Showing papers by "Chung Yuan Christian University published in 2018"
TL;DR: Observations and insights from this paper could provide the guideline for academia and practitioners in implementing big data analytics in different aspects of supply chain management.
373 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors pointed out that despite the clear benefits of big data-driven industrial symbiosis, corporates have noted that social, environmental and economic perspectives are also highly appreciated in the cross-industry networks.
Abstract: Cross-industry networks of multiple supply chains have evolved in the circular economy model using approaches such as industrial and urban symbiosis. However, the implementation of such sustainable industrial networks with matrix-like structures is not straightforward. Despite the clear benefits of big data-driven industrial symbiosis, corporates have noted that social, environmental and economic perspectives are also highly appreciated in the cross-industry networks. Moreover, gaps remain in operational data-driven and recycle, reduce and reuse optimization solutions, which may be the key components of industrial symbiosis practices.
313 citations
TL;DR: How covalent organic frameworks (COFs) possess all the necessary requirements needed to serve as ideal host materials for enzymes and the ability to easily tune the pore environment of a COF using monomers bearing specific functional groups can improve its compatibility with a given enzyme.
Abstract: In the drive toward green and sustainable methodologies for chemicals manufacturing, biocatalysts are predicted to have much to offer in the years to come. That being said, their practical applications are often hampered by a lack of long-term operational stability, limited operating range, and a low recyclability for the enzymes utilized. Herein, we show how covalent organic frameworks (COFs) possess all the necessary requirements needed to serve as ideal host materials for enzymes. The resultant biocomposites of this study have shown the ability boost the stability and robustness of the enzyme in question, namely lipase PS, while also displaying activities far outperforming the free enzyme and biocomposites made from other types of porous materials, such as mesoporous silica and metal–organic frameworks, exemplified in the kinetic resolution of the alcohol assays performed. The ability to easily tune the pore environment of a COF using monomers bearing specific functional groups can improve its compatib...
260 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the photocatalytic activity of graphitic carbon nitride (g-C3N4) was improved by codoping S and P on the interstitial and carbon sites of its aromatic heptazine units, respectively.
200 citations
TL;DR: In this article, an integrated single-vendor single-buyer inventory model for deteriorating items with the imperfect quality considering carbon emission is presented, which provides policy-makers insights to collectively decide on the frequency and quantity of product delivery as well as inventory level to minimize both the total inventory and carbon emission costs.
163 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the MgAl-layered double hydroxide (LDH) was modified with polyethylene polyamine (PP) and tannic acid (TA) to improve the adsorption property of heavy metal ions.
Abstract: The MgAl-layered double hydroxide (LDH) was modified with polyethylene polyamine (PP) and tannic acid (TA) to improve the adsorption property of heavy metal ions. The PP@TA encapsulated LDH (denoted as LDH-PP@TA) was prepared via the combination of catechol chemistry and Michael addition and/or Schiff base reaction and characterized through TEM, FT-IR, SEM, TGA, and XPS. The adsorption performance was investigated by using LDH-PP@TA as adsorbent to adsorb the copper (II) ions from aqueous solution. The effect of contact time, solution pH, initial copper (II) ions concentration and temperature were investigated. The LDH-PP@TA exhibited high adsorption capacity of 41.56 mg/g, which is almost double that by LDH (23.39 mg/g). Equilibrium data for adsorption of copper (II) ions on adsorbents could be well fitted by the pseudo-second-order and Langmuir equations. Thermodynamic studies show the adsorption process is spontaneous and endothermic. Electrostatic adhesion and formation of copper complex are the major mechanisms for the copper (II) ions removal by LDH-PP@TA. These results reveal the great potential of LDH-PP@TA in the application of heavy metal ions removal.
155 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a polyacrylamide immobilized molybdenum disulfide (MoS2@PDA@PAM) composites were synthesized via the mussel-inspired chemistry and surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP).
