo performance strongly depended on the nanocarrier structural properties, thus, the big gap between in vitro and in vivo can be overcome by nanocarrier's structural tailoring by fine chemical design and microstructural tuning. In addition, this fine nanocarrier's engineering can also provide practical solution to solve the problems in traditional cancer immunotherapy. In this paper, we review the latest development in nanomedicine, cancer therapy, and nanoimmunotherapy. We then give an explanation why fine nanocanrrie's engineering with special focus on the unique pathology of tumor microenvironments and properties of immunocells can obviously promote the in vivo performance and improve the therapeutic index of nanoimmunotherapy.

Engineering titania nanostructure to tune and improve its photocatalytic activity

PubMed Central

Cargnello, Matteo; Montini, Tiziano; Smolin, Sergey Y.; Priebe, Jacqueline B.; Delgado Jaén, Juan J.; Doan-Nguyen, Vicky V. T.; McKay, Ian S.; Schwalbe, Jay A.; Pohl, Marga-Martina; Gordon, Thomas R.; Lu, Yupeng; Baxter, Jason B.; Brückner, Angelika; Murray, Christopher B.

2016-01-01

Photocatalytic pathways could prove crucial to the sustainable production of fuels and chemicals required for a carbon-neutral society. Electron−hole recombination is a critical problem that has, so far, limited the efficiency of the most promising photocatalytic materials. Here, we show the efficacy of anisotropy in improving charge separation and thereby boosting the activity of a titania (TiO2) photocatalytic system. Specifically, we show that H2 production in uniform, one-dimensional brookite titania nanorods is highly enhanced by engineering their length. By using complimentary characterization techniques to separately probe excited electrons and holes, we link the high observed reaction rates to the anisotropic structure, which favors efficient carrier utilization. Quantum yield values for hydrogen production from ethanol, glycerol, and glucose as high as 65%, 35%, and 6%, respectively, demonstrate the promise and generality of this approach for improving the photoactivity of semiconducting nanostructures for a wide range of reacting systems. PMID:27035977

Effect of thermal insulation on the electrical characteristics of NbOx threshold switches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Ziwen; Kumar, Suhas; Wong, H.-S. Philip; Nishi, Yoshio

2018-02-01

Threshold switches based on niobium oxide (NbOx) are promising candidates as bidirectional selector devices in crossbar memory arrays and building blocks for neuromorphic computing. Here, it is experimentally demonstrated that the electrical characteristics of NbOx threshold switches can be tuned by engineering the thermal insulation. Increasing the thermal insulation by ˜10× is shown to produce ˜7× reduction in threshold current and ˜45% reduction in threshold voltage. The reduced threshold voltage leads to ˜5× reduction in half-selection leakage, which highlights the effectiveness of reducing half-selection leakage of NbOx selectors by engineering the thermal insulation. A thermal feedback model based on Poole-Frenkel conduction in NbOx can explain the experimental results very well, which also serves as a piece of strong evidence supporting the validity of the Poole-Frenkel based mechanism in NbOx threshold switches.

Improving Water Balance Estimation in the Nile by Combining Remote Sensing and Hydrological Modelling: a Template for Ungauged Basins

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gleason, C. J.; Wada, Y.; Wang, J.

2017-12-01

Declining gauging infrastructure and fractious water politics have decreased available information about river flows globally, especially in international river basins. Remote sensing and water balance modelling are frequently cited as a potential solutions, but these techniques largely rely on the same in decline gauge data to constrain or parameterize discharge estimates, thus creating a circular approach to estimating discharge inapplicable to ungauged basins. To address this, we here combine a discontinued gauge, remotely sensed discharge estimates made via at-many-stations hydraulic geometry (AMHG) and Landsat data, and the PCR-GLOBWB hydrological model to estimate discharge for an ungauged time period for the Lower Nile (1978-present). Specifically, we first estimate initial discharges from 86 Landsat images and AMHG (1984-2015), and then use these flow estimates to tune the hydrologic model. Our tuning methodology is purposefully simple and can be easily applied to any model without the need for calibration/parameterization. The resulting tuned modelled hydrograph shows large improvement in flow magnitude over previous modelled hydrographs, and validation of tuned monthly model output flows against the historical gauge yields an RMSE of 343 m3/s (33.7%). By contrast, the original simulation had an order-of-magnitude flow error. This improvement is substantial but not perfect: modelled flows have a one-to two-month wet season lag and a negative bias. More sophisticated model calibration and training (e.g. data assimilation) is needed to improve upon our results, however, our results achieved by coupling physical models and remote sensing is a promising first step and proof of concept toward future modelling of ungauged flows. This is especially true as massive cloud computing via Google Earth Engine makes our method easily applicable to any basin without current gauges. Finally, we purposefully do not offer prescriptive solutions for Nile management, and rather hope that the methods demonstrated herein can prove useful to river stakeholders in managing their own water.

