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We conducted a systematic review and meta‐analysis to evaluate postoperative seizure and memory outcomes of temporal lobe epilepsy with different hippocampal sclerosis (HS) subtypes classified by International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE) Consensus Guidelines in 2013. Following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses) and MOOSE (Meta‐Analysis of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) guidelines, we searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Cochrane Library from January 1, 2013 to August 6, 2023. Observational studies reporting seizure and memory outcomes among different HS subtypes were included. We used the Newcastle–Ottawa scale to assess the risk of bias and the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to grade the quality of evidence. Seizure freedom and improved outcome (Engel 1 or ILAE class 1–2) ≥1 year after surgery were defined as the primary and secondary seizure outcome. A random‐effects meta‐analysis by DerSimonian and Laird method was performed to obtain pooled risk ratio (RRs) with 95% confidence interval (CIs). The memory impairment was narratively reviewed because of various evaluation tools. Fifteen cohort studies with 2485 patients were eligible for the meta‐analysis of seizure outcome. Six cohorts with detailed information on postoperative memory outcome were included. The pooled RRs of seizure freedom, with moderate to substantial heterogeneity, were.98 (95% CI =.84–1.15) between HS type 2 and type 1, 1.11 (95% CI =.82–1.52) between type 3 and type 1, and.80 (95% CI =.62–1.03) between the no‐HS and HS groups. No significant difference of improved outcome was found between different subtypes (p >.05). The quality of evidence was deemed to be low to very low according to GRADE. The long‐term seizure outcome (≥5 years after surgery) and memory impairment remained controversial. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fully densified (transparent) ceramic with small grain size is highly desired to improve the field breakdown strength (BDS) and its scattering. Sintering behavior, microstructural evolution, electric, dielectric, and energy storage properties of (Ba0.6Sr0.4)1‐1.5xBixTi1‐x(Mg1/3Nb2/3)xO3 (x =.04–.10) ceramics have been studied in this paper. Phase pure cubic perovskite is observed for the x =.04 composition. Nb‐rich tungsten bronze type and Ti‐rich barium titanate secondary phases are present in the x >.05 compositions. A multiphasic transparent ferroelectric ceramic with ∼74.2% (780 nm) transmittance and a high refractive index of ∼2.3 within the visible region could be successfully obtained for the x =.10 composition by traditional ceramic process. The x =.09 composition demonstrates good energy storage performance (recoverable energy density Wrec = 3.74J/cm3, efficiency η = 77% and BDS = 390kV/cm) with extremely low scattering in BDS, suggesting potential application in large sized energy storage capacitor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Approach for anchoring of Pt atoms on isolated Sn4+ is introduced. • Using this approach PtSn/SiO 2 (hexagonal mesoporous silica) catalysts were prepared. • Pt-Sn/atoms/sub nanoclusters were identified on the surface of catalysts. • The catalysts are active, selective, and stable in C 3 H 8 dehydrogenation to C 3 H 6. • Sn is essential to enhance H 2 desorption from Pt that is the rate-limiting step. Owing to propane availability in shale gas and the growing demand for propene, non-oxidative dehydrogenation of this alkane has attracted much attention. Although, catalysts with supported PtSn species are applied on the large scale, a further increase in their activity without loss in propene selectivity at low Pt content would certainly improve process economy. Herein, we introduce a molecularly defined strategy for controlling catalyst activity through anchoring of Pt atoms on isolated Sn4+ firmly confined in the framework of hexagonal mesoporous silica. In addition to the dispersion of Pt species, the presence of Sn4+ in close contact with Pt is essential for increasing the rate of propane dehydrogenation through enhancing H 2 desorption, which is the rate-limiting step. As the anchored Pt atoms/sub nanoclusters do not sinter under reducing conditions, the developed catalysts show high on-stream stability and propene selectivity of above 99 % under industrially relevant conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The efficient and clean conversion of light alkanes is a research hotspot in the petrochemical industry, and the development of effective and eco-friendly non-noble metal-based catalysts is a key factor in this field. Among them, gallium is a metal component with good catalytic performance, which has been extensively used for light alkanes conversion. Herein, we critically summarize recent developments in the preparation of gallium-based catalysts and their applications in the catalytic conversion of light alkanes. First, we briefly describe the different routes of light alkane conversion. Following that, the remarkable preparation methods for gallium-based catalysts are discussed, with their state-of-the-art application in light alkane conversion. It should be noticed that the directional preparation of specific Ga species, strengthening metal-support interactions to anchor Ga species, and the application of new kinds of methods for Ga-based catalysts preparation are at the leading edge. Finally, the review provides some current limitations and future perspectives for the development of gallium-based catalysts. Recently, different kinds of Ga species were reported to be active in alkane conversion, and how to separate them with advanced in situ and ex situ characterizations is still a problem that needs to be solved. We believe that this review can provide base information for the preparation and application of Ga-based catalysts in the current stage. With these summarizations, this review can inspire new research directions of gallium-based catalysts in the catalysis conversion of light alkanes with ameliorated performances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Highly dispersed VO x species showed high apparent TOF value but low C 3 H 6 selectivity. • VO x species in low-polyvanadate form are deemed to be more active and stable in PDH. • VO x -C 3 H 5 species was speculated to be the important intermedia during PDH. • H 2 formation is deemed as the rate-limiting step over as-prepared V-HMS. Vanadium was introduced to hexagonal mesoporous SiO 2 (HMS) to prepare supported vanadium-based catalysts (V-HMS). Their catalytic performance in the non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation to propylene (PDH) was modulated with V surface density varying from 0.12 to 15.08V atom·nm−2. VO x species with different structure were analyzed by UV–vis spectroscopy, NH 3 -TPD, H 2 -TPR and XPS. High propylene space time yield of 0.73 kg·h−1·kg cat −1 and excellent regeneration behavior were achieved. Correlating VO x polymerization degree with catalytic performance, VO x aggregates, mainly in low-polyvanadate form, were established to reveal high intrinsic activity and stability in comparison with their counterparts, including isolated or/and highly polymerized VO x as well as V 2 O 5. Temporal analysis of products (TAP) identified hydrogen formation as the rate-limiting step in the PDH reaction. In-situ DRIFTS was employed to investigate the reaction mechanism. V species containing C=C bond, i.e., VO x -C 3 H 5 , was proposed to be an intermediate of gas-phase propylene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There are challenges exist in the segmentation of smoke contours on images currently, the requirements for limited processing resources and low-latency operations based on monitoring platform, and the balance between high accuracy and real-time efficiency of the model performance. Also, smoke always shows to be translucency, resulting in a highly complex mixture of the background and itself, sparse or small smoke