A Spray-on, Nanocomposite-Based Sensor Network for in-Situ Active Structural Health Monitoring.

A new breed of nanocomposite-based spray-on sensor is developed for in-situ active structural health monitoring (SHM). The novel nanocomposite sensor is rigorously designed with graphene as the nanofiller and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as the matrix, fabricated using a simple spray deposition process. Electrical analysis, as well as morphological characterization of the spray-on sensor, was conducted to investigate percolation characteristic, in which the optimal threshold (~0.91%) of the graphene/PVP sensor was determined. Owing to the uniform and stable conductive network formed by well-dispersed graphene nanosheets in the PVP matrix, the tailor-made spray-on sensor exhibited excellent piezoresistive performance. By virtue of the tunneling effect of the conductive network, the sensor was proven to be capable of perceiving signals of guided ultrasonic waves (GUWs) with ultrahigh frequency up to 500 kHz. Lightweight and flexible, the spray-on nanocomposite sensor demonstrated superior sensitivity, high fidelity, and high signal-to-noise ratio under dynamic strain with ultralow magnitude (of the order of micro-strain) that is comparable with commercial lead zirconate titanate (PZT) wafers. The sensors were further networked to perform damage characterization, and the results indicate significant application potential of the spray-on nanocomposite-based sensor for in-situ active GUW-based SHM.

Pulse Design of Constant Strain Rate Loading in SHPB Based on Pulse Shaping Technique.

The Split Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB) is widely used for characterizing the mechanical behavior of materials at high strain rates. One of the most challenging factors is achieving constant strain rate (CSR) loading of the specimen at a certain strain rate. Obtaining the effective incident pulse based on the experimental material for achieving CSR loading remains unresolved. This research focuses on obtaining the proper incident pulse for achieving constant strain rate loading using the pulse-shaping technique. A parameterized objective incident model in terms of the strain rate and quasi-static (or dynamic stress-strain) behavior of the material is established utilizing the three-wave method. Experimental pulses that closely resemble the desired objective pulses can be generated by adjusting parameters such as the geometry of the shaper, the shaper material, striker velocities, and the length of the striker according to the pulse-shaping model. The model is applied to the design of the incident pulse for B4CP/2024Al composite material, and the dynamic stress-strain curves at different strain rates are obtained under CSRs. This model provides effective guidance for selecting an appropriate shaper and achieving CSR loading in SHPB tests.

Effect of Cover Plate on the Ballistic Performance of Ceramic Armor.

The interface defeat and dwell can effectively improve the ballistic performance of ceramic armors under high velocity impact of long rod projectiles. Confinement conditions along both axial and radial directions of ceramic armors can affect these behaviors. With the aim of giving an insight into the effect of cover plate thickness and connection mode of cover plates with confining tubes on these behaviors, numerical simulations were performed in which the confined silicon carbide (SiC) targets with cover plates were impacted by tungsten rods. The pressure on the surfaces of SiC targets with fixed cover plates are compared to that with free cover plates, showing that the plates fixed with the confining tubes can produce higher pressure by way of wedging. With the increase in cover plate thickness, the dwell duration of the tungsten rods on the ceramic interface gradually grows. In addition, the upper and lower limits of transition impact velocities for the SiC targets with cover plates in different connection modes (i.e., free or fixed) were obtained and analyzed. The results show that the increase rate of the transition velocity region for the cover plate with the fixed-mode is relatively stable and lower than with the free-mode. On this basis, the fixed cover plate contributes higher ballistic performances to the SiC target than the free cover plate. It is also noteworthy that the size of transition velocity region does not enlarge linearly with the increase in cover plate thickness due to the slow growth of the upper limit. Accordingly, thickness thresholds exist, which are 5 mm and 6 mm for the fixed and free cover plates, respectively. Considering the ballistic performance and economy, the cover plate with the thickness ranging from 3 mm to 5 mm, i.e., 1.5~2.5 times of the tungsten rod diameter, is ideal for the structural dimensions in this paper.

Diffuse ultrasonic wave-based structural health monitoring for railway turnouts.

Real-time damage evaluation is a critical step to warrant the integrity of turnout systems in railway industry. Nevertheless, existing structural health monitoring (SHM) approaches, despite their proven effectiveness in laboratory demonstration, are restricted from in-situ implementation in engineering practice. Based upon the continued endeavors of the authors in developing SHM approaches and exploring real world applications, an in-situ SHM approach, exploiting active diffuse ultrasonic waves (DUW) and a benchmark-less method, has been developed and implemented in a marshalling station in China. When trains passing a railway turnout, the train-induced loads on the rail track can lead to the growth of defects in the rail, and such growth disturbs the ultrasound traversing at the defect and gives rise to discrepancies between the DUW signals acquired before and after the train's passage. On this basis, a damage index, making use of the defect growth-induced changes in DUW signals, is proposed to identify the presence of defect. The probability of defect growth induced by the train-related load can be used to assess the severity of the defect. Via an online diagnosis system, conformance tests are implemented in Chengdu North Marshalling Station, in which defects in switch rails are identified and the health status of in-service rail tracks are continuously monitored. The results have demonstrated the effectiveness and reliability of DUW-driven SHM towards real world railway turnout applications.