Rational engineering of nanoporous anodic alumina optical bandpass filters

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Santos, Abel; Pereira, Taj; Law, Cheryl Suwen; Losic, Dusan

2016-08-01

Herein, we present a rationally designed advanced nanofabrication approach aiming at producing a new type of optical bandpass filters based on nanoporous anodic alumina photonic crystals. The photonic stop band of nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA) is engineered in depth by means of a pseudo-stepwise pulse anodisation (PSPA) approach consisting of pseudo-stepwise asymmetric current density pulses. This nanofabrication method makes it possible to tune the transmission bands of NAA at specific wavelengths and bandwidths, which can be broadly modified across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum through the anodisation period (i.e. time between consecutive pulses). First, we establish the effect of the anodisation period as a means of tuning the position and width of the transmission bands of NAA across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum. To this end, a set of nanoporous anodic alumina bandpass filters (NAA-BPFs) are produced with different anodisation periods, ranging from 500 to 1200 s, and their optical properties (i.e. characteristic transmission bands and interferometric colours) are systematically assessed. Then, we demonstrate that the rational combination of stacked NAA-BPFs consisting of layers of NAA produced with different PSPA periods can be readily used to create a set of unique and highly selective optical bandpass filters with characteristic transmission bands, the position, width and number of which can be precisely engineered by this rational anodisation approach. Finally, as a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that the superposition of stacked NAA-BPFs produced with slight modifications of the anodisation period enables the fabrication of NAA-BPFs with unprecedented broad transmission bands across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum. The results obtained from our study constitute the first comprehensive rationale towards advanced NAA-BPFs with fully controllable photonic properties. These photonic crystal structures could become a promising alternative to traditional optical bandpass filters based on glass and plastic.Herein, we present a rationally designed advanced nanofabrication approach aiming at producing a new type of optical bandpass filters based on nanoporous anodic alumina photonic crystals. The photonic stop band of nanoporous anodic alumina (NAA) is engineered in depth by means of a pseudo-stepwise pulse anodisation (PSPA) approach consisting of pseudo-stepwise asymmetric current density pulses. This nanofabrication method makes it possible to tune the transmission bands of NAA at specific wavelengths and bandwidths, which can be broadly modified across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum through the anodisation period (i.e. time between consecutive pulses). First, we establish the effect of the anodisation period as a means of tuning the position and width of the transmission bands of NAA across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum. To this end, a set of nanoporous anodic alumina bandpass filters (NAA-BPFs) are produced with different anodisation periods, ranging from 500 to 1200 s, and their optical properties (i.e. characteristic transmission bands and interferometric colours) are systematically assessed. Then, we demonstrate that the rational combination of stacked NAA-BPFs consisting of layers of NAA produced with different PSPA periods can be readily used to create a set of unique and highly selective optical bandpass filters with characteristic transmission bands, the position, width and number of which can be precisely engineered by this rational anodisation approach. Finally, as a proof-of-concept, we demonstrate that the superposition of stacked NAA-BPFs produced with slight modifications of the anodisation period enables the fabrication of NAA-BPFs with unprecedented broad transmission bands across the UV-visible-NIR spectrum. The results obtained from our study constitute the first comprehensive rationale towards advanced NAA-BPFs with fully controllable photonic properties. These photonic crystal structures could become a promising alternative to traditional optical bandpass filters based on glass and plastic. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available: An example demonstrating the effect of pore widening on the position and width of the transmission band of a NAA-BPF and a comprehensive table summarising the position and FWHM of the different bands of the NAA-BPFs produced in this study. See DOI: 10.1039/c6nr03490j

Native and engineered sensors for Ca2+ and Zn2+: lessons from calmodulin and MTF1.