Abstract: In present work, novel polyacrylamide immobilized molybdenum disulfide (MoS2@PDA@PAM) composites were synthesized via the mussel-inspired chemistry and surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI-ATRP). The as-prepared MoS2@PDA@PAM composites were characterized by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscope (TEM), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Characterization results provide sufficient evidences for the successful functionalization of MoS2 with PAM. The products were used as adsorbents for removing of copper (II) ions. Results show the introduction of PAM onto MoS2 could enhance the adsorption capacity of MoS2@PDA@PAM towards copper (II) ions. The amount of adsorbed copper (II) ions by MoS2@PDA@PAM composites is 2.5 times that of pristine MoS2. The effects of various experimental factors on the adsorption process, including contact time, initial copper (II) ion concentrations, solution pH and temperature, were also studied in this work. The batch experiments show that the adsorption of copper (II) ions onto MoS2@PDA@PAM is dependent on time, pH and temperature. The optimum solution pH is observed at pH 7 and the increase of temperature is favorable for the adsorption of MoS2@PDA@PAM towards copper (II). Based on the experiment data, the adsorption kinetics, isotherms and thermodynamics were also investigated. The kinetics and isotherm studies show that pseudo-second-order kinetic and Freundlich isotherm models could well fit with the adsorption data. The thermodynamic results show that the adsorption of copper (II) ions on MoS2@PDA@PAM is a spontaneous and endothermic process. The adsorption process is mainly governed by the chemisorption involving the electrostatic interaction and/or chemical chelation between copper (II) ions and amino groups on the surface of MoS2@PDA@PAM. Taken together, it is proven that the PAM can be immobilized onto the MoS2 nanosheets via the mussel-inspired chemistry and SI-ATRP, and it can enhance the adsorption performance of MoS2@PDA@PAM composites, which might be used as adsorbents to remove heavy metal ions in real environment treatment.
146 citations
TL;DR: This work presents a facile, one-pot, one step method to prepare dual-responsive bilayer hydrogels, consisting of a thermoresponsive polyNIPAM layer and a salt-responsive poly(3-(1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-1 H-imidazol-3-ium- 3-yl)propane-1-sulfonate) layer, and designs two conceptual hybrid hydrogel actuators.
Abstract: Development of smart soft actuators is highly important for fundamental research and industrial applications but has proved to be extremely challenging. In this work, we present a facile, one-pot, one-step method to prepare dual-responsive bilayer hydrogels, consisting of a thermoresponsive poly( N-isopropylacrylamide) (polyNIPAM) layer and a salt-responsive poly(3-(1-(4-vinylbenzyl)-1 H-imidazol-3-ium-3-yl)propane-1-sulfonate) (polyVBIPS) layer. Both polyNIPAM and polyVBIPS layers exhibit a completely opposite swelling/shrinking behavior, where polyNIPAM shrinks (swells) but polyVBIPS swells (shrinks) in salt solution (water) or at high (low) temperatures. By tuning NIPAM:VBIPS ratios, the resulting polyNIPAM/polyVBIPS bilayer hydrogels enable us to achieve fast and large-amplitude bidirectional bending in response to temperatures, salt concentrations, and salt types. Such bidirectional bending, bending orientation, and degree can be reversibly, repeatedly, and precisely controlled by salt- or temperature-induced cooperative swelling-shrinking properties from both layers. Based on their fast, reversible, and bidirectional bending behavior, we further design two conceptual hybrid hydrogel actuators, serving as a six-arm gripper to capture, transport, and release an object and an electrical circuit switch to turn on-and-off a lamp. Different from the conventional two- or multistep methods for preparation of bilayer hydrogels, our simple, one-pot, one-step method and a new bilayer hydrogel system provide an innovative concept to explore new hydrogel-based actuators through combining different responsive materials that allow us to program different stimuli for soft and intelligent materials applications.
134 citations
TL;DR: This paper presents a novel method for improving fuzzy clustering algorithms that can automatically compute individual feature weight, and simultaneously reduce these irrelevant feature components in a feature-reduction FCM (FRFCM).
Abstract: Fuzzy clustering algorithms generally treat data points with feature components under equal importance. However, there are various datasets with irrelevant features involved in clustering process that may cause bad performance for fuzzy clustering algorithms. That is, different feature components should take different importance. In this paper, we present a novel method for improving fuzzy clustering algorithms that can automatically compute individual feature weight, and simultaneously reduce these irrelevant feature components. In fuzzy clustering, the fuzzy c-means (FCM) algorithm is the best known. We first consider the FCM objective function with feature-weighted entropy, and construct a learning schema for parameters, and then reduce these irrelevant feature components. We call it a feature-reduction FCM (FRFCM). During FRFCM processes, a new procedure for eliminating irrelevant feature(s) with small weight(s) is created for feature reduction. The computational complexity of FRFCM is also analyzed. Some numerical and real datasets are used to compare FRFCM with various feature-weighted FCM methods in the literature. Experimental results and comparisons actually demonstrate these good aspects of FRFCM with its effectiveness and usefulness in practice.