is not visually obvious, and its borders are often blurred. Therefore, the task of separating smoke from a single image is challengeable. To overcome the challenges, a dual-path real-time smoke segmentation network based on BiSeNet is adopted in this research, and a PPM to expand the receptive field in the spatial path is added to improve the ability to obtain global information. At the same time, a lightweight ECA channel attention module, included in a context path with fast down-sampling strategy, could reduce the complexity while ensuring the effect of the model. Experimental results show that, on all the self-built dataset, the public synthetic smoke dataset and public videos, the proposed method shows excellent performance, and the detection speed reaches real-time segmentation level, showing high practical value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Two BODIPY-based NIR fluorescent probes were developed. • These fluorescent probes showed turn-on fluorescence upon viscosity change. • BSZ-Ph and BSZ-R exhibited organelle-targeting properties. • BSZ-R was utilized for cellular-level imaging of lipid droplets and lysosomes. Microenvironmental viscosity is a crucial parameter for biological systems, and its abnormal fluctuations are closely associated with various functional disorders and diseases. However, it is still important and urgent to develop improved near-infrared fluorescent probes for micro-viscosity with dual-organelle targeting properties, low background noise, and high sensitivity. Herein, two BODIPY-based small-molecule fluorescent probes were designed and synthesized, which were explored for their viscosity- and polarity-responsive properties, and were further applied to imaging sub-cellular viscosity in living cells. Interestingly, BSZ-Ph and BSZ-R displayed near-infrared fluorescence (more than 650 nm) and were sensitive to environmental viscosity and polarity due to the introduction of a benzothiazole at the 2-position and electron-rich aniline groups at the 5-position of the BODIPY core, respectively. The fluorescence intensity increased exponentially with the viscosity changes. Furthermore, the probe BSZ-Ph could successfully target lipid droplets and image cellular viscosity changes by treating lipopolysaccharides (LPS) and nystatin. Comparatively, the probe BSZ-R could successfully target the dual organelles of lipid droplets and lysosomes and image cellular viscosity changes by treating LPS and monensin. Therefore, in this work, we reported two new BODIPY-based near-infrared fluorescent probes, BSZ-Ph and BSZ-R, for cellular viscosity imaging, which could target lipid droplets and the dual organelles of lysosomes and lipid droplets, respectively. The study could provide a reference for the future development of fluorescent probes for viscosity in lipid droplets and lysosomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Co/ZrO 2 catalysts with single Co2+ are efficient for C 3 H 8 dehydrogenation to C 3 H 6. • 1Co/ZrO 2 performed durable over multiple dehydrogenation/regeneration cycles. • 1Co/ZrO 2 showed higher activity than a commercial analogue of K-CrO x /Al 2 O 3. • The high activity results from a synergy effect between Co2+ and Zr cus. • Recombination of surface H species is the rate-limiting step in C 3 H 6 formation. Due to the increased production of shale gas containing propane, the share of non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation (PDH) in the large-scale production of propene is expected to continue to grow. There are, however, some ecofriendly and cost shortcomings associated with the currently applied Cr- or Pt-containing catalysts. Against this background, we present here Co/ZrO 2 alternatives and reveal the fundamentals affecting their activity, which can be used for purposeful catalyst design. Co2+ species homogeneously distributed within the lattice of ZrO 2 significantly increase the activity of coordinatively unsaturated Zr4+ for the PDH reaction. The increase is caused by accelerating both the cleavage of CH bonds in propane and the recombination of surface H species, with the latter reaction being the rate-limiting step. The best-performing catalyst outperformed an analogue of commercial K-CrO x /Al 2 O 3 in terms of the rate of propene formation and demonstrated durable performance over a series of 10 PDH/regeneration cycles under industrially relevant conditions. It also outperformed most previously developed Co-containing catalysts in terms of propene productivity. The space–time yield of propene formation achieved at 57 % equilibrium propane conversion at 550 °C was 0.71 kg·h−1·kg cat -1. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a 3rd-order discrete-time delta-sigma modulator (DT DSM) with ring-amplifier-based integrators. To fulfill the performance requirement of the switched-capacitor (SC) integrator for the DSM with low power consumption, a dynamic ring amplifier is employed to replace the conventional continuous-time operation transconductance amplifier (OTA) in the integrator. The offset and 1/ f noise of the 1st-stage integrator are further suppressed with an auto-zero structure. The quantizer is realized by a 3-bit flash analog-to-digital converter (ADC) to reduce the quantization noise power, while the mismatch in the feedback digital-to-analog converter (DAC) is suppressed by a dynamic weighting averaging (DWA) circuit. The DT DSM prototype is fabricated with a 0.18-μm CMOS process with an active area of 1.39 mm2, achieving 99.3 dB SNDR and 104.3 dB DR with a signal bandwidth of 10 kHz and an oversampling ratio of 128. The power consumption is 963.9 μW under a 3.3V power supply, corresponding to a Schreier figure-of-merit(FoMs) value of 174.5 dB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, helical carbon nanofiber-supported ZnO nanoparticles (HCNFs@ZnO) were synthesized via the in situ growth method. In the HCNFs@ZnO, ZnO nanoparticles exhibit an average size of ca. 30 nm and evenly anchor on the surface of HCNFs. With the incorporation of HCNFs@ZnO nanofiller into the nature rubber (NR), compared with the ZnO/NR composite (standard sample), the vulcanization rate, tensile strength, elongation at break, and modulus at 300% elongation of the HCNFs@ZnO/NR composite increase by 41%, 14%, 11%, and 6%, respectively. In addition, HCNFs@ZnO/NR composite also shows higher wet-skid resistance and lower rolling resistance compared with commercial ZnO/NR composite. The excellent performance of HCNFs@ZnO/NR composite should be ascribed to the fact that the HCNFs not only conduce to inhibiting agglomeration of ZnO nanoparticles but also serve as an efficient cure activator for sulfur vulcanization. This work showcases a simple route to develop novel ZnO nanofiller for high-performance nature rubber composites. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chiral phosphoric acid‐catalyzed couplings of C‐alkynyl N,N′‐di‐(tert‐butoxycarbonyl)‐aminals with β‐naphthols led to chiral propargylamines in moderate to high yields with high to excellent enantioselectivity, in which the reactions underwent sequential chiral phosphoric acid‐catalyzed in situ formation of N‐(tert‐butoxycarbonyl)‐imines (N‐Boc‐imines) from the aminals, and 1,2‐addition of β‐naphthols to the N‐Boc‐imines. Chiral 1,2‐dihydronaphtho[2,1‐b]furans and naphtho[2,1‐b]furans were prepared with satisfactory results when 10 mol% AgOAc and 20 mol% 2,6‐lutidine or 1.2 equiv. of 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5.4.0]undec‐7‐ene (DBU) were added to the resulting chiral propargylamines solution, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Study is exclusive to mapped rhombic dodecahedron. • Analytical model based on local stress. • Effect of cryogenic treatment on the properties of homogeneous block. • Effect of microstructure evolution on fatigue performance. Triple-periodicarrayed porous structures are regarded as the most promising materials for the fabrication of medical bone implants. The fatigue properties of cellular structures are critical for their long-term use in dynamic biological skeletal