Quantification of Mixtures of C2 and C3 Hydroxy Acids and Products of Glycerol Oxidation by High-Performance Liquid Chromatography and Quantitative 13C NMR

The aim of this study was to develop an improved general method for detecting and quantifying mixtures of hydroxy acids and other products of glycerol oxidation in aqueous media, to prevent the confusions that can occur due to similarities and interactions between these compounds depending on media conditions. Standard potential products of glycerol oxidation—glycerol, glyceraldehyde, dihydroxyacetone, glyceric acid, lactic acid, glycolic acid, glyoxylic acid, oxalic acid, tartronic acid, and mesoxalic acid—were analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and quantitative ¹³C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), in mixtures of known composition. The results obtained were concordant with the known compositions tested. HPLC was more accurate than quantitative ¹³C NMR for simple mixtures, but ¹³C NMR was required for complex mixtures containing dihydroxyacetone and glycerol, oxalic acid and mesoxalic acid, or glyoxylic acid and tartronic acid, pairs of compounds not well separated or detected by HPLC. As proof-of-concept, an unknown mixture generated by glycerol oxidation was analyzed by HPLC and quantitative ¹³C NMR. The results obtained were concordant and allowed accurate determination of the composition of the sample, which contained mesoxalic acid as the major product, with oxalic acid, tartronic acid, and glyceric acid as by-products.     

Estimating the system efficiency of the multifunctional hydrogen complex at nuclear power plants

The paper deals with the primary current frequency regulation in the energy system (ES) as well as the basic requirements for NPP power units (PUs) under the conditions of involvement into the primary regulation. According to these requirements, NPP operation is related to the unloading and corresponding decrease in efficiency. It has been shown in this connection that combining NPP with a hydrogen complex (HEC) allows excluding the inefficient unloading mode. This enables the steam turbine and reactor equipment to operate in the basic mode at nominal power level. Besides, the conditions for producing and storing hydrogen and oxygen during the day as well as additionally during the night-time of off-peak electrical load may be created, which allows using them for generating peak power.In the paper, the systemic economic benefit as a result of involving NPP combined with HEC into primary regulation of the current frequency in ES with allowance for expending resources for the main equipment has been estimated. In this regard, the paper gives grounds for cyclic loadings of HEC main equipment including metal tanks for storing hydrogen and oxygen, compressors, hydrogen-oxygen combustion chamber (HOCC) for hydrogen-steam superheating of the actuating medium in the NPP steam turbine cycle. Methodological grounds for evaluating the equipment endurance under cyclic loading with involving into the primary frequency regulation by the criterion of the fatigue crack growth rate are described. It has been shown that in terms of HEC equipment, the highest load intensity occurs in HOCC due to high thermal stresses.Also, the systemic economic benefit has been estimated, and the impact of the equipment deterioration under conditions of cyclic loading has been demonstrated. It is shown that when combining NPP PUs with HEC, the efficiency of primary regulation may significantly depend on such factors as the cost of equipment exposed to cyclic loads, the frequency and intensity of cyclic loads, and the relation between the peak electricity tariff and the cost price of electric energy produced by NPP.It has been shown on the basis of novel methods for estimating the efficiency of involving NPP with HEC into the primary frequency regulation with allowance for damage to the equipment, that the use of HEC may provide a considerable economic benefit, as compared to the version of NPP unloading when involving directly into frequency regulation.     

低温溶液缩聚法制备聚间苯二甲酰对苯二胺

采用低温溶液缩聚法制备了聚间苯二甲酰对苯二胺(PPIA),讨论了单体浓度、单体物质的量配比、反应温度等因素对聚合反应的影响,并用红外光谱(IR)、热重分析(TG)、X射线衍射(XRD)、扫描电镜(SEM)对实验产物进行了测定。红外检测出的特征峰符合PPIA的结构特征,热重测得热分解速率最大温度在520℃左右,X射线衍射表明聚合物有明显结晶现象,并且扫描电镜显示下的聚合物结构聚集状态良好。     

Analytical framework for ex-post evaluation of transport projects: Lessons learnt on retrospective CBA

This study deals with the ex-post evaluation of ten major transport projects which were co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund and the Cohesion Fund in the period 2000–2013 and located across nine EU Member States. The original contribution of this study is represented by the combination of the traditional ex-post Cost–Benefit approach with a qualitative analysis. Specifically, a retrospective Cost–Benefit analysis is used to quantify the benefits and costs of the projects, then interviews to relevant stakeholders were carried out. Ex-post CBA, when appropriately implemented and integrated with qualitative evidence, represents a powerful tool for supporting decision-making processes and for policy lessons.     

Multi-factor impact mechanism on combustion efficiency of a hydrogen-fueled micro-cylindrical combustor

As it is important to achieve higher combustion efficiency for applications of micro-cylindrical combustor, the multi-factor impact mechanism on the combustion efficiency of a hydrogen-fuelled micro-cylindrical combustor is investigated in this work. Firstly, six factors such as hydrogen/air equivalence ratio, inlet velocity, inlet temperature, wall thermal conductivity, wall emissivity and convective heat transfer coefficient of outer wall and five levels of each factor are determined. Orthogonal design table L₂₅(5⁶) is introduced to arrange cases. Secondly, grey relational analysis is adopted to investigate the effects of the six factors on combustion efficiency. Finally, the results of grey relational analysis are validated by analysis of variance. Based on grey relational analysis and analysis of variance, it is determined that the impact ranking from the largest to the smallest is hydrogen/air equivalence ratio, inlet velocity and inlet temperature, followed by the other three factors. The impact of wall thermal conductivity, convective heat transfer coefficient of outer wall and wall emissivity is considered to be equal due to their difference of impact on combustion efficiency is very small. This work provides us significant reference for optimizing combustion efficiency of a hydrogen-fuelled micro-cylindrical combustor.     

