Imaging of two-dimensional unsaturated moisture flows in uncracked and cracked cement-based materials using electrical capacitance tomography

The development of visualizing tools to monitor unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials is of great importance, as most degradation processes in cement-based materials are connected to and take place in the presence moisture. This paper investigates the ability of electrical capacitance tomography (ECT) to image two-dimensional (2D) unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials. In ECT, the electrical permittivity distribution within an object is reconstructed based on measured capacitances between electrodes attached on the object’s surface. In a series of experiments, mortar specimens with and without discrete cracks were imaged with ECT during a 2D moisture ingress. The results show that ECT is able to monitor the evolution of the moisture flow, and to approximate the shape and position of the moisture front. These findings indicate that ECT is a viable method for monitoring and visualizing 2D unsaturated moisture flow in cement-based materials in the presence and absence of discrete cracks.     

Appraisal of Agriglass in Promoting Maize Production Under Abiotic Stress Conditions

An agriglass composition containing different oxides acts as a slow release for macro and micro nutrients and was chosen to improve maize yield under most important abiotic stresses which affecting agriculture development; salinity and drought. A field experiment was performed in salt affected soil (EC =?7.5 dSm^??1) by using different water deficit rates (I1 = 100, I2 = 85 and I3 = 70% of maize water requirements). Irrigation levels were located in main plots. Every main-plot divided into six sub-plots contained glassy fertilizer treatments [F1 = 55 kg fed^?1 with 1/2 mm diameter of agriglass (fed. =?4200 m²), F2 = 55 kg fed^?1 with 1 mm diameter, F3 = 80 kg fed^?1 with 1/2 mm diameter, F4 = 80 kg fed^?1 with 1 mm diameter, F5 = Recommendations of Ministry of Agriculture and F6 = control]. The experimental results demonstrated that, ears, straw, grains and biological yields increased with increasing both water and agriglass rates. Application of agriglass as a slow release fertilizer improved yield more than mineral fertilizer. Some growth parameters, water use efficiency (IWUE), macronutrients concentration and their relations were included. Other studies on residual effect of agriglass and the annual application rates to withstand salinity and drought stress by strategic crops are required.     

Structural,morphological, dielectric and magnetic properties of Zn-Zr co-doping yttrium iron garnet

In this study, yttrium iron garnet co-doped with Zn and Zr atoms with a chemical formula Y₃Zn_xZr_xFe_(5−2x)O₁₂ (x = 0.0-0.3) has been successfully prepared by the solid-state reaction method. The effects of doping concentration on the microstructure, crystal structure, magnetic properties, and dielectric properties of Y₃Zn_xZr_xFe_(5−2x)O₁₂ were investigated. The microstructure analysis indicates that co-doping of YIG with Zn and Zr can effectively reduce the grain size of the ceramic. The crystal structure results reveal that the doping concentration of Zn–Zr has substantial influence on the lattice parameters of YIG, such as, increases the lattice constant, crystal cell size, and interplanar spacing. However, the second phase of ZrO₂ appears once x ≥ 0.15. Additionally, the dielectric properties of YIG ferrite can be regulated using this Zn–Zr co-doping method. Zn–Zr co-doping can improve the dielectric stability and reduce the dielectric loss at high temperature. The magnetization measurement shows that the saturation magnetization is stabilized at x < 0.15, and the magnetic loss is decreased with the increase in the doping concentration. Overall, the findings show that the ceramic with x = 0.1 exhibits better properties included high saturation magnetization (24.607 emu/g), low magnetic loss (0.0025 @ 1 MHz), and relatively low dielectric loss (496 @ 400°C).     

秸秆微晶纤维素用作片剂崩解剂的初步评价

对实验室自制秸秆微晶纤维素用作片剂崩解剂进行了初步评价。参照《中国药典》(2010版)中微晶纤维素的有关规定,评估自制秸秆微晶纤维素的质量;以阿司匹林为模型药物,以市售微晶纤维素(PH-101)为对照,测定秸秆微晶纤维素的溶胀性、崩解性。结果表明,自制的秸秆微晶纤维素质量符合《中国药典》有关规定,且溶胀性和崩解性优于市售微晶纤维素(PH-101),可用作片剂崩解剂。在秸秆微晶纤维素含量为20%时,崩解速度最快。     

Effect of ZnO layer thickness upon optoelectrical properties of NiO/ ZnO heterojunction prepared at room temperature