environments. In this study, the rhomboidal dodecahedral cell structure of a Ti6Al4V alloy prepared by electron beam melting with different mapping ratios in one coordinate direction was homogenized. Based on this, the compressive fatigue behavior and fatigue failure mechanism under high cyclic loading were studied. To improve the fatigue performance and reduce the influence of residual stress, the microstructure was post-treated by cryogenization and characterized to analyze the evolution mechanism. The fatigue test results of the entire cell structure showed that failure was asynergy between fatigue damage and the ratchet effect. A change in the mapping ratio significantly affected the homogenization mechanical performance, which resulted in the fatigue properties. Based on the test results and numerical simulations, the cross-sectional elastic properties and local maximum stress of struts with different structural mapping ratios were expressed analytically. The fatigue life of the strut with the maximum local stress in the range of elastic deformation and that of the homogeneous block under the preset loading limit of the system were both modeled with appropriate material constants. The high-cycle fatigue life model was established to assist the fatigue behavior prediction of lattice structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the widespread use of social media and accelerated development of artificial intelligence, sentiment analysis is regarded as an important way to help enterprises understand user needs and conduct brand monitoring. It can also assist businesses in making data-driven decisions about product development, marketing strategies, and customer service. However, as social media information continues to grow exponentially, and industry demands increase, sentiment analysis should no longer be limited to fundamental polarity classification of positive, neutral, and negative. Instead, it should move to more precise classification of emotions. Therefore, in this paper, we expand sentiment analysis to analysis of eight different emotions based on Plutchik's wheel of emotions, and define it as a multi-label classification task to identify complex and mixed emotions in text. We achieved an overall precision of 0.7958 for the eight emotions multi-label classification based on the attention-based bidirectional long short-term memory with convolution layer (AC-BiLSTM) model on the SemEval-2018 dataset. In addition, we proposed the introduction of the NRC emotion lexicon and emotion correlation constraints to optimise the emotion classification results. This ultimately increased the overall precision to 0.8228 demonstrating the effectiveness of our approach. Finally, we store and visualise the emotion analysis results in a graph structure, in order to achieve deductibility and traceability of emotions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Internet of Things (IoT) based voice interaction system, as a new artificial intelligence application, provides a new human–computer interaction mode. The more intelligent and efficient communication approach poses greater challenges to the semantic understanding module in the system. Facing with the complex and diverse interactive scenarios in practical applications, the academia and the industry urgently need more powerful Natural Language Understanding (NLU) methods as support. Intent Detection and Slot Filling joint task, as one of the core sub-tasks in NLU, has been widely used in different human–computer interaction scenarios. In the current era of deep learning, the joint task of Intent Detection and Slot Filling has also changed from previous rule-based methods to deep learning-based methods. It is an important problem to explore how to realize the models of these tasks to be refined and targeted designed, and to make the Intent Detection task better serve the improvement of precision of Slot Filling task by connecting the before and after tasks. It has great significance for building a more humanized IoT voice interaction system. In this study, we designed two joint models to realize Intent Detection and Slot Filling joint task. For the Intent Detection type task, one is based on BiGRU-Att-CapsuleNet (hybrid-based model) and the other is based on the RCNN model. Both methods use the BiGRU-CRF model for the Slot Filling type task. The hybrid-based model can enhance the semantic capture capability of a single model. And by combining specialized models built independently for each task to achieve a complete joint task, it can be better to achieve optimal performance on each task. This study also carried out detailed comparative experiments of tasks and joint tasks on multiple datasets. Experiments show that the joint models have achieved competitive results in 7 typical datasets included in multiple scenarios in English and Chinese compared with other models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National emergency language competence (NELC) can be understood as the capacity to use language to cope with domestic and international public emergencies. NELC constitutes the foundation of and guidance for the provision of emergency language services. Based on a review of emergency language services and language competence development, this paper proposes a theoretical model for constructing NELC along the following four dimensions: emergency stage, language tasks, non-linguistic resources, and types of emergency languages. The paper concludes with suggestions on the planning and development of NELC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of the stock market across the overall financial market is indispensable. The way to acquire practical trading signals in the transaction process to maximize the benefits is a problem that has been studied for a long time. This paper put forward a theory of deep reinforcement learning in the stock trading decisions and stock price prediction, the reliability and availability of the model are proved by experimental data, and the model is compared with the traditional model to prove its advantages. From the point of view of stock market forecasting and intelligent decision-making mechanism, this paper proves the feasibility of deep reinforcement learning in financial markets and the credibility and advantages of strategic decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: To compare conventional 3D volumetric-interpolated breath-hold examination (C-VIBE) sequence image quality to that of golden-angle radial stack-of stars acquisition scheme (R-VIBE) in rectal cancer patients. Methods: Seventy-eight patients had undergone pre-contrast C-VIBE, followed by DCE-MRI with R-VIBE and post-contrast C-VIBE in the visualization of rectal cancer. The first phase and the last phase of R-VIBE sequence were compared with pre-contrast and post-contrast C-VIBE sequences, respectively. Signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) and contrast-to-noise ratios (CNRs) of rectal neoplasms, gluteus maximus, and subcutaneous fat were compared between the two different sequences. A further qualitative score system (graded 1–5) was used to evaluate the overall image. Quantitative and qualitative parameters from the two sequences were compared. Results: In all patients, R-VIBE achieved the same SNR and CNR ratings in pre- and post-contrast (all P > 0.05), with the exception of a higher SNR of fat in pre-contrast images (P = 0.037). In addition, there were no significant differences in scores of overall image quality, lesion conspicuity, and rectal wall boundary (all P > 0.05). There was an improved score in artifacts of post-contrast R-VIBE sequence (P = 0.005). Conclusion: R-VIBE sequence can provide comparable image quality and less motion artifacts to that of C-VIBE sequence and is feasible for imaging of rectal cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A simple solvent‐free method for the regioselective synthesis of pyrazoline derivatives via the annulation reactions of α‐cyano‐α,β‐unsaturated ketones and β‐carboxylic ester‐α,β‐unsaturated ketone with Huisgen zwitterions was developed. Interestingly, the reaction substrate is identified as a critical factor to control the final products. This method features simplicity, high efficiency, environmentally benign, and broad substrate scope. The gram scale applicability also points towards its possible implementation in industrial use. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A cascade aza-Michael/Aldol annulation of 2-arylideneindane-1,3-diones with in situ generated Huisgen zwitterions has been developed. This reaction afforded the desired products in moderate to good yields (up to 87%) with excellent chemo- and diastereoselectivity (up to 20:1). This strategy allows facile diastereoselective preparation of biologically important indenopyrazoline derivatives containing two contiguous chiral centers including a quaternary stereogenic center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Metallic Co0 species in situ formed are suggested to be the main active sites for PDH. • CoO x but not Co0 is responsible for the formation of undesired products. • Transformation of CoO x to Co0 depends on the strength of CoO x -support interactions. • Co/Silicalite-1 showed the C 3 H 6 space time yield of 1.50 kg·h−1·kg cat −1 at 550 °C. Although Co-containing catalysts show attractive performance in the non-oxidative propane dehydrogenation to propylene (PDH), their tailored development is hindered by the ambiguity in the kind of active sites (Co0 or Co2+O x) responsible for selective and unselective pathways. Herein, we demonstrate that supported CoO x species expends its lattice oxygen through oxidation of C 3 H 8 to CO 2 /C 3 H 6 and are accordingly transformed into Co0 species. The latter are decisive for the selective dehydrogenation of propane to propylene with high activity. The ability of CoO x to in situ form Co0 is affected by metal-oxide-support interactions (MOSI). In addition to the kind of support, defective OH groups (OH nests) in ZSM-5-type zeolites seem to be relevant for the MOSI effect. In comparison with previous studies highlighting the importance of the size of CoO x species and their acidity for coke formation, we could not establish any direct correlation. Nevertheless, the presence of CoO x seems to be relevant for this undesired reaction because the formation of coke is hindered when CoO x species are transformed to Co0 species. Catalyst acidic sites are responsible for cracking reactions. Thus, the derived mechanistic insights reveal the nature of active sites both for selective and unselective pathways and provide fundamentals for catalyst development. From an industrial viewpoint, the developed Co/Silicalite-1 (Co/S-1) catalyst with the weakest MOSI and accordingly highest fraction of Co0 showed the space time yield of propylene formation of 1.50 kg·h−1·kg cat −1 at 67 % equilibrium propane conversion and propylene selectivity of 95.3 % and the Co-related TOF value of 0.145 s−1 at 550 °C. These both activity values exceed those of the state-of-the-art Co-containing catalysts. The productivity of Co/S-1 is comparable or even higher than that of industrially relevant Pt- or Cr-containing catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diastereoselective formation of adjacent P,C-stereogenic β-N-glycosidic linked α-aminophosphinates is developed in high yields via a phospha-Mannich reaction. The reaction was performed by employing (Rp)-O-(-)-menthyl H-phenylphosphinate and O-pivaloylated N-galactosylimine for double stereodifferentiation and BF3 Et2O as a promoter in THF. O-Pivaloylated N-galactosylphenyl imine 2 and (Rp)-O-(-)-menthyl H-phenylphosphinate 1 were converted to N-galactosyl α-aminoalkylphosphinate 3 with ratios of diastereomers up to 20:1. The synthetic method of the conversion provides a rapid access to adjacent P,C-stereogenic chiral α-aminophosphinates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Flame retardant composite phase change material (CPCM) is proposed and prepared. • The flame retardant synergistic effect of melamine (MA) and triphenyl phosphate (TPP) is studied. • The additions are chemically coupled with flexible substrate to improve thermal properties. • CPCM adding with MA and TPP (MTPCM) can obtain an excellent thermal management effect. • The retired battery module with MTPCM can effectively improve the temperature consistency. Phase change material (PCM) cooling technology has attracted significant attention as an efficient battery thermal management strategy owing to its promising performance, especially in retired battery modules with the amplification of inconsistency and security risk generation. However, it has some limitations in practical applications, including the leakage of phase change ingredients, low thermal conductivity, and high flammability. Herein, a novel paraffin (PA)/EVA grafted with maleic anhydride (EVA-g-MAH)/expanded graphite (EG)/melamine (MA)/triphenyl phosphate (TPP) composite phase change material (MTPCM) was successfully prepared and utilised in a retired battery module. MTPCM3 with an MA/TPP ratio of 10/15 achieved multiple functions, such as leakage-proof capability, superior high thermal conductivity, and prominent flammable retardant performance (UL94-V0). Particularly, MTPCM demonstrated excellent total heat release (THR) and total smoke production (TSP) of 193.8 MJ/m2 and 7.8 m2, respectively. Furthermore, the application of MTPCM3 in 32650-type retired lithium iron phosphate battery modules effectively controlled the maximum temperature below 50 °C and maintained a temperature difference within 5 °C at a 3C discharge rate; this significantly prevented the heat accumulation of batteries and improved the temperature consistency of the retired battery during the long cycling process. This work suggests an efficient approach toward exploiting a multifunctional PCM for thermal management and energy storage fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Detection transformer (DETR) combines convolutional neural network (CNN) with transformer, providing a more advanced idea. In this paper, an object detection model based on DETR is proposed for fire and smoke detection. Compared with other methods that based on deep learning, the proposed one simplifies the pipeline of detection and builds an end-to-end detector. At the same time, the original DETR model usually requires long training time and large amount of computation, resulting in relatively poor performance in detection speed and accuracy, and it shows to be not friendly for small or early fire detection. Therefore, when designing the proposed network model, a normalization-based attention module is added in the feature extraction stage to highlight the effective features, being beneficial to the process of encoding. A multiscale deformable attention is also used in the encoder–decoder structure, accelerating therefore, the process of convergence during the training of the model, which includes the enhancement of the detection of small objects. Also, considering the cost of computation, the number of layers in the encoder–decoder structure is redefined to reduce the complexity of the model, and that also reduces the requirements of the application equipment. Detailed experiments are conducted on three self-built datasets and two public video sets. The results show that, the proposed method has an excellent performance on all of the datasets considered here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pd-Re/SBA-15 catalysts with different Pd precursors were prepared by the impregnation method. N 2 adsorption-desorption, XRD, H 2 -TPR, TEM and NH 3 -TPD were used to characterize the physical and chemical properties of the catalysts. Pd-Re catalysts with different precursors showed different activities in the reaction of glycerol hydrogenolysis. 