Search

Introduction: The space on each side of the mouth, between the commissure of the mouth and the buccal surface of the last visible tooth, is called the buccal corridor. The size of the buccal corridor can affect perceptions of facial esthetics. We analyzed the perceptions of orthodontists, laypersons, and orthodontic patients regarding the size of buccal corridors in people with brachyfacial, mesofacial, and dolichofacial types.Methods: Photographs of 1 male and 1 female model were modified digitally into brachyfacial, mesofacial, and dolichofacial types. Each facial type was further modified to create 5 sizes of buccal corridors. Orthodontists, adult orthodontic patients, and laypersons were invited to rate the photographs.Results: Orthodontists rated lower than the other groups of raters when they evaluated the female model with the buccal corridors of 20% (P <0.05). Laypersons could not distinguish the changes of the buccal corridors when evaluating the male model with brachyfacial and mesofacial (P >0.05). Orthodontic patients rated significantly higher than the orthodontists and the laypersons when evaluating the dolichofacial type of both models (P <0.05).Conclusions: Orthodontists are more sensitive to the buccal corridors than are orthodontic patients and laypersons. It is only necessary to consider eliminating the patient's buccal corridors when the buccal corridor area ratio is over 15%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy efficiency of dividing wall column (DWC) can be further improved by the vapor recompression (VRC), but large temperature difference between overhead and bottom of the DWC hindered their combination. Meanwhile, it is difficult to choose suitable side heat exchanger position in the DWC. In this paper, we provided a direct method to design the configurations that the VRC assisted DWC at the side product stage. The Column Grand Composite Curve (CGCC) profiles were used to determine the type of phase withdrawn from the side product stage. In the CGCC profiles, if the side product stage was located in the side reboiler region, the vapor should be withdrawn from the side product stage, the SCVRC-DWC and IR-SRVRC-DWC configurations can be achieved. If the side product stage was located in the side condenser region, the liquid should be withdrawn from the side product stage, the SRVRC-DWC and the IC-SRVRC-DWC configuration can be achieved. Three separation cases with different ESI values were simulated and the results inferred that the proposed configurations had high energy efficiency when enough vapor or liquid flow can be withdrawn from the side product stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although there have been many studies on the identification of elastic constants and boundary conditions, it is still challenging to simultaneously estimate the unknown elastic constants and boundary conditions of a three-dimensional hyperelastic material under locally observed boundary conditions with noise. In this paper, a novel inverse method based on two different objective functions is proposed. The first objective function is constructed by a "dual fields" construction method, which utilizes redundant Cauchy boundary conditions (displacement boundary conditions and force boundary conditions) on the observable boundary. The second objective function is based on the gap between measured and calculated displacements of the observable boundary. The inverse analysis is conducted by an adjoint method and a linear approximation method based on the theories of continuum mechanics and finite element method to obtain the Jacobian matrices of the objective functions with respect to different variables. An alternating iterative algorithm based on Gauss–Newton method is proposed to minimize the objective functions. The proposed inverse algorithm is tested using nearly incompressible Neo-Hookean and nearly incompressible Mooney–Rivlin hyperelastic model in numerical experiments and physical experiments with a silicone-based tissue-mimicking material. The results of both numerical and physical experiments show the feasibility and accuracy of the proposed method. [Display omitted] • Two objective functions are proposed to identify three types of unknowns. • The inverse analysis is simplified by the adjoint method with a linear approximation. • An alternating iterative algorithm is proposed to improve identification accuracy. • The proposed method is verified by both numerical and physical phantom experiments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Super-hydrophobic PDMS modified PU/Sm 2 O 3 composite coating was successfully prepared by a simple method. • Reflectivity of 1.06 μm near-infrared light of PDMS modified PU/Sm 2 O 3 composite coating can be as low as 59.3%. • The WCA and sliding angle of PDMS modified PU/Sm 2 O 3 composite coating can reach 153° and 7°. • The PDMS modified PU/Sm 2 O 3 composite coating has outstanding self-cleaning performance. Through reasonable coating structural design, a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) modified polyurethane (PU)/Sm 2 O 3 composite coating with super-hydrophobic and near-infrared absorption properties was prepared by glass rod scraping method using nano-SiO 2 , PDMS modified PU, and Sm 2 O 3 particles as micro-nano structural modifier, adhesives, and functional pigments, respectively. The effects of curing temperature, Sm 2 O 3 addition, and mass ratio of Sm 2 O 3 and nano-SiO 2 on the coating properties were discussed. The results show that the Sm 2 O 3 addition has an important effect on the coating properties. When the curing temperature of the coating is 80 °C and the addition amount of Sm 2 O 3 is 50 wt%, the reflectivity of the coating to 1.06 μm near-infrared light can be as low as 36%. The water contact angle (WCA) of the coating can reach 115°, which is significantly higher than traditional PU-based near-infrared absorption coatings. The super-hydrophobic properties of the coating can be achieved by adjusting the mass ratio of Sm 2 O 3 and nano-SiO 2 in the coating. When the mass ratio of Sm 2 O 3 and nano-SiO 2 in the coating is 7:3, obvious papillary micro-nano rough structure can appear on the surface of the coating, so that the coating can exhibit super-hydrophobic properties. The WCA of the coating can reach 153°, the sliding angle can reach 7°, and the reflectivity of 1.06 μm near-infrared light can be as low as 59.3%. The coating has good super-hydrophobic and near-infrared absorption properties at the same time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lithium/fluorinated carbon (Li/CF x) batteries have attracted wide attention due to their high theoretical energy density. However, the reaction product of LiF is an insulator in their discharge process, which seriously hinders the Li+ migration, leading to the inferior capacity of CF x (x ≈ 1) cathodes. Herein, a low-cost and facile electrolyte additive containing the BF 3 functional group has been proposed to effectively alleviate the voltage lag phenomenon and improve the energy density of Li/CF x batteries. In particular, the discharge voltage platform and energy density of CF x are significantly increased to 2.62 V (vs 2.51 V in the electrolyte without additives) and 2018 Wh Kg−1 (vs 1863 Wh Kg−1 in the electrolyte without additives) when the electrolyte contains 1 wt % pyrazine di-boron trifluoride (PRZ), respectively. This significant improvement can be attributed to the BF 3 -based additives effectively dissolving the insulation discharge product LiF, thereby increasing the Li+ migration rate and allowing more CF x to participate in the reaction and release capacity. This work provides a low-cost additive method to maintain high energy density for Li/CF x batteries, which has great potential for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]