Synergistic effects of binary oxygen carriers during chemical looping hydrogen production

The use of binary oxygen carrier allows for the materials of enhanced activity or stability during chemical looping process. However, the lack of mechanical understanding of the origin of the improvements hindered the rational design and control of the doping process in the oxygen carrier production. Here, we synthesized a series of M_0.6Fe_2.4O_y (M = Ni, Cu, Co, Mn) binary spinel materials and carried out various characterization techniques to study how the dopants influenced the material phase change, the oxygen transfer as well as the chemical looping performance. The results showed the chemical looping reactivity can be related to the oxygen transformation between lattice oxygen and oxygen vacancy, which was determined by the redox properties of both dopants and iron. The metal in tetrahedral site for Cu, Mn, Ni-doped sample were relatively stable, limiting oxygen transformation ability. In comparison, Co dopant promoted the reducibility of iron in tetrahedral site as well as metals in other sites, making almost all lattice oxygen rapidly transformed to oxygen vacancy during reduction. This was the main cause for the subsequent high hydrogen production rate (average ∼0.02 mmol. g⁻¹.s⁻¹) and yield (∼15.9 mmol.g⁻¹). Upon cycling, the phase separation of single oxides from Co_0.6Fe_2.4O_y and Mn_0.6Fe_2.4O_y spinels led to the decreased ability of oxygen transformation. However, the performance was extremely stable for Cu_0.6Fe_2.4O_y with reversible phase change between spinel and (Fe, Cu) wusitite by the Cu-Fe interaction. Based on the current results, this work points to a promising Cu-Co co-doping material with both good reactivity and stability.     

Facilitated discussions increase learning gains from dialectically localized animated educational videos in Niger

ABSTRACT

This study measured the knowledge transfer and appeal of information and communication technologies (ICTs) used to deliver education for sustainable development (ESD) content to farmers in Niger experiencing major crop losses from the insect pest Maruca vitrata. ICT-ESD content consisted of two dialectically localized and animated videos that address food security problems of cowpea insect herbivory and the shortage of integrated pest management strategies in rural Niger. Comparing pre-test/post-test knowledge transfer for both animated videos when either (1) watched alone (AVO), or (2) in conjunction with a facilitated group discussion prior to post-testing (AVD), results from 90 farmers in 3 rural Nigerien villages showed statistically significant knowledge transfer in both AVO and AVD groups and still greater gains in the AVD group. Importantly, while a majority of participants expressed a preference for learning from such animated videos and a willingness to share their new knowledge and the videos with others, this finding did not statistically significantly associate with education level, supporting the idea that AVO/AVD is an inclusive strategy for low-literate learners within developing-nation contexts. Recommendations and theoretical implications for ICT-ESD implementations in resource-limited areas are also discussed.     

When Does Communication Learning Need Hierarchical Multi-Agent Deep Reinforcement Learning

Abstract

Multi-agent systems need to communicate to coordinate a shared task. We show that a recurrent neural network (RNN) can learn a communication protocol for coordination, even if the actions to coordinate are performed steps after the communication phase. We show that a separation of tasks with different temporal scale is necessary for successful learning. We contribute a hierarchical deep reinforcement learning model for multi-agent systems that separates the communication and coordination task from the action picking through a hierarchical policy. We further on show, that a separation of concerns in communication is beneficial but not necessary. As a testbed, we propose the Dungeon Lever Game and we extend the Differentiable Inter-Agent Learning (DIAL) framework. We present and compare results from different model variations on the Dungeon Lever Game.     

煤矿5G分布式MIMO组网技术研究（增刊）

根据煤矿井下的安全防爆要求，天线的射频发射功率受到严格限制，导致煤矿5G的基站部署密度显著高于地面场景。为了解决由此引发的交叉覆盖问题，本文提出了煤矿5G分布式MIMO组网技术，利用分布在不同位置的天线实现对用户数据的联合并行发送，不仅避免了由交叉覆盖导致的乒乓切换等负面效应，还提升了边缘区域的信号覆盖效果。在乌兰木伦煤矿的300米采煤工作面内，利用分布式MIMO组网技术实现了5G信号的无边界覆盖，上行速率不低于500Mbps，保障了煤机数据的实时有效传输。     

High lithium storage of Co3O4 enabled by integrating hollow and porous carbon scaffolds