5Pd-5Re/SBA-15 with PdCl 2 as Pd precursor had higher activity than those with Pd(NO 3 ) 2 and Pd(OAc) 2 as precursors. The existence of Cl could affect the particle sizes, reduction behaviors and the acid properties of Pd-Re catalysts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we propose an efficient general-purpose no-reference (NR) video quality assessment (VQA) framework that is based on 3D shearlet transform and convolutional neural network (CNN). Taking video blocks as input, simple and efficient primary spatiotemporal features are extracted by 3D shearlet transform, which are capable of capturing natural scene statistics properties. Then, CNN and logistic regression are concatenated to exaggerate the discriminative parts of the primary features and predict a perceptual quality score. The resulting algorithm, which we name shearlet- and CNN-based NR VQA (SACONVA), is tested on well-known VQA databases of Laboratory for Image & Video Engineering, Image & Video Processing Laboratory, and CSIQ. The testing results have demonstrated that SACONVA performs well in predicting video quality and is competitive with current state-of-the-art full-reference VQA methods and general-purpose NR-VQA algorithms. Besides, SACONVA is extended to classify different video distortion types in these three databases and achieves excellent classification accuracy. In addition, we also demonstrate that SACONVA can be directly applied in real applications such as blind video denoising. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The homogenization of the honeycomb sandwich core enables to obtain an equivalent homogeneous solid and its elastic moduli thus to make numerical modeling very efficient. In the present paper, the in-plane shear, torsion, in plane-shear coupled with torsion and transverse shear are studied with skin effect: the honeycomb core’s deformation is constrained by two fairly rigid skins, so the core’s stiffness is largely increased. An analytic homogenization method, using trigonometric function series is proposed to study the influence of the honeycomb thickness on the elastic properties, and the upper and lower bounds of their equivalent elastic moduli can be given directly by the analytical homogenization models (H-models). A very good agreement has been achieved between numerical results issued from the H-models and 3D FE modeling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The synthesis of glycerol carbonylation with CO 2 to glycerol carbonate over CeO 2 catalyst was investigated. CeO 2 with different morphologies was prepared by traditional precipitation (TP), hydrothermal (TH) and citrate sol-gel (SG) methods, and the reaction of glycerol with CO 2 was carried out in the presence of a dehydrating agent and solvent. The effect of preparation methods of CeO 2 and reaction parameters on the activity and selectivity of the catalysts were examined. The structures, morphologies and surface properties of the catalysts were characterized by XRD, TEM, BET, CO 2 -TPD, H 2 -TPR, Raman and XPS. CeO 2 exhibited high catalytic activity for the formation of glycerol carbonate under mild reaction conditions. The carbonylation of glycerol was influenced by the redox property of CeO 2 . The effects of different types of dehydrating agent and solvent were also studied. The dehydrating agent (2-cyanopyridine) and solvent (Dimethyl Formamide(DMF)) contributed to the increase of glycerol conversion and the yield of glycerol carbonate. The yield of glycerol carbonate could reach as high as 78.9%, and the catalysts could be easily regenerated by calcination at 400 °C for 5 h without loss of activity after 5 recycling times. The proper reaction conditions were 150 °C, 4 MPa and 5 h. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Existing studies on the association between BMI and depression report conflicting results with some demonstrating a positive relationship, while others a negative link or insignificant correlation. Very limited research on the nonlinear relationship between BMI and depression has yet to clarify the reliability and robustness of the potential nonlinearity and whether a more complex association exists. This paper aims to systematically investigate the nonlinear relationship between the two factors applying rigorous statistical methods, as well as explore the heterogeneity of their association. Materials and Methods: A large-scale nationally representative dataset, Chinese General Social Survey, is used to empirically analyze the nonlinear relationship between BMI and perceived depression. Various statistical tests are employed to check the robustness of the nonlinearity. Results: Results indicate that there is a U-shaped relationship between BMI and perceived depression, with the turning point (25.718) very close to while slightly larger than the upper limit of the range of healthy weight (18.500 ≤ BMI < 25.000) defined by World Health Organization. Both very high and low BMIs are associated with increased risk for depressive disorders. Furthermore, perceived depression is higher at almost all BMI levels among individuals who are older, female, lower educated, unmarried, in rural areas, belonging to ethnic minorities, non-Communist Party of China members, as well as those with lower income and uncovered by social security. In addition, these subgroups have smaller inflection points and their self-rated depression is more sensitive to BMI. Conclusion: This paper confirms a significant U-shaped trend in the association between BMI and depression. Therefore, it is important to account for the variations in this relationship across different BMI categories when using BMI to predict depression risk. Besides, this study clarifies the management goals for achieving an appropriate BMI from a mental health perspective and identifies vulnerable subgroups at higher risk of depression. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, the contribution of different types of carbon blacks (N115, N330, N550, N660) and their primary and secondary thermally cracked recovered carbon blacks to the mechanical properties of NR composites was evaluated. The thermally cracked recovered carbon blacks were prepared by cracking the rubber composites at 500 °C and de-hybridizing them at 900 °C. The characterization of the thermally cracked recovered carbon blacks by scanning electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy showed that carbon blacks after primary and secondary thermal cracking recovery were more prone to aggregation and exhibited a higher degree of carbon defects. The number and type of functional groups on the surface of these carbon blacks were significantly reduced. For NR composites with pristine samples added, the mechanical properties and the bound rubber content tests showed that the mechanical properties of the NR composites became weaker with the increase in carbon black particle size. The bound rubber content also decreased with increased carbon black particle size. The mechanical properties of the NR composites reinforced with carbon black recovered by primary and secondary thermal cracking would therefore decrease. The results of AFM and DSC tests further confirmed the decreasing trend of bound rubber. The present work demonstrates the effect of bound rubber content variation on the mechanical properties of rubber, demonstrates the morphology of bound rubber more visually, and provides new insights into the reinforcement theory of CB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the current work, TiO 2 nanoparticles (19 nm) were anchored on the surface of helical carbon nanofibers (HCNFs) by covalent bonds and in-situ method. The resulting HCNFs@TiO 2 hybrids were used in reinforcing styrene-butadiene rubber 1500E (SBR) via melt-blending. The results show that there are strong interfacial interactions between the HCNFs@TiO 2 and SBR composites due to the uniform dispersion of HCNFs@TiO 2 in the SBR composites. Compared with SBR/CB (control) composites, the tensile strength and elongation at break of SBR/HCNFs@TiO 2 composites (3 phr HCNFs@TiO 2) were increased by 15.0% and 25.1%, respectively. After the UV-aging test, SBR/HCNFs@TiO 2 composites (3 phr HCNFs@TiO 2) could exhibit 17.1 MPa of tensile strength and 503.3% of elongation at break, while CB/SBR composites could only maintain 8.9 MPa of tensile strength and 154.8% elongation