In this work, p-NiO/n-ZnO heterostructures were successfully prepared at room temperature using RF sputtering technique. The influence of ZnO layer thickness on the performance of the heterojunction was investigated. The deposited ZnO layers have a hexagonal Wurtzite structure with preferable growth orientations along (002) and (103) for thinner films. Increasing the thickness results in more crystallographic orientation randomness. The current–voltage measurements of the realized heterojunctions showed a clear rectifying behavior. The measured ideality factor varies from 2.5 to 1.6 according to the thickness of ZnO layer. The series resistance of the device is enlarged with increasing ZnO thickness. The deduced parameters from the I–V characteristics suggest that 200 nm is the optimal thickness of the ZnO layer according to our experimental conditions. We attribute the relatively better performance of this thickness to achieving reasonable compensation between serial resistance and ideality factor. The best heterojunction was tested and successfully used as a UV detector.     

Cross-Layer Optimization of Dynamic Packet Assignment for Video Transmission Over IEEE 802.11e Networks

Video transmission over IEEE 802.11e wireless networks still shows poor performance for large bandwidth demand and frequently changed environments. Thus, several enhancements of IEEE 802.11e were proposed. On the other hand, big frames and simultaneous sending of adjacent frames always cause packet dropping for buffer overflow. In the past, we proposed an IEEE 802.11e enhancement named DFAA and a content aware mechanism to solve the above problems. The motivation of this paper is to find a proper way to integrate these two mechanisms. A DFAA enhancement (DFAA-E) is proposed to make up the insufficiency of content aware mechanism. Experiments results show that the combination of DFAA-E and content aware mechanism improves the video decoded quality greatly. And its performance can be further enhanced by selecting the suitable settings of certain parameters.     

激光脉冲编码抗有源干扰效果研究

激光脉冲编码是激光制导武器的抗干扰措施之一。角度欺骗式干扰和高重频干扰是目前半主动激光制导武器的主要有源干扰来源。为研究不同激光脉冲编码方式对激光半主动制导武器抗这两种干扰性能的影响,本文针对敌方激光告警机的识别算法与我方导引头的解码过程,提出自相关函数与归一化互相关函数评价方法,并对目前主要编码方式进行仿真,仿真结果表明:激光脉冲编码的抗角度欺骗式干扰能力受编码序列周期性与脉冲间隔随机性的影响；抗高重频激光干扰能力受编码序列脉冲间隔随机性的影响；LFSR状态码的抗角度欺骗式干扰与抗高重频干扰效果均优于其他编码方式。     

Reoptimization framework and policy analysis for maritime inventory routing under uncertainty

We study a maritime inventory routing problem, in which shipments between production and consumption nodes are carried out by a fleet of vessels. The vessels have specific capacities and can be chartered under different agreements. The inventory levels of all consumption nodes and some production nodes should be maintained within specified bounds; for the remaining production nodes, orders should be picked up within pre-defined time windows. We propose a discrete-time mixed-integer programming model. In the face of new information and uncertainty, this optimization model has to be re-solved, as the horizon is rolled forward. We discuss how to account for different sources of uncertainty. We present a rolling-horizon reoptimization framework that allows us to study different policies that impact the quality of the implemented solution, so we can identify the optimal set of policies.     

Functionalized graphene oxide nanosheets with unique three-inone properties for efficient and tunable antibacterial applications

Developing antibiotics-independent antibacterial agents is of great importance since antibiotic therapy faces great challenges from drug resistance.Graphene oxide(GO)is a promising agent due to its natural antibacterial mechanisms,such as sharp edgemediated cutting effect.However,the antibacterial activity of GO is limited by its negative charge and low photothermal effect.Herein,the amino-functionalized GO nanosheets(AGO)with unique three-in-one properties were synthesized.Three essential properties(positive charge,strong photothermal effect,and natural cutting effect)were integrated into AGO.The positive charge(30 mV)rendered AGO a strong interaction force with model pathogen Streptococcus mutans(330 nN).The natural cutting effect of 100 ng·mL^-1AGO caused 27%loss of bacterial viability after incubation for 30 min.Most importantly,upon the near-infrared irradiation for just 5 min,the three-in-one properties of AGO caused 98%viability loss.In conclusion,the short irradiation period and the tunable antibacterial activity confer the three-in-one AGO a great potential for clinical use.