Marquezterry5215

Automatic recognition of unique characteristics of an object can provide a powerful solution to verify its authenticity and safety. It can mitigate the growth of one of the largest underground industries-that of counterfeit goods-flowing through the global supply chain. In this article, we propose the novel concept of material biometrics, in which the intrinsic chemical properties of structural materials are used to generate unique identifiers for authenticating individual products. For this purpose, the objects to be protected are modified via programmable additive manufacturing of built-in chemical "tags" that generate signatures depending on their chemical composition, quantity, and location. We report a material biometrics-enabled manufacturing flow in which plastic objects are protected using spatially-distributed tags that are optically invisible and difficult to clone. The resulting multi-bit signatures have high entropy and can be non-invasively detected for product authentication using [Formula see text]Cl nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectroscopy.The rate coefficients for OH + CH3OH and OH + CH3OH (+ X) (X = NH3, H2O) reactions were calculated using microcanonical, and canonical variational transition state theory (CVT) between 200 and 400 K based on potential energy surface constructed using CCSD(T)//M06-2X/6-311++G(3df,3pd). The results show that OH + CH3OH is dominated by the hydrogen atoms abstraction from CH3 position in both free and ammonia/water catalyzed ones. This result is in consistent with previous experimental and theoretical studies. The calculated rate coefficient for the OH + CH3OH (8.8 × 10-13 cm3 molecule-1 s-1), for OH + CH3OH (+ NH3) [1.9 × 10-21 cm3 molecule-1 s-1] and for OH + CH3OH (+ H2O) [8.1 × 10-16 cm3 molecule-1 s-1] at 300 K. The rate coefficient is at least 8 order magnitude [for OH + CH3OH(+ NH3) reaction] and 3 orders magnitude [OH + CH3OH (+ H2O)] are smaller than free OH + CH3OH reaction. Our calculations predict that the catalytic effect of single ammonia and water molecule on OH + CH3OH reaction has no effect under tropospheric conditions because the dominated ammonia and water-assisted reaction depends on ammonia and water concentration, respectively. As a result, the total effective reaction rate coefficients are smaller. The current study provides a comprehensive example of how basic and neutral catalysts effect the most important atmospheric prototype alcohol reactions.Arteriovenous grafts are routinely placed to facilitate hemodialysis in patients with end stage renal disease. These grafts are conduits between higher pressure arteries and lower pressure veins. The connection on the vein end of the graft, known as the graft-to-vein anastomosis, fails frequently and chronically due to high rates of stenosis and thrombosis. These failures are widely believed to be associated with pathologically high and low flow shear strain rates at the graft-to-vein anastomosis. We hypothesized that consistent with pipe flow dynamics and prior work exploring vein-to-artery anastomosis angles in arteriovenous fistulas, altering the graft-to-vein anastomosis angle can reduce the incidence of pathological shear rate fields. We tested this via computational fluid dynamic simulations of idealized arteriovenous grafts, using the Bird-Carreau constitutive law for blood. We observed that low graft-to-vein anastomosis angles ([Formula see text]) led to increased incidence of pathologically low shear rates, and that high graft-to-vein anastomosis angles ([Formula see text]) led to increased incidence of pathologically high shear rates. Optimizations predicted that an intermediate ([Formula see text]) graft-to-anastomosis angle was optimal. Our study demonstrates that graft-to-vein anastomosis angles can significantly impact pathological flow fields, and can be optimized to substantially improve arteriovenous graft patency rates.Micro-drilling devices with different blade shapes were fabricated with a rapid and facile manufacturing process using three-dimensional (3D) printing technology. The 3D-printed casting mold was utilized to customize the continuous shape of the blades without the need for expensive manufacturing tools. A computational fluid dynamics simulation was performed to estimate the pressure differences (fluidic resistance) around each rotating device in a flowing stream. Three types of blades (i.e., 45°, 0°, and helical type) were manufactured and compared to a device without blades (i.e., plain type). As a result, the device with the 45° blades exhibited the best drilling performance. At a rotational speed of 1000 rpm, the average drilling depth of the device with the 45° blades to penetrate artificial thrombus for 90 s was 3.64 mm, which was ~ 2.4 times longer than that of helical blades (1.51 mm). This study demonstrates the feasibility of using 3D printing to fabricate microscale drilling devices with sharp blades for various applications, such as in vivo microsurgery and clogged water supply tube maintenance.Internationally, studies have shown associations between lipids and glycemia; however, whether the link varies by gender and population has been rarely examined. We investigated relationships between glycemia and HDL- and Non-HDL-cholesterol and their modification by gender. We undertook a cross-sectional analysis from the National Health Examination Survey for Thailand (NHES-Thailand) and the Health Survey for England (HS-England) in adults aged 18-75 year. Glycaemia was assessed by FPG in Thailand and by HbA1c in the UK. In population- and gender-stratified analyses, the relationships between glycemia and lipids were explored. A total of 15,145 Thai and 3484 UK adults with blood measurement were included. The prevalences