The Co₃O₄, as a potential anode of lithium-ion batteries, has gained considerable attention because of high theoretical capacity. However, the Co₃O₄ is suffering from serious structure deterioration and rapid capacity fading due to its bulky volume change during cyclic charge/discharge process. Herein, to stabilize the lithium storage performance of the Co₃O₄ nanoparticles, a characteristic carbon scaffold (HPC) integrating hollow and porous structures has been fabricated by a well-designed method for the first time. The ultrafine Co₃O₄ nanoparticles are cleverly anchored on the HPC (HPC@Co₃O₄) and hence achieve significantly improved electrochemical properties including high capacity, improved reaction kinetics and outstanding cycle stability, showing high capacity of 1084.7 mAh g^-1 after 200 cycles at 200 mA g^-1 as well as 681.4 mAh g^-1 after 300 cycles at 1000 mA g^-1. The HPC@Co₃O₄ therefore shows good promising for application in advanced lithium-ion battery anodes. The results of the systematically material and electrochemical characterizations indicate that the synergistic effects of ultrafine Co₃O₄ nanoparticles and well-designed HPC scaffolds are responsible for the outstand performance of the HPC@Co₃O₄ anode. Moreover, this work can enrich the understanding and development of stable and high-performance metal oxide-based lithium-ion battery anodes for advanced lithium storage.     

三菱Q系列PLC串口自由通讯方法的探究

多种工业控制场合需要使用智能设备,并以串行通信将数据发送至上位机。三菱Q系列PLC无顺序通信方法仅支持接收“固定长度”与“变长度有固定结尾”两种数据对象,与发送“变长度无固定结尾”数据的智能设备不能妥善匹配。为此设计了一种Q系列PLC串口自由通信方法,该方法采用顺序控制程序实现了“变长度无固定结尾”数据接收、异常数据消除与通信模块故障自恢复,具有破除通信模块设定局限、可自行定义通信协议的特点。经实验其可同时支持多种智能设备,具有良好的适应性和通用性。     

基于物联网的智能室内定位送水系统设计

随着物联网技术的发展,机器人已广泛应用于生产和生活之中。自动送水机器人作为一种智能饮水系统,可应用于办公区域、医院、家庭等多种场所,智能化地为人类提供饮水服务。本文设计了一款智能室内定位送水系统,可以实现水杯定位、转向前行、自动添注水等功能。系统以UP Squared处理器为设计平台,扩展了UWB定位、Zigbee无线传输、陀螺仪、机械臂等功能模块。采用MPU6050 模块进行旋转角度感知,PID算法控制机器人旋转；基于电流磁效应和电磁感应定律感知水杯位置；采用超声波模块对出水口上升的高度和水杯中水位进行检测。通过实验测试了系统的定位、方向调整、测距、功耗等多项参数以及送水全过程,结果表明,系统具有定位准确、转向快速平稳和功耗低等特点,达到实际应用于室内智能定位送水的技术要求。     

网络与通信技术在计算机控制中的应用

在社会经济高速发展的支持下,我国网络与通信技术高速发展,并且在发展中逐渐实现了两种技术的结合应用,大大提升了网络与通信技术的应用价值。文章对网络与通信技术进行分析,研究网络与通信技术在计算机控制中应用的时代背景和具体应用,并对其未来发展进行了概述,以促进计算机控制领域的科学化发展。     

A red code triggers an unintended approach motivation toward sweet ultra-processed foods: Possible implications for front-of-pack labels

Front-of-package labels (FOPL) are recommended to reduce consumer intake of ultra-processed food products (UPP). The multiple traffic-light label is one example of FOPL that indicates the content of target nutrients in products by displaying red (high), amber (medium), and/or green (low) color-coding. The red code may implicitly enhance sweetness perception and approach dispositions toward sweet UPP via cross-modal visual-taste interactions. We conducted two experiments to examine the possibility of contradictory influence of explicitly learned and implicit cross-modal associations on the emotional responses evoked by UPP pictures. In both experiments, we first explicitly associated the color codes with health-related meanings. In Experiment I (n = 78), a psychometric tool estimated the emotional responses (pleasantness and arousal ratings) evoked by UPP pictures when preceded by red, amber, or green color-codes. In Experiment II (n = 24), we recorded participants’ electrocortical brain activity to assess the early posterior negativity (EPN) component as an index of the emotional responses to UPP. The reported pleasantness (Experiment I) and the EPN amplitude (Experiment II) were greater for sweet UPP relative to salty UPP when primed with red codes but not when primed with green or amber. A red code increased positive emotions toward sweet UPP despite its explicit association with increased health-risks. Thus, the use of multiple traffic-lights might lead to an unintended implicit approach behavior toward sweet UPP. Designers, researchers, and policy makers may consider color-taste cross-modal associations when designing, testing, and applying FOPL.