Computational Object-Wrapping Rope Nets

Wrapping objects using ropes is a common practice in our daily life. However, it is difficult to design and tie ropes on a 3D object with complex topology and geometry features while ensuring wrapping security and easy operation. In this article, we propose to compute a rope net that can tightly wrap around various 3D shapes. Our computed rope net not only immobilizes the object but also maintains the load balance during lifting. Based on the key observation that if every knot of the net has four adjacent curve edges, then only a single rope is needed to construct the entire net. We reformulate the rope net computation problem into a constrained curve network optimization. We propose a discrete-continuous optimization approach, where the topological constraints are satisfied in the discrete phase and the geometrical goals are achieved in the continuous stage. We also develop a hoist planning to pick anchor points so that the rope net equally distributes the load during hoisting. Furthermore, we simulate the wrapping process and use it to guide the physical rope net construction process. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our method on 3D objects with varying geometric and topological complexity. In addition, we conduct physical experiments to demonstrate the practicability of our method.

Cu/Fe-Mediated N(sp2)-arylation/alkenylation of pyridines with aryl-/alkenylboronic acids to yield versatile cationic materials

Cu/Fe-mediated arylation of pyridines with arylboronic acids, featuring low-cost catalytic system and easy operation, is disclosed. A series of length-controllable linear (the number of aryls ranges from 2 to 6)...

Purification of Copper-Containing Wastewater in Inner-Cooling Oil Channel of Piston with Magnesium Hydroxide

The treating fluid in the piston of inner-cooling oil channel is acid wastewater containing copper ion, it would adversely affect the aquatic ecosystem when emission directly. This paper use magnesium hydroxide as a wastewater treatment agent, to study the effect of magnesium hydroxide dose, stirring time, temerature on the results of treating fluid treatment, and get the best treatment conditions. The results indicate that magnesium hydroxide has an excellent performance including easy operation, super removing rate, supernatant can meet emission standards: c(Cu2+)≤2mg/L.

Multiformity of Photoelectron Storages in Functionalized Carbon Nitrides Enabling Reversible and Adaptable Colorimetric Sensing

Colorimetric sensing has been widely used for centuries across diverse fields, thanks to easy operation with no electricity and uncompromised high sensitivity. However, the limited number of chromogenic systems hampers its broader applications. Here, we reported that carbon nitride (CN), the raw materials-abundant and cheap semiconductors with photoelectron storage capability, can be developed as a new chromogenic platform for colorimetric sensing. Beyond most photoelectron storage materials that only demonstrated blue color in the excited state, CN could also exhibit brown color by terminal group functionalization. The experiments and DFT theoretical calculation revealed the origin of the unusual two types of color switches. Cyano and carbonyl terminal groups in CN elongated the centroids distance of electron/hole and stabilized the excited states through a physical and electrochemical pathway, respectively; meanwhile, the counter cations strengthened these processes. As a result, the CN-derived colorimetric O2 sensors demonstrated excellent reversibility in recycling hundreds of times for detection, and exhibited adaptable limit of detection and linear detection range, which was superior to commercial O2 sensors, especially for complex systems with broad variable concentrations.

Recent Advance in Organocatalyzed Asymmetric Reduction of Prochiral Ketones: An Update

Chiral alcohols are important synthetic intermediates or building blocks for the diverse synthesis of drugs, agrochemicals, and natural products. Asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones has been the most popularly investigated method for accessing chiral alcohols. In this regard, the organocatalyzed asymmetric reduction as a complementary of transition-metal- and enzyme-catalyzed reactions have attracted tremendous interest in the past decades due to the nature of metal-free and easy operation, as well as, principly, the ease of recovery and reuse of catalysts. Following up a comprehensive overview on organocatalyzed asymmetric reduction of prochiral ketones in early 2018, this short review is intended to summarize the recent progress in this area from the beginning of the year 2018 to the end of Aug. 2021.

Design and Implementation of Automatic Control System for Intelligent Water Dispenser

In this paper, an intelligent water dispenser automatic control system is designed by using a microcontroller as the core. Relevant signals are collected through temperature sensor, liquid level sensor and other sensors, then send them to the microcontroller for processing and control, and use the liquid crystal display for display. Temperature, effluent and liquid level can be controlled according to their own needs, so as to realize the intelligent control of the water dispenser. The intelligent water dispenser automatic control system designed in this paper has low hardware cost and easy operation in the use process.