of prediabetes were in NHES-Thailand, 16% (SE = 0.004), based on FPG (5.6 to  less then  7.0 mmol/L) and in HS-England, 19% (0.007) based on HbA1c (39 to  less then  48 mmol/mol). Increasingly abnormal glucose homeostasis was associated with increasing age, adiposity, SBP, proportion of antihypertensive and lipid-lowering agent use and with decreasing HDL-cholesterol. Independent of age, adiposity, smoking, alcohol, physical activity, and lipid and BP lowering drug use, increasing glycemia was associated with decreasing HDL-cholesterol specifically in women with prediabetes (NHES-Thailand, beta-coefficient - 0.07 (95% CI - 0.15, - 0.001) p = 0.04 and HS-England, - 0.03 (- 0.04, - 0.006) p = 0.01). In both populations, among those with prediabetes, increasing glycaemia is associated with an adverse, significant decline in HDL cholesterol, specifically in women. These adverse effects are apparent in widely-differing international populations.As we enter a chronic phase of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, with uncontrolled infection rates in many places, relative regional susceptibilities are a critical unknown for policy planning. Tests for SARS-CoV-2 infection or antibodies are indicative but unreliable measures of exposure. Here instead, for four highly-affected countries, we determine population susceptibilities by directly comparing country-wide observed epidemic dynamics data with that of their main metropolitan regions. We find significant susceptibility reductions in the metropolitan regions as a result of earlier seeding, with a relatively longer phase of exponential growth before the introduction of public health interventions. During the post-growth phase, the lower susceptibility of these regions contributed to the decline in cases, independent of intervention effects. Forward projections indicate that non-metropolitan regions will be more affected during recurrent epidemic waves compared with the initially heavier-hit metropolitan regions. Our findings have consequences for disease forecasts and resource utilisation.The study of microstructure evolution in additive manufacturing of metals would be aided by knowing the thermal history. Since temperature measurements beneath the surface are difficult, estimates are obtained from computational thermo-mechanical models calibrated against traces left in the sample revealed after etching, such as the trace of the melt pool boundary. Here we examine the question of how reliable thermal histories computed from a model that reproduces the melt pool trace are. To this end, we perform experiments in which one of two different laser beams moves with constant velocity and power over a substrate of 17-4PH SS or Ti-6Al-4V, with low enough power to avoid generating a keyhole. We find that thermal histories appear to be reliably computed provided that (a) the power density distribution of the laser beam over the substrate is well characterized, and (b) convective heat transport effects are accounted for. Poor control of the laser beam leads to potentially multiple three-dimensional melt pool shapes compatible with the melt pool trace, and therefore to multiple potential thermal histories. Ignoring convective effects leads to results that are inconsistent with experiments, even for the mild melt pools here.Ocean warming, fueled by climate change, is the primary cause of coral bleaching events which are predicted to increase in frequency. Bleaching is generally damaging to coral reproduction, can be exacerbated by concomitant stressors like ultraviolet radiation (UVR), and can have lasting impacts to successful reproduction and potential adaptation. We compared morphological and physiological reproductive metrics (e.g., sperm motility, mitochondrial membrane integrity, egg volume, gametes per bundle, and fertilization and settlement success) of two Hawaiian Montipora corals after consecutive bleaching events in 2014 and 2015. Between the species, sperm motility and mitochondrial membrane potential had the most disparate results. Percent sperm motility in M. capitata, which declined to ~ 40% during bleaching from a normal range of 70-90%, was still less than 50% motile in 2017 and 2018 and had not fully recovered in 2019 (63% motile). By contrast, percent sperm motility in Montipora spp. was 86% and 74% in 2018 and 2019, respectively. This reduction in motility was correlated with damage to mitochondria in M. capitata but not Montipora spp. A major difference between these species is the physiological foundation of their UVR protection, and we hypothesize that UVR protective mechanisms inherent in Montipora spp. mitigate this reproductive damage.Skillful sea-ice prediction in the Antarctic Ocean remains a big challenge due to paucity of sea-ice observations and insufficient representation of sea-ice processes in climate models. Saracatinib price Using a coupled general circulation model, this study demonstrates skillful prediction of the summertime sea-ice concentration (SIC) in the Weddell Sea with wintertime SIC and sea-ice thickness (SIT) initializations. During low sea-ice years of the Weddell Sea, negative SIT anomalies initialized in June retain the memory throughout austral winter owing to horizontal advection of the SIT anomalies. The SIT anomalies continue to develop in austral spring owing to more incoming solar radiation and the associated warming of mixed layer, contributing to further sea-ice decrease during late austral summer-early autumn. Concomitantly, the model reasonably reproduces atmospheric circulation anomalies during austral spring in the Amundsen-Bellingshausen Seas besides the Weddell Sea. These results provide evidence that the wintertime SIT initialization benefits skillful summertime sea-ice prediction in the Antarctic Seas.