128 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed a direct, ultrafast, green and non-toxic strategy for scalable production of GO-Fe3O4 hybrids for the first time, which only requires a simple one-step reaction and would produce no pollutants in the whole reaction process.
123 citations
TL;DR: The light-controlled exchange reaction between allyl sulfide groups allows flexible processing of tubular soft robots/actuators, which does not need any assisting materials and can be programmed into the same tube without the routine assembly of multiple tubes as used in the past.
Abstract: Stimuli-responsive materials offer a distinguished platform to build tether-free compact soft robots, which can combine sensing and actuation without a linked power supply. In the past, tubular soft robots have to be made by multiple components with various internal channels or complex cavities assembled together. Moreover, robust processing, complex locomotion, simple structure, and easy recyclability represent major challenges in this area. Here, it is shown that those challenges can be tackled by liquid crystalline elastomers with allyl sulfide functional groups. The light-controlled exchange reaction between allyl sulfide groups allows flexible processing of tubular soft robots/actuators, which does not need any assisting materials. Complex locomotion demonstrated here includes reversible simultaneous bending and elongation; reversible diameter expansion; and omnidirectional bending via remote infrared light control. Different modes of actuation can be programmed into the same tube without the routine assembly of multiple tubes as used in the past. In addition, the exchange reaction also makes it possible to use the same single tube repeatedly to perform different functions by erasing and reprogramming.
TL;DR: This study investigates a temperature-compensated model for lithium-ion polymer batteries that incorporates an extended Kalman filter method to estimate the state of the dynamic nonlinear system and its parameters, from 37-°C to 40 °C at intervals of 1 °F.
Abstract: As implantable devices become more sophisticated and their extended functionalities impact their energy requirements, they not only rely on charging for the extra energy but also become ever more sensitive to battery deep discharge or overcharge. Accurate state-of-charge (SOC) estimation plays a fundamental role in ensuring the operation safety of implantable medical devices. Temperature variation can impact the battery model parameters and directly affect the accuracy of SOC estimation. This study investigates a temperature-compensated model for lithium-ion polymer batteries that incorporates an extended Kalman filter method to estimate the state of the dynamic nonlinear system and its parameters, from 37 °C to 40 °C at intervals of 1 °C. Both simulation and experimental results indicate that the estimation error can be effectively limited to within ±3%. Through the accurate SOC estimation, the conventional constant current to constant voltage charging strategy is guided in order to reduce the charging time and increase the charging capacity.
TL;DR: A facile catalyst-free azide-alkyne click reaction with high efficiency has been developed for the preparation of AIE-active FONs, which showed excellent physicochemical properties for biological imaging applications.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors synthesized soft polymeric particles, zwitterionic nanogels (ZNGs), using a facile and straightforward surfactant-free emulsion polymerization.
TL;DR: In this article, a photo-initiated reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) polymerization was introduced for the fabrication of FND-based polymer composites.
TL;DR: In this article, activated carbons (ACs) were synthesized from golden shower (GS) through chemical activation, and two synthesis processes were used: one-stage and two-stage processes.
Abstract: Activated carbons (ACs) were synthesized from golden shower (GS) through chemical activation. Two synthesis processes were used: one-stage and two-stage processes. In the one-stage process, GS that...
TL;DR: In this paper, a co-precipitation method was used to synthesize Mg/Al layered double hydroxides (LDH) directly intercalated with organic anions (citrate and malate).
TL;DR: In this paper, a systematic review concerning the state-of-the-art of technologies involving eco-innovation integratedly and systematically is presented, in order to provide a holistic view to see the progression of the technologies which pushed forward the realization of sustainability in the past 2-3 decades.
TL;DR: ND-β-CD-HPG composites have great water dispersibility, low toxicity, high drug-loading capacity and controlled drug-release behavior and are expected to have high potential for biomedical applications.
TL;DR: Epigenomic changes in DNA CpG methylation in the inflammatory response from colitis-associated colon cancer and the reversal of their Cpg methylation changes by curcumin are shown for the first time.