Comparing gene discovery from Affymetrix GeneChip microarrays and Clontech PCR-select cDNA subtraction: a case study.

BACKGROUND: Several high throughput technologies have been employed to identify differentially regulated genes that may be molecular targets for drug discovery. Here we compared the sets of differentially regulated genes discovered using two experimental approaches: a subtracted suppressive hybridization (SSH) cDNA library methodology and Affymetrix GeneChip technology. In this "case study" we explored the transcriptional pattern changes during the in vitro differentiation of human monocytes to myeloid dendritic cells (DC), and evaluated the potential for novel gene discovery using the SSH methodology. RESULTS: The same RNA samples isolated from peripheral blood monocyte precursors and immature DC (iDC) were used for GeneChip microarray probing and SSH cDNA library construction. 10,000 clones from each of the two-way SSH libraries (iDC-monocytes and monocytes-iDC) were picked for sequencing. About 2000 transcripts were identified for each library from 8000 successful sequences. Only 70% to 75% of these transcripts were represented on the U95 series GeneChip microarrays, implying that 25% to 30% of these transcripts might not have been identified in a study based only on GeneChip microarrays. In addition, about 10% of these transcripts appeared to be "novel", although these have not yet been closely examined. Among the transcripts that are also represented on the chips, about a third were concordantly discovered as differentially regulated between iDC and monocytes by GeneChip microarray transcript profiling. The remaining two thirds were either not inferred as differentially regulated from GeneChip microarray data, or were called differentially regulated but in the opposite direction. This underscores the importance both of generating reciprocal pairs of SSH libraries, and of real-time RT-PCR confirmation of the results. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that SSH could be used as an alternative and complementary transcript profiling tool to GeneChip microarrays, especially in identifying novel genes and transcripts of low abundance.

Comparative evaluation of an extensive histopathologic examination and a real-time reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay for mammaglobin and cytokeratin 19 on axillary sentinel lymph nodes of breast carcinoma patients.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the accuracy of a commercially available real-time reverse-transcription-polymerase chain reaction assay for mammaglobin and cytokeratin 19 mRNAs [GeneSearch Breast Lymph Node (BLN) Assay, Veridex LLC, Warren, NJ] in the detection of axillary sentinel lymph nodes (SLNs) metastases in patients with breast carcinoma. SUMMARY BACKGROUND DATA: Because of the lack of standardized and widely accepted protocols for a truly accurate histopathologic examination of SLN, the relative merits of alternative assays based on the identification of tumor specific mRNA markers deserve further assessment. METHODS: : A prospective series of 293 consecutive SLNs from 293 patients was evaluated. The BLN assay results were compared with those of an extensive histopathologic examination of the entire SLNs performed on serial frozen sections cut at 40 to 50 microm intervals. RESULTS: The BLN assay correctly identified 51 of 52 macrometastatic and 5 of 20 micrometastatic SLNs, with a sensitivity of 98.1% to detect metastases larger than 2 mm, 94.7% for metastases larger than 1 mm, and 77.8% for metastases larger than 0.2 mm. The overall concordance with histopathology was 90.8%, with specificity of 95.0%, positive predictive value of 83.6%, and negative predictive value of 92.9%. When the results were evaluated according to the occurrence of additional metastases to non-SLN in patients with histologically positive SLNs, the assay was positive in 33 (91.7%) of the 36 patients with additional metastases and in 22 (66.6%) of the 33 patients without further echelon involvement. CONCLUSIONS: The sensitivity of the reverse-transcription -polymerase chain reaction assay is comparable to that of the histopathologic examination of the entire SLN by serial sectioning at 1.5 to 2 mm.

Human T helper (Th) cell lineage commitment is not directly linked to the secretion of IFN-gamma or IL-4: characterization of Th cells isolated by FACS based on IFN-gamma and IL-4 secretion.

Upon activation in vitro, only a fraction of the bulk human T helper cell cultures secret the hallmark Th1/2 cytokines (IFN-gamma for Th1 and IL-4 for Th2, respectively). It is uncertain whether these IFN-gamma-/IL-4- cells are differentiated Th1 or Th2 cells. Here, we have characterized live IFN-gamma+, IL-4+ and IFN-gamma-/IL-4- cells isolated from Th cell cultures treated under Th1 or Th2 polarizing conditions by employing affinity matrix capture technology. RNA samples from the sorted cells were analyzed by real time RT-PCR and microarrays. The double negative cells from either Th1 or Th2 cultures expressed lower levels of Th1/Th2 marker cytokine genes (IFNgamma, IL4, and IL5). However, they were comparable with the IFN-gamma+ or IL-4+ cells in the expression levels of other Th1/Th2 marker genes (GATA3, Tbet, and IL12Rbeta2). Most importantly, these double negative cells were already committed in their Th1/Th2 lineages. Gene expression profiling analysis showed that very few previously identified Th1/Th2 marker genes were differentially expressed between the IFN-gamma or IL-4 producers and the non-producers, further underscoring the similarity between these two groups.