PubMed

Carpenter, Margaret C; Palmer, Amy E

2017-05-09

Ca 2+ and Zn 2+ dynamics have been identified as important drivers of physiological processes. In order for these dynamics to encode function, the cell must have sensors that transduce changes in metal concentration to specific downstream actions. Here we compare and contrast the native metal sensors: calmodulin (CaM), the quintessential Ca 2+ sensor and metal-responsive transcription factor 1 (MTF1), a candidate Zn 2+ sensor. While CaM recognizes and modulates the activity of hundreds of proteins through allosteric interactions, MTF1 recognizes a single DNA motif that is distributed throughout the genome regulating the transcription of many target genes. We examine how the different inorganic chemistries of these two metal ions may shape these different mechanisms transducing metal ion concentration into changing physiologic activity. In addition to native metal sensors, scientists have engineered sensors to spy on the dynamic changes of metals in cells. The inorganic chemistry of the metals shapes the possibilities in the design strategies of engineered sensors. We examine how different strategies to tune the affinities of engineered sensors mirror the strategies nature developed to sense both Ca 2+ and Zn 2+ in cells. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society.

Engineering catalytic activity via ion beam bombardment of catalyst supports for vertically aligned carbon nanotube growth

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Islam, A. E.; Nikolaev, P.; Amama, P. B.; Zakharov, D.; Sargent, G.; Saber, S.; Huffman, D.; Erford, M.; Semiatin, S. L.; Stach, E. A.; Maruyama, B.

2015-09-01

Carbon nanotube growth depends on the catalytic activity of metal nanoparticles on alumina or silica supports. The control on catalytic activity is generally achieved by variations in water concentration, carbon feed, and sample placement on a few types of alumina or silica catalyst supports obtained via thin film deposition. We have recently expanded the choice of catalyst supports by engineering inactive substrates like c-cut sapphire via ion beam bombardment. The deterministic control on the structure and chemistry of catalyst supports obtained by tuning the degree of beam-induced damage have enabled better regulation of the activity of Fe catalysts only in the ion beam bombarded areas and hence enabled controllable super growth of carbon nanotubes. A wide range of surface characterization techniques were used to monitor the catalytically active surface engineered via ion beam bombardment. The proposed method offers a versatile way to control carbon nanotube growth in patterned areas and also enhances the current understanding of the growth process. With the right choice of water concentration, carbon feed and sample placement, engineered catalyst supports may extend the carbon nanotube growth yield to a level that is even higher than the ones reported here, and thus offers promising applications of carbon nanotubes in electronics, heat exchanger, and energy storage.

Rapid evolution of regulatory element libraries for tunable transcriptional and translational control of gene expression.

PubMed

Jin, Erqing; Wong, Lynn; Jiao, Yun; Engel, Jake; Holdridge, Benjamin; Xu, Peng

2017-12-01

Engineering cell factories for producing biofuels and pharmaceuticals has spurred great interests to develop rapid and efficient synthetic biology tools customized for modular pathway engineering. Along the way, combinatorial gene expression control through modification of regulatory element offered tremendous opportunity for fine-tuning gene expression and generating digital-like genetic circuits. In this report, we present an efficient evolutionary approach to build a range of regulatory control elements. The reported method allows for rapid construction of promoter, 5'UTR, terminator and trans -activating RNA libraries. Synthetic overlapping oligos with high portion of degenerate nucleotides flanking the regulatory element could be efficiently assembled to a vector expressing fluorescence reporter. This approach combines high mutation rate of the synthetic DNA with the high assembly efficiency of Gibson Mix. Our constructed library demonstrates broad range of transcriptional or translational gene expression dynamics. Specifically, both the promoter library and 5'UTR library exhibits gene expression dynamics spanning across three order of magnitude. The terminator library and trans -activating RNA library displays relatively narrowed gene expression pattern. The reported study provides a versatile toolbox for rapidly constructing a large family of prokaryotic regulatory elements. These libraries also facilitate the implementation of combinatorial pathway engineering principles and the engineering of more efficient microbial cell factory for various biomanufacturing applications.