Abstract: Inflammation is highly associated with colon carcinogenesis. Epigenetic mechanisms could play an important role in the initiation and progression of colon cancer. Curcumin, a dietary phytochemical, shows promising effects in suppressing colitis-associated colon cancer in azoxymethane-dextran sulfate sodium (AOM-DSS) mice. However, the potential epigenetic mechanisms of curcumin in colon cancer remain unknown. In this study, the anticancer effect of curcumin in suppressing colon cancer in an 18-week AOM-DSS colon cancer mouse model was confirmed. We identified lists of differentially expressed and differentially methylated genes in pairwise comparisons and several pathways involved in the potential anticancer effect of curcumin. These pathways include LPS/IL-1-mediated inhibition of RXR function, Nrf2-mediated oxidative stress response, production of NO and ROS in macrophages and IL-6 signaling. Among these genes, Tnf stood out with decreased DNA CpG methylation of Tnf in the AOM-DSS group and reversal of the AOM-DSS induced Tnf demethylation by curcumin. These observations in Tnf methylation correlated with increased and decreased Tnf expression in RNA-seq. The functional role of DNA methylation of Tnf was further confirmed by in vitro luciferase transcriptional activity assay. In addition, the DNA methylation level in a group of inflammatory genes was decreased in the AOM+DSS group but restored by curcumin and was validated by pyrosequencing. This study shows for the first time epigenomic changes in DNA CpG methylation in the inflammatory response from colitis-associated colon cancer and the reversal of their CpG methylation changes by curcumin. Future clinical epigenetic studies with curcumin in inflammation-associated colon cancer would be warranted.
TL;DR: In this article, a co-precipitation method was used to synthesize different amino acids (phenylalanine, tyrosine, and serine) for the removal of cationic and oxyanionic metal ions.
TL;DR: In this paper, mesoporous activated carbon was prepared from corncob using H3PO4 through a one-stage chemical activation process and was subsequently treated with NaOH to enhance its cation exchange capacity.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore the cosmic censorship in the Einstein-Maxwell-dilaton theory following Wald's thought experiment to destroy a black hole by throwing in a test particle.
TL;DR: This work for the first time demonstrates genistein as a dual inhibitor of Aβ and hIAPP aggregation, and suggests that structural optimization and refinement of Genistein may generate a series of effective sequence-independent inhibitors against the aggregation and toxicity of different amyloid peptides.
Abstract: Abnormal misfolding and aggregation of amyloid peptides into amyloid fibrils are common and critical pathological events in many neurodegenerative diseases. Most inhibitors or drugs have been developed to prevent amyloid aggregation of a specific peptide, showing sequence-dependent inhibition mechanisms. It is more challenging to develop or discover inhibitors capable of preventing the aggregation of two or more different amyloid peptides. Genistein, a major phytoestrogen in soybean, has been widely used as an anti-inflammation and cerebrovascular drug due to its antioxidation and antiacetylcholinesterase effects. Herein, we examine the inhibitory effects of genistein on the aggregation of amyloid-β (Aβ, associated with Alzheimer’s disease) and human islet amylin (hIAPP, associated with type 2 diabetes) and Aβ- and hIAPP-induced neurotoxicity using a combination of experimental and computational approaches. Collective experimental results from thioflavin T (ThT), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and circula...
TL;DR: A new similarity measure for IFSs induced by the Jaccard index is proposed and a clustering procedure is proposed by combining the proposed similarity measure with a robust clustering method for analyzing IFS data sets.
Abstract: A similarity measure is a useful tool for determining the similarity between two objects. Although there are many different similarity measures among the intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) proposed in the literature, the Jaccard index has yet to be considered as way to define them. The Jaccard index is a statistic used for comparing the similarity and diversity of sample sets. In this study, we propose a new similarity measure for IFSs induced by the Jaccard index. According to our results, proposed similarity measures between IFSs based on the Jaccard index present better properties. Several examples are used to compare the proposed approach with several existing methods. Numerical results show that the proposed measures are more reasonable than these existing measures. On the other hand, measuring the similarity between IFSs is also important in clustering. Thus, we also propose a clustering procedure by combining the proposed similarity measure with a robust clustering method for analyzing IFS data sets. We also compare the proposed clustering procedure with two clustering methods for IFS data sets.
TL;DR: This paper presents the usage of a trained deep convolutional neural network model to extract the features of the images, and then, used the AdaBoost algorithm to assemble the Softmax classifiers into recognizable images, resulting in a 3% increase of accuracy of the trained CNN models.