《电子显微分析》课程教学内容及方法研究

《电子显微分析》课程是目前高校材料类和生命科学类专业一门重要的专业选修课。根据《电子显微分析》课程特点，剖析了该课程的教学现状以及存在的问题。针对这些问题，在教学内容的设定、教学方式的调整及实践性教学的考核等方面做了一些思考。     

基于组合赋权-集对分析的煤矿煤尘爆炸危险性评价研究

针对目前煤尘爆炸危险性评价研究较少、各评价因素选择偏差较大的问题,通过分析煤尘爆炸特性,提出以煤尘可爆性危险、煤尘爆炸浓度危险、点火源危险3个必要条件为一级指标,煤质变异程度、挥发分、水分、灰分等14个二级指标,以层次分析法确定各指标的主观权重,以熵权法确定各指标的客观权重,利用乘法归一化方法对各指标的组合权重进行计算,构建集对分析-组合赋权煤尘爆炸危险性评价模型,并将该模型与已较成熟的改进FAHP模型、模糊事故树模型、灰色聚类评估体系、未确知测度评价模型一同应用于济宁某矿的煤尘爆炸危险性评价过程中,结果显示:集对分析-组合赋权评价模型、改进FAHP模型、灰色聚类评估体系评价结果为一般危险等级,模糊事故树模型的评价结果为较安全等级,集对分析-组合赋权煤尘爆炸危险性评价模型评价结果与改进FAHP模型、灰色聚类评估体系、未确知测度评价模型的评价结果一致,该模型对煤尘爆炸危险的评价具有较好的适用性。     

Turning a Digital Camera into an Absolute 2D Tele‐Colorimeter

We present a simple and effective technique for absolute colorimetric camera characterization, invariant to changes in exposure/aperture and scene irradiance, suitable in a wide range of applications including image‐based reflectance measurements, spectral pre‐filtering and spectral upsampling for rendering, to improve colour accuracy in high dynamic range imaging. Our method requires a limited number of acquisitions, an off‐the‐shelf target and a commonly available projector, used as a controllable light source, other than the reflected radiance to be known. The characterized camera can be effectively used as a 2D tele‐colorimeter, providing the user with an accurate estimate of the distribution of luminance and chromaticity in a scene, without requiring explicit knowledge of the incident lighting power spectra. We validate the approach by comparing our estimated absolute tristimulus values (XYZ data in ) with the measurements of a professional 2D tele‐colorimeter, for a set of scenes with complex geometry, spatially varying reflectance and light sources with very different spectral power distribution.     

Porous ceramics with tailored pore size and morphology as substrates for coral larval settlement

The growing demand for stony corals as ornamental aquarium animals requires defined aquacultural breeding strategies. For the sexual propagation of corals, material substrates are needed, that attract larvae and support their settlement and development. In this study, five types of highly porous ceramic materials were developed following the example of coral skeleton. The applicability of these settlement substrates was tested using larvae of the stony coral Pocillopora damicornis. Partial sintering of pressed clay pellets, freeze casting of clay and alumina-mullite based slurries and direct foaming of high alkane phase emulsified suspensions (HAPES) using alumina were employed. By the addition of mm-sized spherical polystyrene beads as sacrificial templates during freeze casting (alumina-mullite), superficial pores in the size of the larvae were created. The inorganic substrates featured open porosities between 35% (pressed clay) and 83% (foamed alumina), pore sizes ranging from nm to mm-scale and pore morphologies dominated by interparticle porosity (pressed), lamellar pores (freeze casting) and cellular pore types (direct foaming). The ceramic substrates were incubated in artificial sea water for 3 months to induce necessary biofilm formation and algae growth. Afterwards, individual substrates were exposed to 5 coral larvae, and their settlement behavior was monitored over 14 days. At the end of this period, all ceramic materials were successfully accepted as settlement substrates, with a mean settlement rate of 46.2%, and no significant differences between the substrate types. On samples with large surface superficial pores, a significantly reduced survival of settled larvae (79%) compared to the other porous materials (93–98%) was determined, suggesting a non-ideal surface topography. While alumina foam samples (HAPES) exhibit the most promising results in terms of settlement and survival of larvae, clay-based substrates provide a more economic solution for the sexual propagation of corals in aquaculture.     

Recovery of Collided RFID Tags With Frequency Drift on Physical Layer

In a passive ultra-high frequency (UHF) radio frequency identification (RFID) system, the recovery of collided tag signals on a physical layer can enhance identification efficiency. However, frequency drift is very common in UHF RFID systems, and will have an influence on the recovery on the physical layer. To address the problem of recovery with the frequency drift, this paper adopts a radial basis function (RBF) network to separate the collision signals, and decode the signals via FM0 to recovery collided RFID tags. Numerical results show that the method in this paper has better performance of symbol error rate (SER) and separation efficiency compared to conventional methods when frequency drift occurs.