JANNAF Lessons Learned Panel: Selected Saturn V History

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Urquhart, Skip

2010-01-01

Pogo occurs when the natural frequency of a propellant feed line comes close to a readily excited rocket longitudinal structural vibration natural frequency. Maximum Pogo response corresponds to close tuning of the structural and hydraulic frequencies. On Saturn V, accelerations up to 17 g's (Zero To Peak) at the Launch Vehicle/Payload Interface and up to 34 g's at an Engine have been observed. Nicknamed Pogo because it causes the Rocket to stretch and compress like a Pogo stick. First recognized with the Titan II in 1962, Pogo remains a prime consideration in design of launch vehicles today

Electronic doping of transition metal oxide perovskites

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Cammarata, Antonio, E-mail: cammaant@fel.cvut.cz; Rondinelli, James M.

2016-05-23

CaFeO{sub 3} is a prototypical negative charge transfer oxide that undergoes electronic metal-insulator transition concomitant with a dilation and contraction of nearly rigid octahedra. Altering the charge neutrality of the bulk system destroys the electronic transition, while the structure is significantly modified at high charge content. Using density functional theory simulations, we predict an alternative avenue to modulate the structure and the electronic transition in CaFeO{sub 3}. Charge distribution can be modulated using strain-rotation coupling and thin film engineering strategies, proposing themselves as a promising avenue for fine tuning electronic features in transition metal-oxide perovskites.

Needleless coaxial electrospinning: A novel approach to mass production of coaxial nanofibers.

PubMed

Vysloužilová, Lucie; Buzgo, Matej; Pokorný, Pavel; Chvojka, Jiří; Míčková, Andrea; Rampichová, Michala; Kula, Jiří; Pejchar, Karel; Bílek, Martin; Lukáš, David; Amler, Evžen

2017-01-10

Herein, we describe a simple spinneret setup for needleless coaxial electrospinning that exceeds the limited production capacity of current approaches. The proposed weir spinneret enables coaxial electrospinning from free liquid surface. This approach leads to the formation of coaxial nanofibers with higher and uniform shell/core ratio, which results in the possibility of better tuning of the degradation rate. The throughput and quality increase favor the broader application of coaxial nanofibers from weir spinnerets as systems for controlled drug delivery in regenerative medicine and tissue engineering. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hierarchical hybrid control of manipulators: Artificial intelligence in large scale integrated circuits

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Greene, P. H.

1972-01-01

Both in practical engineering and in control of muscular systems, low level subsystems automatically provide crude approximations to the proper response. Through low level tuning of these approximations, the proper response variant can emerge from standardized high level commands. Such systems are expressly suited to emerging large scale integrated circuit technology. A computer, using symbolic descriptions of subsystem responses, can select and shape responses of low level digital or analog microcircuits. A mathematical theory that reveals significant informational units in this style of control and software for realizing such information structures are formulated.

Photoresponse in graphene induced by defect engineering

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Du, Ruxia; Wang, Wenhui; Du, Jianxin; Guo, Xitao; Liu, Er; Bing, Dan; Bai, Jing

2016-11-01

We present a photoresponse study on a lateral defect/pristine graphene junction device fabricated by a simple plasma irradiation method. The junction between pristine graphene and plasma-modified graphene was created by controlling the location of Ar+ plasma treatment. We found that a distinct photocurrent was generated at the junction by photocurrent line scanning measurements, and further analysis reveals that the photo-thermoelectric (PTE) effect, instead of the photovoltaic (PV) effect, dominates the photocurrent generation at the interface. Additionally, the obtained results suggest that tuning the defect density could be effective in modulating the optoelectronic performance of junctions in our device.