Abstract: Convolutional neural networks (CNNs), which are composed of multiple processing layers to learn the representations of data with multiple abstract levels, are the most successful machine learning models in recent years. However, these models can have millions of parameters and many layers, which are difficult to train, and sometimes several days or weeks are required to tune the parameters. Within this paper, we present the usage of a trained deep convolutional neural network model to extract the features of the images, and then, used the AdaBoost algorithm to assemble the Softmax classifiers into recognizable images. This method resulted in a 3% increase of accuracy of the trained CNN models, and dramatically reduced the retraining time cost, and thus, it has good application prospects.
TL;DR: It is shown that the thermal stability and mechanical properties of epoxy are simultaneously improved with the addition of C60-PEI-rGO, which may pioneer a new and efficient method to fabricate fire retardant thermosetting resins with simultaneously other improved properties.
Abstract: A C60-PEI-rGO hybrid was prepared by incorporating the fullerene (C60) on the surface of PEI-modified reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and then used to modify the epoxy (EP) resin. Subsequently, the structure of GO and C60-PEI-rGO hybrid were well characterized, showing that the C60 was homogenously anchored on the surface of PEI-rGO. The flame retardancy, mechanical properties, and thermal stability of as-prepared C60-PEI-rGO/EP nanocomposites were systematically investigated. Results show that the C60-PEI-rGO hybrid exhibits high flame retarding efficiency for EP. Specifically, the time to ignition of epoxy increases from 68 to 89 s with the addition of 1.0 wt% C60-PEI-rGO, which are unusual in polymer nanocomposites. In the meantime, the peaks of the heat release rate and total heat release of the modified epoxy reduce by 40.0% and 15.6%, respectively. The synergistic flame retardant mechanism of C60-PEI-rGO to EP is attributed to its unique structure combining both the high efficiency in capturing free radicals by C60, the barrier effect of layered of rGO and increase of crosslinking density of epoxy. It is shown that the thermal stability and mechanical properties of epoxy are simultaneously improved with the addition of C60-PEI-rGO. This work may pioneer a new and efficient method to fabricate fire retardant thermosetting resins with simultaneously other improved properties.
TL;DR: The results demonstrated that the adsorptive amount of Cr(VI) for the in-situ synthesis process dramatically increased with an increase in initial Cr( VI) concentrations from 100 mg/L to 900 mg/L, and the constant rate of the pseudo-second-order equation significantly decreased when the initial concentration of Cr
TL;DR: In this article, a zwitterionic copolymer of styrene units, sulfobetaine methacrylate units, and ethylene glycol methacricyl units (PS-r-PEGMA-R-PSBMA) was used to obtain a lacy polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane with a lathite structure.
TL;DR: GEH NPs are potentially valuable as a new therapeutic agent delivered in eye drops for treating DES and were successfully produced with high affinity for HCECs and animal eyes.
Abstract: Introduction Dry-eye syndrome (DES) is a general eye disease. Eye drops are the common ophthalmological medication. However, the ocular barrier makes it difficult to attain high drug bioavailability. Nanomedicine is a promising alternative treatment for ocular diseases and may increase drug content in the affected eye. Methods To explore this potential, we constructed nanoparticles (NPs) containing an anti-inflammatory agent for DES treatment. The NPs were made of gelatin-epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) with surface decoration by hyaluronic acid (HA) and designated "GEH". The particle size, surface charge, and morphology were evaluated. The in vitro biocompatibility and anti-inflammation effect of nanoparticles were assayed via culturing with human corneal epithelium cells (HCECs) and in vivo therapeutic effect was examined in a DES rabbit's model. Results The synthesized GEH NPs had a diameter of approximately 250 nm and were positively charged. A coculture experiment revealed that 20 µg/mL GEH was not cytotoxic to HCECs and that an EGCG concentration of 0.2 µg/mL downregulated the gene expression of IL1B and IL6 in inflamed HCECs. Large amounts of GEH NPs accumulated in the cytoplasm of HCECs and the ocular surfaces of rats and rabbits, indicating the advantage of GEH NPs for ocular delivery of medication. Twice-daily topical treatment with GEH NPs was performed in a rabbit model of DES. The ocular surface of GEH-treated rabbits displayed normal corneal architecture with no notable changes in inflammatory cytokine levels in the cornea lysate. The treatment improved associated clinical signs, such as tear secretion, and fluorescein staining recovered. Conclusion We successfully produced GEH NPs with high affinity for HCECs and animal eyes. The treatment can be delivered as eye drops, which retain the drug on the ocular surface for a longer time. Ocular inflammation was effectively inhibited in DES rabbits. Therefore, GEH NPs are potentially valuable as a new therapeutic agent delivered in eye drops for treating DES.