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Municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) is essential for tackling urban environmental challenges and facilitating renewable energy recycling. The MSWI process has characteristics of multiple variables, strong coupling, and complex nonlinearity, requiring advanced process control (APC) technology. Although there have been several reviews on the modeling and control of the MSWI process, there is a lack of focus on model predictive control (MPC), a widely used APC technology. This article aims to comprehensively review MPC strategies in the MSWI process. First, it describes MSWI process technology in detail, examining control issues and objectives to highlight the complexity and challenges in controller design while providing an overview of MPC methods and their benefits. Second, it reviews incinerator modeling for control, including traditional modeling techniques and machine learning technologies such as fuzzy neural networks. Third, it reviews the controllers used for MSWI process, emphasizing the advantages of MPC over existing control methods. Fourth, it discusses the current status of MPC design and online updates, covering the need for an accurate dynamic predictive model and objective function and the online updates components such as predictive modeling, rolling optimization, and feedback correction. Finally, the study concludes with a summary of the findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application range of rubber-recycled aggregate concrete (RRAC), a new type of green building material, is currently limited due to performance defects, including low hardness, high water absorption, and poor adhesion. To expand its application in reinforced concrete structures, it is crucial to enhance the bonding performance between RRAC and steel bars. In this study, the effects of adding straight steel fibres (SSFs) and ring-type steel fibres (RSFs) to RRAC were investigated, in order to enhance the bonding performance. To investigate the impact of steel fibres (SFs) on the bonding properties of RRAC and steel bars, a total of 51 specimens were subjected to pull-out tests to systematically examine the impact of SSF and RSF dosages on the bonding performance. The results demonstrated that incorporating the optimal amount of SSFs and RSFs can significantly improve the bond strength and bond stiffness. Moreover, the combined use of SSFs and RSFs yielded even better enhancement effects. The RRAC exhibited remarkable performance, when the total content of SFs was 1.2% and the proportion of RSFs 75%. In this case, the bond strength and bond stiffness were enhanced by 3.7% and 53.88%, respectively. Finally, a bond–slip constitutive model for RRAC and steel bar was established. The combined use of SSFs and RSFs minimizes the limitations of poor mechanical properties in traditional RRAC and holds significant value for the widespread adoption and application of RRAC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Titanium-manganites of LaLi2TiMnO6 and LaNa2TiMnO6 were synthesized by the methods of ceramic technology from the oxides of lanthanum, titanium (IV), manganese (III), and the carbonates of lithium and sodium. The types of their syngony and the parameters of their gratings were determined radiographically. The isobaric heat capacities of titanium-manganites were measured with experimental calorimetry in the range of 298.15–673 K. It was found that on the dependence curve of heat capacity versus temperature of C°p~f(T), for LaLi2TiMnO6 at 348 K and 598 K, and LaNa2TiMnO6 at 348 K, there are abnormal jumps in heat capacity, probably related to phase transitions of the second kind. Taking into account the temperatures of the phase transitions, the equations of the temperature dependence of the heat capacity of titanium-manganites were derived. Their standard entropies were calculated by the ion increments method. Temperature dependences of the thermodynamic functions of S°(T), H°(T)-H°(298.15), and Φxx(T) were calculated using the experimental data on heat capacities and the calculated values of the standard entropies. The standard heat capacities of the studied compounds were calculated by the independent methods of ion increments and Debye, the values of which were in satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. The standard enthalpy of the formation of LaLi2TiMnO6 and LaNa2TiMnO6 was calculated according to the methodology developed by the authors. The conducted electrophysical studies determined the nature of the second-order phase transition and the semiconductor features of their conductivity. Thus, all the above-mentioned data on the experimental and calculated studies of the temperature dependence of heat capacity, the thermodynamic functions to determine a standard enthalpy of formation of LaLi2TiMnO6 and LaNa2TiMnO6, and the investigation of their electrical properties are absolutely new, and they have no analogues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: This paper discusses the benefits of international collaborations for advanced practice nursing education. It identifies new perspectives and innovative practices to enhance cultural competency., Background: Competent, well-trained advanced practice nurses (APNs) are necessary to provide high-quality and safe patient care, improve access to care, and address health disparities that are no longer geographically bound. In 2021, an international network of advanced practice educators established an active learning program to teach students their role in global citizenship and increase awareness of health disparities. APN students from Scotland, Wales, Minnesota, Houston, and Rotterdam participated in presentations, online discussions, and in-country scholarships., Sources of Evidence: Growing health disparities have created the need for efficient international collaboration to develop new concepts, approaches, and bidirectional exchange of experiences, culture, and knowledge. Integrating global health into curricula engages students' curiosity and integrates education, research, practice, and leadership while improving cultural competency., Discussion: Forty-two students participated in the international presentations. The students strongly believed in the benefit of international collaboration and the need for a universal role for the advanced practice nurse. They responded positively to sharing cultural and clinical experiences., Conclusion: The recent global health challenge supported the development of innovative methods to deliver education and created an opportunity for advanced practice students to develop cultural competence and critical thinking. Collaborative solutions are essential to education and healthcare as we move forward in the 21st century., Implications for Nursing Practice: Robust international collaborations have enabled the development of cultural competence and critical thinking. These are crucial elements for advanced practice roles., (© 2023 International Council of Nurses.)

Large and complex ring forgings are key structural parts of the aerospace field, and their quality is closely related to the reliability of aerospace vehicles. However, high-quality production of aerospace ring forgings faces many problems, such as the long process design cycle and impoverished consistency, the difficulties of real-time detection under the severe time-varying state of the deformation process, the complexity of high-quality non-destructive testing under multitudinous defects, and the cumbersome management control of the multi-source and multi-dimensional heterogeneous data. Considering the current situation of multi-variety and multi-batch production for aerospace ring forgings, establishing an intelligent production line is a crucial means to solving the above problems and realizing the standardization and premiumization of key aerospace components. Therefore, management control and integration technology of the intelligent production line play a crucial role. An analysis, including the research progress of the intelligent computer-aided process planning (CAPP) system, the real-time detection and control system, the product quality testing system, and the intelligent management control and integration system, is systematically reviewed in this work. Through intelligently managing and controlling the integrated systems of the production line, the production efficiency of ring forgings can be effectively improved, and the production energy consumption can be remarkably reduced, which is of great significance for enhancing the manufacturing technology level of aerospace products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the actual situation of moving vehicles acting on road surfaces, a dynamic model of a heavy vehicle–road coupling system was established based on the traditional vehicle–road vibration model. Firstly, a seven-degree-of-freedom vehicle model was established, and the vibration characteristics of the road subsystem were considered part of the whole system. The excitation effect of road roughness on the vehicle model was considered, and the dynamic model of the coupling system was finally obtained by combining the displacement compatibility principle of the contact relationship between the wheels and the road surface. The results show that the maximum bending value of the surface course reaches 2.37 mm. The maximum shear stress in the middle part of the surface course is 43,858 Pa. The vertical dynamic stress in the middle part of the surface course is larger, reaching 119,373 Pa, while the value of the vertical dynamic stress in the subgrade is much smaller, reaching 5824 Pa. The coupling dynamic model can reflect the relationship between the moving vehicle and the road and the dynamic performance, which not only provides theoretical support for the design parameters of heavy-duty vehicles but also provides a reference for the design of road durability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]