Calculations of spin-polarized Goos-Hänchen displacement in magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit couplings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lu, Mao-Wang; Chen, Sai-Yan; Zhang, Gui-Lian; Huang, Xin-Hong

2018-04-01

We theoretically investigate Goos-Hänchen (GH) displacement by modelling the spin transport in an archetypal device structure—a magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Both Rashba and Dresselhaus SOCs are taken into account. The degree of spin-polarized GH displacement can be tuned by Rashba or Dresselhaus SOC, i.e. interfacial confining electric field or strain engineering. Based on such a semiconductor nanostructure, a controllable spatial spin splitter can be proposed for spintronics applications.

Interferometric modulation of quantum cascade interactions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cusumano, Stefano; Mari, Andrea; Giovannetti, Vittorio

2018-05-01

We consider many-body quantum systems dissipatively coupled by a cascade network, i.e., a setup in which interactions are mediated by unidirectional environmental modes propagating through a linear optical interferometer. In particular we are interested in the possibility of inducing different effective interactions by properly engineering an external dissipative network of beam splitters and phase shifters. In this work we first derive the general structure of the master equation for a symmetric class of translation-invariant cascade networks. Then we show how, by tuning the parameters of the interferometer, one can exploit interference effects to tailor a large variety of many-body interactions.

Calculations of spin-polarized Goos-Hänchen displacement in magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit couplings.

PubMed

Lu, Mao-Wang; Chen, Sai-Yan; Zhang, Gui-Lian; Huang, Xin-Hong

2018-04-11

We theoretically investigate Goos-Hänchen (GH) displacement by modelling the spin transport in an archetypal device structure-a magnetically confined GaAs/Al x Ga 1-x As nanostructure modulated by spin-orbit coupling (SOC). Both Rashba and Dresselhaus SOCs are taken into account. The degree of spin-polarized GH displacement can be tuned by Rashba or Dresselhaus SOC, i.e. interfacial confining electric field or strain engineering. Based on such a semiconductor nanostructure, a controllable spatial spin splitter can be proposed for spintronics applications.

Electrical and mechanical tuning of a silicon vacancy defect in SiC for quantum information technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Soykal, Oney O.; Reinecke, Thomas L.

We develop coherent control via Stark effect over the optical transition energies of silicon monovacancy deep center in hexagonal silicon carbide. We show that this defect's unique asymmetry properties of its piezoelectric tensor and Kramer's degenerate high-spin ground/excited state configurations can be used to create new possibilities in quantum information technology ranging from photonic networks to quantum key distribution. We also give examples of its qubit implementations via precise electric field control. This work was supported in part by ONR and by the Office of Secretary of Defense, Quantum Science and Engineering Program.

Blood oxygenation and flow measurements using a single 720-nm tunable V-cavity laser.

PubMed

Feng, Yafei; Deng, Haoyu; Chen, Xin; He, Jian-Jun

2017-08-01

We propose and demonstrate a single-laser-based sensing method for measuring both blood oxygenation and microvascular blood flow. Based on the optimal wavelength range found from theoretical analysis on differential absorption based blood oxygenation measurement, we designed and fabricated a 720-nm-band wavelength tunable V-cavity laser. Without any grating or bandgap engineering, the laser has a wavelength tuning range of 14.1 nm. By using the laser emitting at 710.3 nm and 724.4 nm to measure the oxygenation and blood flow, we experimentally demonstrate the proposed method.

Quasi-passive heat sink for high-power laser diodes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vetrovec, John

2009-02-01

We report on a novel heat sink for high-power laser diodes offering unparalleled capacity in high-heat flux handling and temperature control. The heat sink uses a liquid coolant flowing at high speed in a miniature closed and sealed loop. Diode waste heat is received at high flux and transferred to environment, coolant fluid, heat pipe, or structure at a reduced flux. When pumping solid-state or alkali vapor lasers, diode wavelength can be electronically tuned to the absorption features of the laser gain medium. This paper presents the heat sink physics, engineering design, performance modeling, and configurations.

