Abstract
The concept of 'tissue optical windows' and method of optical clearing (OC) based on controllable and reversible modification of tissue optical properties by their soaking with a biocompatible optical clearing agent (OCA) are prsented. Fundamentals and major mechanisms of OC allowing one to enhance optical imaging facilities and laser treatment efficiency of living tissues are described. Perspectives of immersion optical clearing/contrasting technique aiming to enhance optical imaging of living tissues by using different imaging modalities working in the ultra-broad wavelength range from deep UV to terahertz waves are discussed. It demonstrated that immersion OC method can be applied to evaluate the characteristic diffusion properties of water and OCA in various tissues and even discriminate between the mobile water content in normal and pathological tissues.

Abstract
We use VLTI/GRAVITY near-infrared interferometry measurements of eight bright type 1 AGN to study the size and structure of hot dust that is heated by the central engine. We partially resolve each source, and report Gaussian full width at half-maximum sizes in the range 0.3-0.8 mas. In all but one object, we find no evidence for significant elongation or asymmetry (closure phases less than or similar to 1 degrees). The narrow range of measured angular sizes is expected given the similar optical flux of our targets, and implies an increasing effective physical radius with bolometric luminosity, as found from previous reverberation and interferometry measurements. The measured sizes for Seyfert galaxies are systematically larger than for the two quasars in our sample when measured relative to the previously reported R & x2004;similar to & x2004;L-1/2 relationship, which is explained by emission at the sublimation radius. This could be evidence of an evolving near-infrared emission region structure as a function of central luminosity.

Abstract
The interdependencies of power systems and natural gas networks have increased due to the additional installations of more environmental-friendly and fast-ramping natural gas power plants. The natural gas transmission network constraints and the use of natural gas for other types of loads can affect the delivery of natural gas to generation units. These interdependencies will affect the power system security and economics in day-ahead and real-time operations. Hence, it is imperative to analyze the impact of natural gas network constraints on the security-constrained unit commitment (SCUC) problem. In particular, it is important to include natural gas and electricity network transients in the integrated system security because the impacts of any disturbances propagate at two distinctly different speeds in natural gas and electricity networks. Thus, analyzing the transient behavior of the natural gas network on the security of natural gas power plants would be essential as these plants are considered to be very flexible in electricity networks. This paper presents a method for solving the SCUC problem considering the transient behavior of the natural gas transmission network. The applicability of the presented method and the accuracy of the proposed solution are demonstrated for the IEEE 118-bus power system, which is linked with the natural gas transmission system and the results are discussed in this paper.

Abstract
The offshore wind power industry is an emerging and exponentially growing sector, which calls to a necessity for a cyclical monitoring and inspection to ensure the safety and efficiency of the wind farm facilities. Thus, the multiple domains of the environment must be reconstructed, namely the emersed (aerial) and immersed (underwater) domains, to depict as much as possible the offshore structures from the wind turbines to the cable arrays. This work proposes the use of an Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) to map both environments simultaneously producing a multi-domain map through the fusion of navigational sensors, GPS and IMU, to localize the vehicle and aid the registration process for the perception sensors, 3D Lidar and Multibeam echosounder sonar. The performed experiments demonstrate the ability of the multi-domain mapping architecture to provide an accurate reconstruction of both scenarios into a single representation using the odometry system as the initial seed to further improve the map with data filtering and registration processes.

Abstract

Abstract
The negative impacts of urban logistics have fostered the search for new distribution systems in inner city deliveries. In this context, interesting solutions can be developed around two-echelon distribution systems based on mobile depots (2E-MD), where loads arriving from the periphery of the city are directly transferred, at intermediate locations, from larger to smaller vehicles more suited to operate in the city centre. Four types of 2E-MD can be identified, according to the degree of mobility of larger vehicles and their accessibility to customers. In this paper, we propose a generic three-index arc-based mixed integer programming model, for a two-echelon vehicle routing problem, with synchronisation at the satellites and multi-trips at the second echelon. This generic base model is formulated for the most restrictive type of problems, where larger vehicles visit a a single transfer location and do not perform direct deliveries to customers, but it can be easily extended to address the other types of 2E-MD. The paper presents how these extensions account for the characteristics of the different types of 2E-MD. The generic model, its extensions and the impact of a set of valid inequalities are tested using problem instances adapted from the VRP literature. Results show that the proposed extensions do adequately address the specific features of the different types of 2E-MD, including multiple visits to satellites, and direct deliveries to customers. Nevertheless, the resulting models can only tackle rather small instances, even if the formulations can be strengthened by adding the valid inequalities proposed in the paper. © 2020 The Authors. Published by ELSEVIER B.V.