at break. Ultimately, the excellent comprehensive performance of SBR composites indicates that HCNFs@TiO 2 hybrids can effectively reinforce rubber composites as new functional filler. [Display omitted] • A novel HCNFs@TiO 2 nanofiller is fabricated through in-situ growth methods. • A new strategy to improve the agglomeration of TiO 2 nanoparticles. • Low HCNFs@TiO 2 addition can improve significantly mechanical properties of SBR. • HCNFs@TiO 2 also ameliorates the anti-UV aging performance resistance of SBR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Milk was heated at different pH (pH 6.5–7.1) and temperatures (20–120 °C/10 min). This resulted in different levels of casein and denatured whey proteins to be distributed between the colloidal and serum phases. The milks were subsequently acidified and the distribution of protein between colloidal and serum was monitored at different pH. On acidification to pH 5.4, the serum phase caseins and denatured whey proteins partially reassociated with the caseins, although a complex behaviour was observed at ∼pH 5.4 where additional casein dissociation occurred in some samples. At pH below 5.4 the caseins and denatured whey proteins rapidly aggregated. No separate aggregation of κ-casein/denatured whey protein complexes or κ-casein depleted micelles was observed. The earlier gelation of milks heated at higher pH was likely to be due to the destabilisation of the entire milk protein system rather than a preferential aggregation of the serum phase proteins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, Deep Neural Networks have been applied to many applications (such as classification, denoising and inpainting) and achieved impressive performance. However, most of these works pay much attention to describe how to construct the relative framework but ignore to provide a clear and intuitive understanding of why their framework performs so well. In this paper, we present a general-purpose no-reference (NR) image quality assessment (IQA) framework based on deep neural network and give insight into the operation of this network. In this NR-IQA framework, simple features are extracted by a new multiscale directional transform (shearlet transform) and the sum of subband coefficient amplitudes (SSCA) is utilized as primary features to describe the behavior of natural images and distorted images. Then, stacked autoencoders are applied as ‘evolution process’ to ‘amplify’ the primary features and make them more discriminative. Finally, by translating the NR-IQA problem into classification problem, the differences of evolved features are identified by softmax classifier. Moreover, we have also incorporated some visualization techniques to analysis and visualize this NR-IQA framework. The resulting algorithm, which we name SESANIA (ShEarlet and Stacked Autoencoders based No-reference Image quality Assessment) is tested on several database (LIVE, Multiply Distorted LIVE and TID2008) individually and combined together. Experimental results demonstrate the excellent performance of SESANIA, and we also give intuitive explanations of how it works and why it works well. In addition, SESANIA is extended to estimate quality in local regions. Further experiments demonstrate the local quality estimation ability of SESANIA on images with local distortions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mesoporous silica MCM-41 supported Ni-based catalysts were prepared by glucose (Glu) and β-cyclodextrin (βCD) modified impregnation method, respectively. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts (Ni/MCM-41-βCD and Ni/MCM-41-Glu) were characterized with BET, XRD, H 2 -TPR and TEM techniques, and their catalytic performance in CO 2 reforming of methane to syngas was evaluated. The results revealed that the prepared catalysts remained the ordered mesoporous structures of MCM-41, and no obvious NiO particles could be viewed on catalysts prepared with β-cyclodextrin or glucose modified method. In contrast, on the catalyst prepared with the conventional impregnation method (Ni/MCM-41), large NiO particles could be observed. In the reaction of CO 2 reforming of methane to syngas, compared with Ni/MCM-41, Ni/MCM-41-βCD and Ni/MCM-41-Glu exhibited higher catalytic activities and better catalytic stabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an efficient pseudo-inverse approach for the damage prediction in cold forging process simulation. Pseudo-inverse approach combines the advantages of the fast inverse approach and accurate incremental approaches. Some intermediate configurations are created geometrically and corrected mechanically to well describe the deformation path. The formulation of an axi-symmetrical element based on pseudo-inverse approach is presented. A strain-based damage model is introduced in the flow theory of plasticity. A direct scalar integration algorithm of plasticity-damage is developed, leading to a fast and robust algorithm for large strain increments. The cold forging processes of two axi-symmetrical parts are simulated to validate pseudo-inverse approach by the incremental approach ABAQUS/Explicit. Pseudo-inverse approach gives very good results, but uses much less CPU time. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] ·Ru catalysts with HZSM5(X) were used during glycerol hydrogenolysis. [•] ·As the acid amount increased, the glycerol conversion and CH4 selectivity increased. [•] ·The acid amount and acid strength of HZSM5(X) affected the C C bond cleavage. [•] ·Loading Ru on HZSM5(X) could modulate the acidity and decrease CH4 selectivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Ni/SBA-15-CD(1/X) catalysts were prepared by the impregnation of a certain amount of Ni(NO3)2 and various contents of β-cyclodextrin (CD), in which 1/X indicates the molar ratio of CD to Ni. The physicochemical properties of the catalysts were characterized by BET, XRD, TEM, TPR and TGA, and their catalytic performance in the CO2 reforming of methane to syngas was evaluated using a fixed-bed quartz reactor. The characterization results revealed that Ni/SBA-15-CD(1/X) prepared with n(CD)/n(Ni) ratios in the range of 1/66–1/33 possessed smaller NiO particles and exhibited stronger interactions between NiO and SBA-15, whereas NiO particles were not well-dispersed on Ni/SBA-15-CD(1/X) catalysts prepared with further CD addition (1/X = 1/8 and 1/1). The reaction results indicated that the better-dispersed Ni/SBA-15-CD(1/X) catalysts, such as Ni/SBA-15-CD(1/66), Ni/SBA-15-CD(1/50) and Ni/SBA-15-CD(1/33), exhibited higher conversions and stronger abilities to resist carbon deposition. Regarding the role of CD in dispersing Ni particles, it could be speculated that complexes were formed between CD and Ni2+, as well as NO3 −, which would change the state of Ni species during the impregnation and heat treatment processes. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Activity and stability of Ga/ZSM-5 were improved by H 2 -O 2 treatment. • Effective balance of dehydrogenation and cracking of Ga/ZSM-5 was achieved. • Activation energy was decreased largely for Ga/ZSM-5 after H 2 -O 2 treatment. • The mechanism of butane-O 2 treatment on Ga/ZSM-5 was proposed. Ga species with high dehydrogenation capability were prepared by H 2 -O 2 atmosphere treatment, and efficient balance of bifunctionality (dehydrogenation/cracking) was realized between Ga species and ZSM-5 over Ga/ZSM-5 based catalysts. Compared with parent Ga/ZSM-5, the conversion rate of n -butane was increased from 0.53 to 2.59 mmol·g−1·min−1 on Ga/ZSM-5 with H 2 -O 2 treatment. Kinetic analysis revealed that the apparent activation energy of n -butane catalytic cracking decreased largely from 141 to 47 kJ·mol−1, which is attributed to the formation of new interaction between Ga species and ZSM-5 upon such an atmosphere treatment. It was also found Butane-O 2 treatment acted as a similar role with H 2 -O 2 treatment in enhancing the catalytic performance. On this basis, different Ga species were correlated with activity and kinetic data, and the effect of practical reaction