Spatial interference patterns in the dynamics of a 2D Bose-Einstein condensate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bera, Jayanta; Roy, Utpal

2018-05-01

Bose-Einstein condensate has become a highly tunable physical system, which is proven to mimic a number of interesting physical phenomena in condensed matter physics. We study the dynamics of a two-dimensional Bose Einstein condensate (BEC) in the presence of a flat harmonic confinement and time-dependent sharp potential peak. Condensate density can be meticulously controlled with time by tuning the physically relevant parameters: frequency of the harmonic trap, width of the peaks, frequency of their oscillations, initial density etc. By engineering various trap profile, we solve the system, numerically, and explore the resulting spatial interference patters.

Hybrid Quantum Device with Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers in Diamond Coupled to Carbon Nanotubes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Peng-Bo; Xiang, Ze-Liang; Rabl, Peter; Nori, Franco

2016-07-01

We show that nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centers in diamond interfaced with a suspended carbon nanotube carrying a dc current can facilitate a spin-nanomechanical hybrid device. We demonstrate that strong magnetomechanical interactions between a single NV spin and the vibrational mode of the suspended nanotube can be engineered and dynamically tuned by external control over the system parameters. This spin-nanomechanical setup with strong, intrinsic, and tunable magnetomechanical couplings allows for the construction of hybrid quantum devices with NV centers and carbon-based nanostructures, as well as phonon-mediated quantum information processing with spin qubits.

Transposable elements re-wire and fine-tune the transcriptome.

PubMed

Cowley, Michael; Oakey, Rebecca J

2013-01-01

What good are transposable elements (TEs)? Although their activity can be harmful to host genomes and can cause disease, they nevertheless represent an important source of genetic variation that has helped shape genomes. In this review, we examine the impact of TEs, collectively referred to as the mobilome, on the transcriptome. We explore how TEs-particularly retrotransposons-contribute to transcript diversity and consider their potential significance as a source of small RNAs that regulate host gene transcription. We also discuss a critical role for the mobilome in engineering transcriptional networks, permitting coordinated gene expression, and facilitating the evolution of novel physiological processes.

Tunable charge transfer properties in metal-phthalocyanine heterojunctions.

PubMed

Siles, P F; Hahn, T; Salvan, G; Knupfer, M; Zhu, F; Zahn, D R T; Schmidt, O G

2016-04-28

Organic materials such as phthalocyanine-based systems present a great potential for organic device applications due to the possibility of integrating films of different organic materials to create organic heterostructures which combine the electrical capabilities of each material. This opens the possibility to precisely engineer and tune new electrical properties. In particular, similar transition metal phthalocyanines demonstrate hybridization and charge transfer properties which could lead to interesting physical phenomena. Although, when considering device dimensions, a better understanding and control of the tuning of the transport properties still remain in the focus of research. Here, by employing conductive atomic force microscopy techniques, we provide an insight about the nanoscale electrical properties and transport mechanisms of MnPc and fluorinated phthalocyanines such as F16CuPc and F16CoPc. We report a transition from typical diode-like transport mechanisms for pure MnPc thin films to space-charge-limited current transport regime (SCLC) for Pc-based heterostructures. The controlled addition of fluorinated phthalocyanine also provides highly uniform and symmetric-polarized transport characteristics with conductance enhancements up to two orders of magnitude depending on the polarization. We present a method to spatially map the mobility of the MnPc/F16CuPc structures with a nanoscale resolution and provide theoretical calculations to support our experimental findings. This well-controlled nanoscale tuning of the electrical properties for metal transition phthalocyanine junctions stands as key step for future phthalocyanine-based electronic devices, where the low dimension charge transfer, mediated by transition metal atoms could be intrinsically linked to a transfer of magnetic moment or spin.

