Aspects of the development of a copper electrowinning cell based on reactive electrodialysis

This paper reports work aimed at developing a new copper electrowinning cell based on reactive electrodialysis (RED) which uses Fe²⁺→Fe³⁺+e as anodic reaction. In this lab-scale cell, the anolyte (aqueous FeSO₄+H₂SO₄) and the catholyte (aqueous CuSO₄+H₂SO₄) are kept separate by an anion membrane which prevents cation and water transport between the electrolytes. Both solutions are agitated by recirculation. The kinetics of the anodic reaction have been studied via potentiodynamic experiments on various anode materials (lead, platinum, ruthenium oxide, iridium oxide and graphite). The highest oxidation rate was obtained on platinum and the lowest one on lead, whereas the remaining materials showed satisfactory performance. Results in the lab-scale RED cell show that, depending on experimental conditions, for a cell current density of , the cell voltage ranges from 1.81 to , the cathodic current efficiency from 97.2% to 98.3% and the specific energy consumption, from 1.53 to of deposited copper.     

New analytical techniques in food science

In this review, some of the latest analytical techniques that are being used for the study and characterization of food are examined. This work intends to provide an updated overview (including works published up to June 1999) on the principal applications of such techniques together with their main advantages and drawbacks in food analysis. Some future developments of these systems and their foreseeable application in food characterization are also discussed. The reviewed techniques are those based on spectroscopic, biological, separation, and electrochemical procedures. Moreover, some relevant facts on new systems for sample preparation and on-line couplings are also given.     

Transfer Functions of the Slip-Controlled Induction Machine

The use of a feedback loop to regulate the slip frequency of an inverter-driven induction machine is viewed as replacing the normal independent control of stator frequency with independent control of slip frequency. For steady-state conditions the two modes of operation are shown to produce characteristics analogous to shunt and series dc machines. A method employing closed-form transfer functions, a reduced set of nondimensional parameters, and a general root locus diagram is used to present the dynamic characteristics of controlled slip frequency operation and to compare performance with conventional operation. The parameter range in the general diagram is sufficient to incorporate nearly all standard induction machines over a wide size and frequency range. The results demonstrate that the ratio K? of the rotor transient time constant to the static electromechanical time constant is a critical parameter in the comparison of the two modes. Since this parameter tends to increase with machine size, the relative advantages of slip frequency control are shown to be machine-size dependent. Inclusion of a speed-control loop regulating machine voltage is also Considered and shown to be described by the same general root loci. The performance of this closed-loop system is also shown to be very dependent on K? and hence on machine size.     

About the iron carbonyl complex with C60 and C70 fullerene: [Fe(CO)4(η2C60)] and [Fe(CO)4(η2C70)]

The iron carbonyl complexes with C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes were synthesized in high yield by photochemical irradiation of solutions of C₆₀ and C₇₀ in presence of Fe(CO)₅. The resulting complexes were studied by FT-IR, Raman and electronic absorption spectroscopy. All the data are consistent with the structures [Fe(CO)₄(η²C₆₀)] and [Fe(CO)₄(η²C₇₀)]. The thermal stability and decomposition reaction of the two complexes were studied by TGA-FTIR and Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). Both complexes decompose at moderate temperatures releasing CO and Fe(CO)₅ in the vapor phase leaving a residue of metallic iron and free C₆₀ or C₇₀ fullerenes that can be recovered by solvent extraction of the decomposition residue.     

A new route to graphene starting from heavily ozonized fullerenes: Part 3 – an electron spin resonance study

It is shown that graphite oxide (GO) and both heavily ozonized C₆₀ and C₇₀ fullerenes, known as “fullerene ozopolymers,” are paramagnetic materials with a very strong electron spin resonance (ESR) signal at room temperature. When thermally annealed, the paramagnetic centers are gradually lost in large part. This occurs at 350°C in the case of GO, while for fullerene ozopolymers, a higher temperature is required, reaching the same results in the end. The half-width of ESR signal is linked to the distribution of paramagnetic centers. Once again, striking analogies were found in the half-width of the ESR signal measured on GO and fullerene ozopolymers, at least in the temperature range of 25–450°C. Similarly, the same g-factor values, which are diagnostic for understanding the chemical nature of paramagnetic centers, were found on both GO and fullerene ozopolymers in all ranges of temperature considered.     