Clinical performance and potential of a SARS-CoV-2 detection kit without RNA purification steps

Objectives Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection is rapidly spreading globally. Early diagnosis plays an essential role in controlling the infection. Therefore, early and accurate SARS-CoV-2 detection assays along with easy operation are required. The aim of this study was to compare the clinical performance of the Ampdirect™ 2019-nCoV Detection Kit (SHIMADZU assay), which does not require RNA purification steps, with that of the preexisting SARS-CoV-2 detection assays, which use a purified RNA template. Methods A total of 71 samples (65 nasopharyngeal specimens and 6 sputum specimens) were collected from 32 individuals, including patients infected with SARS-CoV-2 and those with suspected infection. The sensitivity and kappa (κ) coefficient were assessed between the SARS-CoV-2 detection assays using the reference standard, which was defined as a true positive result by any one of the four SARS-CoV-2 detection assays. Results The overall sensitivity and κ coefficient of the SHIMADZU assay were 86.0% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 77.9–94.2) and 0.83 (95% CI: 0.69–0.96), respectively. In particular, among the 18 samples collected within 10 days from symptom onset, the sensitivity and κ coefficient of the SHIMADZU assay were 100% and 1.0, respectively. Conclusions Although a relatively small number of samples was evaluated, the SHIMADZU assay showed good analytical performance and as such would be highly useful for the detection of SARS-CoV-2. The test can be performed easily and quickly and has the potential for future applications in situations where a highly sensitive diagnosis is required.

Application of Pd-Sn Modified Ru-Ir Electrode For Treating High Chlorine Ammonia-Nitrogen Wastewater

Electro-catalytic technology has attracted increasing attention as a promising approach for wastewater treatment, owing to its easy operation, minimal generation of secondary pollution, small foot-print and rapid start-up. In this work, the chlorine evolution potential of the Pd-Sn modified ruthenium(Ru)-iridium(Ir) electrode was investigated for electro-catalytic treatment of high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen wastewater. The effect of reaction conditions on the removal of ammonia-nitrogen, kinetics and apparent activation energy of the electro-catalytic treatment of ammonia-nitrogen were studied. The possible denitrification process of high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen wastewater treated by electrocatalysis was discussed. The results indicated that the chlorine evolution potential of the Pd-Sn modified Ru-Ir electrode was 1.0956 V(vs. SCE). The rule of electro-catalytic treatment of high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen conformed to zero-order kinetics, and the removal process was endothermic reaction with the apparent activation energy of 14.089 kJ/mol. With the current is 0.5 A, the removal efficiency of ammonia-nitrogen could achieve 100% at the reaction time of 40 min. Indirect oxidation played an essential role in the electro-catalytic ammonia-nitrogen removal using the Pd-Sn modified Ru-Ir electrode. This paper demonstrated that the electro-catalytic technology was a promising approach for efficiently treating the high chlorine ammonia-nitrogen wastewater.

Extracting Key Traffic Parameters from UAV Video with On-Board Vehicle Data Validation

The advantages of UAV video in flexibility, traceability, easy-operation, and abundant information make it a popular and powerful aerial tool applied in traffic monitoring in recent years. This paper proposed a systematic approach to detect and track vehicles based on the YOLO v3 model and the deep SORT algorithm for further extracting key traffic parameters. A field experiment was implemented to provide data for model training and validation to ensure the accuracy of the proposed approach. In the experiment, 5400 frame images and 1192 speed points were collected from two test vehicles equipped with high-precision GNSS-RTK and onboard OBD after completion of seven experimental groups with a different height (150 m to 500 m) and operating speed (40 km/h to 90 km/h). The results indicate that the proposed approach exhibits strong robustness and reliability, due to the 90.88% accuracy of object detection and 98.9% precision of tracking vehicle. Moreover, the absolute and relative error of extracted speed falls within ±3 km/h and 2%, respectively. The overall accuracy of the extracted parameters reaches up to 98%.

Systematic Comparison of the Performances of De Novo Genome Assemblers for Oxford Nanopore Technology Reads From Piroplasm

BackgroundEmerging long reads sequencing technology has greatly changed the landscape of whole-genome sequencing, enabling scientists to contribute to decoding the genetic information of non-model species. The sequences generated by PacBio or Oxford Nanopore Technology (ONT) be assembled de novo before further analyses. Some genome de novo assemblers have been developed to assemble long reads generated by ONT. The performance of these assemblers has not been completely investigated. However, genome assembly is still a challenging task.Methods and ResultsWe systematically evaluated the performance of nine de novo assemblers for ONT on different coverage depth datasets. Several metrics were measured to determine the performance of these tools, including N50 length, sequence coverage, runtime, easy operation, accuracy of genome and genomic completeness in varying depths of coverage. Based on the results of our assessments, the performances of these tools are summarized as follows: 1) Coverage depth has a significant effect on genome quality; 2) The level of contiguity of the assembled genome varies dramatically among different de novo tools; 3) The correctness of an assembled genome is closely related to the completeness of the genome. More than 30× nanopore data can be assembled into a relatively complete genome, the quality of which is highly dependent on the polishing using next generation sequencing data.ConclusionConsidering the results of our investigation, the advantage and disadvantage of each tool are summarized and guidelines of selecting assembly tools are provided under specific conditions.