atmosphere on Ga species was also investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Gram-scale produced Helical Carbon NanoFibers were used as the matrix. • A novel TiO2@HCNFs compound was firstly fabricated for sodium batteries. • Unique helical nanostructure plays a vital role in electrochemical performance. In this study, a facile one-pot solvothermal method was employed to synthesize a helical carbon nanofibers@titanium dioxide (TiO 2 @HCNFs) composite, in which an anatase TiO 2 coating layer with an average thickness of 20 nm was grafted in situ onto the surface of HCNFs. As a novel anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), TiO 2 @HCNFs retains a specific capacity of 193 mA h g−1 over 100 cycles at a current density of 0.1 A g−1, showing a significant enhancement; namely, a 187%, 148%, and 134% higher specific capacity than that obtained for pure HCNFs (103 mA h g−1), pure TiO 2 (130 mA h g−1) and a TiO 2 -HCNFs mixture (143.5 mA h g−1), respectively. In addition, a capacity of 120 mA h g−1 can be maintained for TiO 2 @HCNFs even at a high current density of 2 A g−1. This excellent performance can be ascribed to the dual-phase combination of HCNFs/TiO 2 and the sophisticated carbon coil structure, which improves the conductivity of TiO 2 and shortens the distance for sodium-ion diffusion. Therefore, this work will bring about new possibilities for developing new anode materials for SIBs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper presents a new simplified method called “Pseudo Inverse Approach” (PIA) for the axi-symmetrical cold forging modeling. The PIA keeps the advantages of the Inverse Approach (very fast) but gives good stress estimation by taking into account the loading history. Some intermediate configurations are created by using a free surface method to consider the deformation paths without contact treatment. A new direct algorithm of plasticity is developed leading to a fast and robust plastic integration procedure for very large strain increments. The PIA results are compared to those obtained by using ABAQUS software to show the efficiency and limitations of the PIA. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Ni/SBA-15 catalysts were prepared by two different methods; conventional impregnation method (Ni/SBA-15) and β-cyclodextrin (CD) modified impregnation method (Ni/SBA-15-CD). The physicochemical properties and the catalytic performance of the catalysts in carbon dioxide reforming of methane (CRM) were compared. Results showed that Ni particles were smaller and better dispersed on Ni/SBA-15-CD, and the interactions between Ni and SBA-15 were stronger. Compared with Ni/SBA-15, Ni/SBA-15-CD exhibited higher catalytic activity and stability in CRM. Post-reaction analysis revealed that CD was effective indirectly in resisting carbon deposition and maintaining the ordered structure of Ni/SBA-15-CD. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In recent years, highly glazed atria are popular because of their architectural aesthetics and advantage of introducing daylight into inside. However, cooling load estimation of such atrium buildings is difficult due to complex thermal phenomena that occur in the atrium space. The study aims to find out a simplified method of estimating cooling loads through simulations for various types of atria in hot and humid regions. Atrium buildings are divided into different types. For every type of atrium buildings, both CFD and energy models are developed. A standard method versus the simplified one is proposed to simulate cooling load of atria in EnergyPlus based on different room air temperature patterns as a result from CFD simulation. It incorporates CFD results as input into non-dimensional height room air models in EnergyPlus, and the simulation results are defined as a baseline model in order to compare with the results from the simplified method for every category of atrium buildings. In order to further validate the simplified method an actual atrium office building is tested on site in a typical summer day and measured results are compared with simulation results using the simplified methods. Finally, appropriate methods of simulating different types of atrium buildings are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: RhCl3 was immobilized to diphenylphosphinopropyl (–PrPPh2)-modified mesoporous silica SBA-15 through a multi-step-assembly process. The prepared catalyst was characterized with reference to bulky and surface properties by X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), isothermal nitrogen sorption analysis and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The metal content was determined by inductive coupling plasma-atomic emission spectroscopy (ICP-AES). The prepared rhodium-immobilized catalyst was employed in hydroformylation of several higher olefins of different lengths (C6, C8, and C10), different Csitions (terminal or internal) or different structures (linear or branched). The substrate influences on the activity and recycling stability of the immobilized catalyst were investigated and are discussed. Shorter linear olefin substrates were more easily activated with higher catalyst specific activity, while the catalyst showed recycling stability in hydroformylation of longer and branched olefin substrates. For comparison, PPh3 was externally added to immobilize RhCl3 to –PrPPh2-modified SBA-15. The immobilized catalyst so prepared showed a more flexible immobilizing structure and revealed a promoted turnover number of substrates. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Self-initiated photopolymerization of hyperbranched acrylates (HBAs) has been investigated. The photopolymerization progress was monitored by differential photo-calorimetry (DPC). It was shown that HBAs were able to self-initiate photopolymerization rapidly under the irradiation of medium-pressure mercury lamp. This behavior was explained by the longer wavelength absorption (∼286nm) of HBAs, which results from the overlapping of π-conjugated orbitals of acrylate groups. Autoacceleration effect was observed. The autocatalytic model was used to analyze the photopolymerization kinetics and found to well match the experimental data. It was found that acceleration stage ended at low conversion (αR m <0.11), and the final conversion α f was lower than 40% in most cases. This was attributed to the poorer ability of HBAs to generate primary radicals and thus the insufficiency of free radicals in polymerization. Factors in favor of generating primary radicals extended the autoacceleration stage to higher conversion and gave higher final conversion. The values of activation energy were calculated to be in the range of 5.7–7.5kJmol−1, analogous to those for the free radical photopolymerization of acrylate monomers in the presence of photoinitiator. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article discusses three main language planning topics, which include language problems, linguistic resources and language rights, as well as issues about the Chinese government conducting a survey of its languages and the current duties of the country's State Language Commission. It mentions the three aspects of language problems which include linguistic communication across communities, language pressures and language endangerment. Moreover, it provides an overview of the Law of the National Commonly Used Languages and Scripts of the People's Republic of China, the first law that the government enacted in the new century.

Cette Note présente un nouvel algorithme efficace pour effectuer l'intégration plastique et calculer les contraintes dues aux grandes déformations pour des matériaux obéissant au critère anisotrope de Hill. L'algorithme d'intégration plastique classique comme la ‹ Méthode du Retour Radial › est largement utilisé pour l'analyse non linéaire des structures et la simulation des procédés de mise en forme des matériaux, mais il nécessite une résolution itérative et peut avoir des problèmes de convergence. Un nouvel algorithme direct, basé sur une méthode scalaire, est développé permettant d'obtenir directement le multiplicateur plastique sans résolution itérative, ainsi le temps de calcul est largement diminué et les problèmes numériques sont évités. Pour citer cet article : I. Titeux et al., C. R. Mecanique 332 (2004). [Copyright 2004 Elsevier]

