SnO2-TiO2 and SnO2-MoO3 Based Composite Gas Sensors to Develop an E-nose for Peruvian Pisco Varieties Differentiation

There is great interest in the development of a simple system that could identify adulteration or counterfeiting of Peruvian Pisco (a grape-based alcoholic drink). In this study, sensors based on SnO2-TiO2 and SnO2-MoO3 composites with different weight composition ratios were synthesized and characterized. These sensors were tested with aqueous solutions of EtOH/MetOH and Pisco samples of Italia and Quebranta varieties in order to explore their capacity to identify variations in these beverages. The response profile of the most sensitive sensors showed an enhanced response to alcoholic samples with greater content of ethanol up to a concentration of 45%v/v, while the increased content of methanol in the range of 0.1 to 0.3 % v/v diminished the intensity of the sensor response. Differences in the composition of methanol and ethanol in the Pisco varieties studied (Italia and Quebranta) were correlated to the capacity of the composite-based sensors to differentiate them with greater performance. Sensors based on SnO2-TiO2-1/2 composites showed greater reproducibility of their response profile over time in comparison to SnO2-TiO2-1/1 and SnO2-MoO3 composites. The PCA showed that composite sensors were able to differentiate Pisco samples according to their variety.

Study on Temperature Feedback Effect of Supercritical CO2–Cooled Reactor

As a potential new-type reactor, the supercritical CO2 (S-CO2)–cooled reactor has several advantages, such as being a simple system, having high thermal efficiency, having a small size, and being lightweight. Due to the poor neutronics moderation performance, the S-CO2–cooled reactor shows the disadvantage of a weak temperature feedback effect on reactivity. In this article, the neutronics performance of the reactor has been focused on, and the effects of temperature feedback on fuel, coolant, and moderator studied and the method to improve temperature feedback of the S-CO2 reactor proposed.

Revisiting linear regression of dynamical systems within the context of Zwanzig-Mori theory: tests on a simple system

<p>Linear regression can be applied to time series data to extract model parameters such as the effective force and friction constant matrices of the system. Even highly nonlinear systems can be analyzed by linear regression, if the total amount of data is broken up into shorter “time windows”, so that the dynamics is considered to be piece-wise linear. Traditionally, linear regression has been performed on the equation of motion itself (which approach we refer to as LRX). There has been surprisingly little published on the accuracy and reliability of LRX as applied to time series data. Here we show that linear regression can also be applied to the time correlation function of the dynamical observables (which approach we refer to as LRC), and that this approach is better justified within the context of statistical physics, namely, Zwanzig-Mori theory. We test LRC against LRX on a simple system of two damped harmonic oscillators driven by Gaussian random noise. We find that LRC allows one to improve the signal to noise ratio in a way that is not possible within LRX. Linear regression using time correlation functions (LRC) thus appears to be not only better justified theoretically, but it is more accurate and more versatile than LRX. <b></b></p>

Revisiting linear regression of dynamical systems within the context of Zwanzig-Mori theory: tests on a simple system

<p>Linear regression can be applied to time series data to extract model parameters such as the effective force and friction constant matrices of the system. Even highly nonlinear systems can be analyzed by linear regression, if the total amount of data is broken up into shorter “time windows”, so that the dynamics is considered to be piece-wise linear. Traditionally, linear regression has been performed on the equation of motion itself (which approach we refer to as LRX). There has been surprisingly little published on the accuracy and reliability of LRX as applied to time series data. Here we show that linear regression can also be applied to the time correlation function of the dynamical observables (which approach we refer to as LRC), and that this approach is better justified within the context of statistical physics, namely, Zwanzig-Mori theory. We test LRC against LRX on a simple system of two damped harmonic oscillators driven by Gaussian random noise. We find that LRC allows one to improve the signal to noise ratio in a way that is not possible within LRX. Linear regression using time correlation functions (LRC) thus appears to be not only better justified theoretically, but it is more accurate and more versatile than LRX. <b></b></p>

Chimeric Vaccines Based on Novel Insect-Specific Flaviviruses

Vector-borne flaviviruses are responsible for nearly half a billion human infections worldwide each year, resulting in millions of cases of debilitating and severe diseases and approximately 115,000 deaths. While approved vaccines are available for some of these viruses, the ongoing efficacy, safety and supply of these vaccines are still a significant problem. New technologies that address these issues and ideally allow for the safe and economical manufacture of vaccines in resource-poor countries where flavivirus vaccines are in most demand are urgently required. Preferably a new vaccine platform would be broadly applicable to all flavivirus diseases and provide new candidate vaccines for those diseases not yet covered, as well as the flexibility to rapidly pivot to respond to newly emerged flavivirus diseases. Here, we review studies conducted on novel chimeric vaccines derived from insect-specific flaviviruses that provide a potentially safe and simple system to produce highly effective vaccines against a broad spectrum of flavivirus diseases.

A&I, a Suite for Piano, Android Device and Vibration Speaker

As part of my ongoing work with speakers that use uncommon technologies to project sound, this time I turned to the vibration speaker, a kind of transducer that, in order to radiate sound, coaxes a surface to vibrate by direct contact. Therefore, in this article, pros and cons of vibration speakers will be highlighted and, at the same time, I will proceed to illustrate a piano suite I assembled that uses an expressly built-for Android application as an interface between whatever sound is produced in, on or with the piano and the vibration speaker: the sound is captured by the microphone of the Android device, then it is processed by the application and eventually is sent via Bluetooth to the speaker sitting on the piano soundboard, through which it gets amplified. This relatively simple system allows for a large array of timbral possibilities and unconventional ways of playing the piano.

A simple gas introduction system for cryogenic powder X-ray diffraction

A simple system is described for the introduction of gases into standard X-ray diffraction capillaries mounted in situ in the X-ray beam of laboratory X-ray diffraction instruments. This system retains many of the advantages of the standard Norby cell, but does not require custom machining and has less stringent space restrictions. The system has been used to study the crystallization and interaction of volatile organics at cryogenic temperatures, but gas–solid interactions could also be studied at elevated temperatures using this approach.