Shape-Regulated Motion and Energy Conversion of Polyelectrolyte Membrane Actuators.

Smart actuators hold great potential in soft robotics and sensors, but their movement at the fluid interface is less understood and controlled, hindering their performances and applications in complicated fluids. Here an ethanol-containing polyelectrolyte actuator is prepared that demonstrates excellent actuating performance via the Marangoni effect. These actuators exhibit enduring (17 min), repeatable (50 cycles), and autonomous motion on the water surface.

Simulation and Experiment on the Low-Velocity Impact Response of Flax Fabric Reinforced Composites.

Natural fiber reinforced composites are increasingly used to fabricate structural components prone to suffering low-velocity impacts. The low-velocity impact response of flax fabric reinforced composites under different impact energies is experimentally studied and numerically simulated. A multi-scale finite element analysis strategy for the progressive damage prediction of flax fabric reinforced composites is developed.

Characterization of texture features of bladder carcinoma and the bladder wall on MRI: initial experience.

Rationale And Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine textural features that show a significant difference between carcinomatous tissue and the bladder wall on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and explore the feasibility of using them to differentiate malignancy from the normal bladder wall as an initial step for establishing MRI as a screening modality for the noninvasive diagnosis of bladder cancer.

Materials And Methods: Regions of interest (ROIs) were manually placed on foci of bladder cancer and uninvolved bladder wall in 22 patients and on the normal bladder wall of 23 volunteers to calculate 40 known textural features. Statistical analysis was applied to determine the difference in these features in bladder cancer versus uninvolved bladder wall versus normal bladder wall of volunteers.