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The second‐law analysis evaluates the irreversibilities of a process. Systematic study of the relationship between thermodynamic efficiency and process modifications enhances process synthesis. The Allam cycle is an oxy‐fuel combustion cycle with nearly complete carbon capture that offers greater efficiency than current electricity generating systems. This study applies lost work analysis to the original Allam cycle and three modifications to obtain the distribution of irreversibilities and the effects of different configurations among potential process improvements for more sustainable power generation. The major inefficiencies are from the combustors and heat exchangers. We also examine the economic profitability of the alternatives. The largest equipment costs are for the turbines, compressors, and recuperators. We find that improving efficiency leads to less economic return; a configuration with partial compression has the highest efficiency, while the original Allam cycle has the highest profitability. We discuss how to resolve this apparent conflict between sustainability and profitability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: To investigate the possible covariation of grey matter volume (GMV) and white matter fractional anisotropy in infants with spastic cerebral palsy (CP) and periventricular white matter injury. Method: Thirty‐nine infants with spastic CP and 25 typically developing controls underwent structural magnetic resonance imaging and diffusion tensor imaging. Multimodal canonical correlation analysis with joint independent component analysis were used to capture differences in GMV and fractional anisotropy between groups. Correlation analysis was performed between imaging findings and clinical features. Results: Infants with spastic CP showed one joint group‐discriminating component (i.e. GMV‐fractional anisotropy) associated with regions in the cortico‐basal ganglia‐thalamo‐cortical loop and in the corpus callosum compared to typically developing controls and one modality‐specific group‐discriminating component (i.e. GMV). Significant negative correlations were found between loadings in certain regions and the motor function score in spastic CP. Interpretation: In infants with spastic CP, covarying GMV‐fractional anisotropy and altered GMV in specific regions were implicated in motor dysfunction, which confirmed that simultaneous GMV and fractional anisotropy changes underly motor deficits, but might also extend to sensory, cognitive, or visual dysfunction. These findings also suggest that multimodal fusion analysis allows for a more comprehensive understanding of the relevance between grey and white matter structures and its crucial role in the neuropathological mechanisms of spastic CP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, graphene oxide (GO) was prepared by modified Hammer's method using graphite, which was then modified with silane coupling agent (MGO). With two-roll mill mixing method, GO was used as filler and composites like nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR)/GO(MGO) composites and nitrile-butadiene rubber (NBR)/ 2,2'-methylenebis(6-tert-butyl-4-methyl-phenol) (AO-2246)/ GO(MGO) composites were prepared. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FT-IR), Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) and Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) were used to observe and study the molecular structure and morphology of GO, MGO and the composites. Dynamic Mechanical Analyzer (DMA) was used to study the damping properties of the composites. The composites reinforced by GO and MGO exhibited better damping and mechanical property. The damping property of NBR/GO composites weakens but the damping property of NBR/AO-2246/GO composites enhances with increase graphene oxide (GO). The damping property of the composites is enhanced by the addition of MGO. The main reason of the excellent properties of the graphene derivatives is its structural characteristics and the associated hydrogen bonds in the structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve the dispersion of talcum powder (Talc) for polymer applications, modified nano-titania powders (TiO 2 ) using a silane coupling agent (KH550), a titanate coupling agent (NDZ201) and sodium polyacrylate (PAAS) were well adhered to the surface of Talc with a ball milling method, thereby preparing a series of mixed Talc@TiO 2 particles to realize good dispersion in carboxylated acrylonitrile-butadiene rubber (XNBR). Note that Talc@TiO 2 particles modified by PAAS and NDZ201 show better colloidal dispersion in anhydrous ethanol due to organification and repulsion of charge, with original Talc and NDZ201 modified Talc@TiO 2 powders as a comparison. Modified Talc@TiO 2 hybrid XNBR shows good performance characteristics, including damping capacity and impact resistance, depending mainly on the excellent mechanical property of Talc, good dispersion and the high adhesive force between modified Talc@TiO 2 and XNBR., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts to declare., (This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry.)