Pessimists and optimists: Improving collaborative filtering through sentiment analysis

This work presents a novel application of Sentiment Analysis in Recommender Systems by categorizing users according to the average polarity of their comments. These categories are used as attributes in Collaborative Filtering algorithms. To test this solution a new corpus of opinions on movies obtained from the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) has been generated, so both ratings and comments are available. The experiments stress the informative value of comments. By applying Sentiment Analysis approaches some Collaborative Filtering algorithms can be improved in rating prediction tasks. The results indicate that we obtain a more reliable prediction considering only the opinion text (RMSE of 1.868), than when apply similarities over the entire user community (RMSE of 2.134) and sentiment analysis can be advantageous to recommender systems.     

Comparison of data gap-filling methods for Landsat ETM+ SLC-off imagery for monitoring forest degradation in a semi-deciduous tropical forest in Mexico

A number of methods to overcome the 2003 failure of the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+) scan-line corrector (SLC) are compared in this article in a forest-monitoring application in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The objective of this comparison is to determine the best approach to accomplish SLC-off image gap-filling for the particular landscape in this region, and thereby provide continuity in the Landsat data sensor archive for forest-monitoring purposes. Four methods were tested: (1) local linear histogram matching (LLHM); (2) neighbourhood similar pixel interpolator (NSPI); (3) geostatistical neighbourhood similar pixel interpolator (GNSPI); and (4) weighted linear regression (WLR). All methods generated reasonable SLC-off gap-filling data that were visually consistent and could be employed in subsequent digital image analysis. Overall accuracy, kappa coefficients (κ), and quantity and allocation disagreement indices were used to evaluate unsupervised Iterative Self-Organizing Data Analysis (ISODATA) land-cover classification maps. In addition, Pearson correlation coefficients (r) and root mean squares of the error (RMSEs) were employed for estimates agreement with fractional land cover. The best results visually (overall accuracy > 85%, κ < 9%, quantity disagreement index < 5.5%, and allocation disagreement index < 12.5%) and statistically (r > 0.84 and RMSE < 7%) were obtained from the GNSPI method. These results suggest that the GNSPI method is suitable for routine use in reconstructing the imagery stack of Landsat ETM+ SLC-off gap-filled data for use in forest-monitoring applications in this type of heterogeneous landscape.     

Influence of very long aging on the relaxation behavior of flame‐retardant printed circuit board epoxy composites under mechatronic conditions

Very long aging times, up to 15,100 h (629 days) at 110°C, were achieved on flame‐retardant printed circuit board laminates commonly used in automotive design. This composite was fabricated from glass fibers embedded in an epoxy resin. Aging was performed in an oven under an air atmosphere at a temperature lower than the glass‐transition temperature. Temperature‐modulated differential scanning calorimetric analysis was used to investigate the influence of such aging on the glass‐transition phenomena. A new amorphous phase appeared during aging. By extending the analysis to samples collected at different thicknesses, we demonstrated the existence of a time‐dependent gradient of the properties. A skin–core structure was evidenced, and this slowed down oxidation and allowed physical aging to occur in the bulk sample. An exponential law described the variations of the glass‐transition of the new external compound. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 130: 786‐792, 2013     

Periodic-like words, periodicity, and boxes

We introduce the notion of periodic-like word. It is a word whose longest repeated prefix is not right special. Some different characterizations of this concept are given. In particular, we show that a word w is periodic-like if and only if it has a period not larger than , where is the least non-negative integer such that any prefix of w of length $\geq R'_{w}$ is not right special. We derive that if a word w has two periods , then also the greatest common divisor of p andq is a period ofw. This result is, in fact, an improvement of the theorem of Fine and Wilf. We also prove that the minimal period of a word w is equal to the sum of the minimal periods of its components in a suitable canonical decomposition in periodic-like subwords. Moreover, we characterize periodic-like words having the same set of proper boxes, in terms of the important notion of root-conjugacy. Finally, some new uniqueness conditions for words, related to the maximal box theorem are given. Received: 10 July 2000 / Accepted: 24 January 2001