Plug-assist thermoforming is a complex process with numerous parameters influencing the quality of the manufactured product. The pre-stretching stage is the most important step in plug-assist thermoforming. Mechanical pre-stretching is used to redistribute material from thicker regions to thinner ones with a plug-assist tool. Experimental tests do not assess all potentially relevant influences. Numerical simulations are therefore useful to achieve a deeper understanding of the process and the mutual interactions between the input parameters. In this paper, we develop thermoelastoviscoplastic polymer behavior and thermomechanical friction finite element models to simulate the plug-assist pre-stretching of high-impact polystyrene, amorphous polyethylene terephthalate, and lightweight polystyrene sheets. The effects of plug-assist tool materials and process conditions are experimentally and numerically analyzed. Plug pre-stretching force and thickness distribution of the simulated test match well with the measured results. The proposed models accounting for the main thermomechanical aspects of the plug-assist thermoforming process provide a way to predict the quality of thermoformed parts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent times, the role of hydrogen technology has become more important in decarbonizing society and achieving carbon neutrality targets. However, the nexus between hydrogen technology and carbon neutrality has not received attention from the empirics. Therefore, this analysis is an effort to plug this gap in the literature by examining the role of hydrogen technology in achieving carbon neutrality targets in six top hydrogen technologies innovative and polluting economies from 1995 to 2021. This study employs the CS-ARDL to obtain the short and long-run results. According to the long-run outcomes, hydrogen technology, green ICT, and financial development cause carbon emissions to fall. In contrast, the GDP boosts the carbon emissions. On the other hand, the short-run estimates don't show any significant relationship with the carbon emissions. These results highlight the significance of hydrogen technology and suggest that policymakers should increase the role of hydrogen technology in energy and related sectors in top polluted economies to help them achieve zero-emission targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effective compressive elastic modulus of the cellular rhombic dodecahedron structure, with m × n cells in the X - and Y - directions in matrix, has been studied. The effective compressive elastic modulus of the structure without border constraint is a function of m and n ; while for the structure with border constraints in the X - and Y - directions it is found unique that is independent of m and n , and is a function of the porosity of the structure. In order to study and understand the range of the effective compressive elastic modulus for the structure without border constraint with explicit expression of the structure parameters, an analytical model has been developed to evaluate the lower and upper bounds. The analytical model is also valid for the structure with double border constraints with a unique modulus. In addition, a finite element method based on beam theory in neglecting shearing effect has been developed for both cases, under the specific boundary conditions used in a unit cell, including finite and infinite numbers of cells m or/and n. As such, the analytical method based on beam theory takes into consideration the finite geometry dimensions and the fictive infinite geometry dimensions. The later gives the upper bound of the effective compressive elastic modulus. The modulus of the structure composed of finite numbers of cells m × n without border constraint is not only a function related to the porosity of the structure, but the geometrical parameters d and b. An experimental test has been fulfilled and compared to the theoretical one with reasonable agreement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A head-tail co-conversion process was demonstrated to produce high quality gasoline. • 1-Hexene co-feeding with n -decane was used to demonstrate the co-conversion process. • Co-conversion process reduce the olefin content and T 50 of gasoline simultaneously. • The co-conversion process promote the formation rate of iso -paraffins at 325 °C. To meet the requirement of gasoline new standard, a concept process for head-tail co-conversion of the longer chain n -alkanes (C10-C12) and olefins (C5-C7) with similar C-C bonding energy in FCC gasoline was developed to reduce olefin content and T 50 of gasoline simultaneously. Here 1-hexene and n -decane were chosen as head-tail model compounds of these olefin and n -alkane components in FCC gasoline. By analyzing the product distribution of co-feeding and single-feeding of n -decane and 1-hexene at different reaction temperatures, higher yield of gasoline with lower T 50 and higher content of i -paraffin could be obtained through co-feeding process at 325 °C. Besides, the olefin content of gasoline could be successfully decreased. Based on chemical kinetic analysis, it could be found that by co-conversion of n -decane and 1-hexene, the cracking path of 1-hexene was restrained and the formation of i -paraffin was enhanced due to the hydrogen transfer of n -decane with carbocation converted from 1-hexene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inefficient traditional irrigation methods have negative consequences for agricultural production and the depletion of groundwater resources. This two-year field experiment aimed to evaluate optimized irrigation practices for irrigation efficiency (IE) and water utilization in winter wheat-maize (W-M) and winter wheat-soybean (W-S) annual rotation systems. Four micro-sprinkler-based irrigation strategies were implemented during the winter wheat season, specifically when the soil water content (SWC) of the 40 cm soil layer reached 40% of the field capacity (FC) after sowing. Including W4 (irrigated to SWC at 40 cm reached 60% FC), W6 (irrigated to SWC at 60 cm reached 80% FC), FI (farmer's practice, with irrigation amount of 150 mm per irrigation, the same timing as W6), and a rain-fed (RF) as a control. Summer seasons had no irrigation except for emergence. The WHCNS model simulated water consumption. The results indicated that IE decreased with increasing irrigation volumes, and the W-S system demonstrated higher IE than W-M. Both W4 and W6 achieved the desired wetting zones, while FI resulted in water leakage. Surface runoff was not affected by irrigation. Compared to the FI treatment under both cropping systems, W4 significantly reduced field water losses, particularly deep percolation, by 18.3–39.4%. W6 and FI led to elevated winter wheat transpiration rates, impacting crop yield. W4 had comparable yields to W6 and FI, but higher crop water productivity with average increases of 17.9% and 21.3% in W-M, and 24.6% and 31.4% in W-S, respectively. W4 also showed higher harvest indexes in both systems. The W-S system had more stable interannual yields, higher water-holding capacity, and water use efficiency than W-M. Although RF had great water-saving potential, its yield losses were enormous. These optimized precision irrigation strategies significantly reduce water consumption while achieving substantial yield increases, thereby providing vital support for sustainable agricultural development. • Optimized irrigation in wheat-maize (W-M) and wheat-soybean (W-S) systems evaluated. • Irrigation efficiency decreased with water inputs; W-S system performed better. • W4 reduced deep percolation by 18.3%− 39.4% while maintaining yield stability. • The W-S system had stable yields and better water use efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]