Emission and material gain spectra of polar compressive strained AlGaN quantum wells grown on virtual AlGaN substrates: Tuning emission wavelength and mixing TE and TM mode of light polarization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gladysiewicz, Marta; Rudzinski, Mariusz; Hommel, Detlef; Kudrawiec, Robert

2018-07-01

It is shown that compressively strained polar AlxGa1‑xN/AlyGa1‑yN quantum wells (QWs) of various contents grown on virtual AlYGa1‑YN substrates (Y = 20, 40, 60, 80, and 100%) are able to cover the whole UV-A, -B, and -C spectral range but their contents and widths have to be carefully optimized if they are to be used as the active region of light emitting diodes and laser diodes. The emission wavelength from AlGaN multi QWs can be tuned by both the QW width and barrier thickness, but the range of QW width for which an efficient luminescence is expected is very small (2–4 nm) due to a very weak electron-hole overlap for wider QWs. The most effective method for wavelength tuning in this QW system is content engineering, i.e., lowering Al concentration in the QW region. The decrease of Al concentration in the QW shifts the emission peak to red, broadens this peak, weakens its intensity, and changes its polarization from transverse magnetic (TM) to TM mixed with transverse electric (TE). For laser diodes the optimal QW design is more rigorous concerning the QW width since this width should be below 3 nm. Moreover it is shown that the TE and TM mode of materials gain overlap and are strongly blueshifted in comparison to emission spectrum.

Core-shell silk hydrogels with spatially tuned conformations as drug-delivery system.

PubMed

Yan, Le-Ping; Oliveira, Joaquim M; Oliveira, Ana L; Reis, Rui L

2017-11-01

Hydrogels of spatially controlled physicochemical properties are appealing platforms for tissue engineering and drug delivery. In this study, core-shell silk fibroin (SF) hydrogels of spatially controlled conformation were developed. The core-shell structure in the hydrogels was formed by means of soaking the preformed (enzymatically crosslinked) random coil SF hydrogels in methanol. When increasing the methanol treatment time from 1 to 10 min, the thickness of the shell layer can be tuned from about 200 to about 850 μm as measured in wet status. After lyophilization of the rehydrated core-shell hydrogels, the shell layer displayed compact morphology and the core layer presented porous structure, when observed by scanning electron microscopy. The conformation of the hydrogels was evaluated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy in wet status. The results revealed that the shell layer possessed dominant β-sheet conformation and the core layer maintained mainly random coil conformation. Enzymatic degradation data showed that the shell layers presented superior stability to the core layer. The mechanical analysis displayed that the compressive modulus of the core-shell hydrogels ranged from about 25 kPa to about 1.1 MPa by increasing the immersion time in methanol. When incorporated with albumin, the core-shell SF hydrogels demonstrated slower and more controllable release profiles compared with the non-treated hydrogel. These core-shell SF hydrogels of highly tuned properties are useful systems as drug-delivery system and may be applied as cartilage substitute. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Physicochemically Tunable Polyfunctionalized RNA Square Architecture with Fluorogenic and Ribozymatic Properties

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Recent advances in RNA nanotechnology allow the rational design of various nanoarchitectures. Previous methods utilized conserved angles from natural RNA motifs to form geometries with specific sizes. However, the feasibility of producing RNA architecture with variable sizes using native motifs featuring fixed sizes and angles is limited. It would be advantageous to display RNA nanoparticles of diverse shape and size derived from a given primary sequence. Here, we report an approach to construct RNA nanoparticles with tunable size and stability. Multifunctional RNA squares with a 90° angle were constructed by tuning the 60° angle of the three-way junction (3WJ) motif from the packaging RNA (pRNA) of the bacteriophage phi29 DNA packaging motor. The physicochemical properties and size of the RNA square were also easily tuned by modulating the “core” strand and adjusting the length of the sides of the square via predictable design. Squares of 5, 10, and 20 nm were constructed, each showing diverse thermodynamic and chemical stabilities. Four “arms” extending from the corners of the square were used to incorporate siRNA, ribozyme, and fluorogenic RNA motifs. Unique intramolecular contact using the pre-existing intricacy of the 3WJ avoids relatively weaker intermolecular interactions via kissing loops or sticky ends. Utilizing the 3WJ motif, we have employed a modular design technique to construct variable-size RNA squares with controllable properties and functionalities for diverse and versatile applications with engineering, pharmaceutical, and medical potential. This technique for simple design to finely tune physicochemical properties adds a new angle to RNA nanotechnology. PMID:24971772