Natural food mastication capability in preschool children according to their oral condition: A preliminary study

This study investigated, for the first time, the masticatory capability of preschool children using natural foods, and the impact of an early oral health alteration (early childhood caries: ECC) on the granulometry of ready-to-swallow food boluses. Thirteen children with ECC were compared to 13 preschool children with a healthy oral condition. Oral health criteria and NOT-S scores (Nordic Orofacial dysfunction Test-Screening) were recorded. For each child, number of masticatory cycles (Nc), chewing time (Ti), and frequency (Fq = Nc/Ti) were recorded during mastication of raw carrot (CAR), cheese (CHS) and breakfast cereals (CER) samples. Food boluses were collected by stopping children at their food-dependent individual swallowing threshold (Nc), and the median food bolus particle size value (D50) was calculated. Correlations were sought between oral health and masticatory criteria. In the ECC group, mean Fq values were significantly decreased for all three foods (p ≤ .001) and mean D50 values were significantly increased (p ≤ .001) compared to the control group (i.e., D50 CAR = 4,384 μm ± 929 vs. 2,960 μm ± 627). These alterations were related to the extent of ECC. The NOT-S mean global score was significantly increased in children with ECC (2.62 ± 1.37 vs. 1 ± 0.91 in the control group, p ≤ .01), due to “Mastication and swallowing” domain impairment. This study gives granulometric normative values for three foods in preschool children and shows the impact of ECC on D50 values. The progression of children's masticatory capability after dental treatment, and the impact of such modifications of sensory input on future eating habits should be explored.     

Elastic modulus of nanocrystalline cemented carbide

The purposes of this work were to obtain the accurate elastic modulus of the nanocrystalline WC–Co cemented carbides, and to propose the mechanism for the difference of elastic modulus between the nanocrystalline and conventional polycrystalline cemented carbides. The nanocrystalline cemented carbide was prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS) technique. The conventional polycrystalline cemented carbides were prepared by SPS and sinter-HIP techniques as references, respectively. The sintered cemented carbides were characterized by X-ray diffractometry, scanning electron microscopy and the transmission electron microscopy with precession electron diffraction technology. The elastic modulus was obtained by averaging the values measured with the continuous stiffness measurement method of the nanoindentation technology. The results show that the nanocrystalline cemented carbide has a relatively low modulus, which could be attributed to the more interface area and higher fraction ratio of the hcp cobalt phase caused by the rapid heating and cooling process during SPS.     

Microstructural characteristics of as-forged and β-air-cooled Zr–2.5Nb alloy

Multiple characterization and analysis techniques including electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD), electron channeling contrast (ECC) imaging, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and microhardness test were jointly employed to investigate microstructural characteristics such as local composition, morphology, grain boundary characteristics and interphase orientation relationship of a forged Zr–2.5Nb alloy before and after β-air-cooling. Results show that the as-forged specimen is composed of equiaxed and lamellar α grains and continuous net-like β-Zr films. After the β-air-cooling, the microstructure of the specimen is featured by basket-weave Widmanstätten structure, in which the inter-α-plate second phases are nanoscale β-Zr. Analyses for crystallographic orientations reveal that the Burgers relationship has been strictly followed during the β→α cooling. Compared to the as-forged specimen, the hardness of the β-air-cooled specimen is higher, which could be attributed to the decreased structural sizes of both α and β phases, and the increased fraction of high angle boundaries as well.     

A low power and low phase-noise 91~96 GHz VCO in 90 nm CMOS

This paper reports a 94 GHz CMOS voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) using both the negative capacitance (NC) technique and series-peaking output power and phase noise (PN) enhancement technique. NC is achieved by adding two variable LC networks to the source nodes of the active circuit of the VCO. NMOSFET varicaps are adopted as the required capacitors of the LC networks. In comparison with the conventional one, the proposed active circuit substantially decreases the input capacitance (C_in) to zero or even a negative value. This leads to operation (or oscillation) frequency (OF) increase and tuning range (TR) enhancement of the VCO. The VCO dissipates 8.3 mW at 1 V supply. The measured TR of the VCO is 91~96 GHz, close to the simulated (92.1~96.7 GHz) and the calculated one (92.2~98.2 GHz). In addition, at 1 MHz offset from 95.16 GHz, the VCO attains an excellent PN of – 98.3 dBc/Hz. This leads to a figure-of-merit (FOM) of ?188.5 dBc/Hz, a remarkable result for a V- or W-band CMOS VCO. The chip size of the VCO is 0.75 × 0.42 mm², i.e. 0.315 mm².     

风速时间序列混沌判定方法比较研究

混沌识别是对非线性时间序列进行混沌预测的前提。针对时间序列风速确定性与随机性相结合的复杂非线性特征,研究了不同的混沌识别方法,并对风速时间序列进行混沌特征识别。应用随机噪声、周期运动及经典混沌系统的时间序列对所选方法进行可靠性验证。对美国国家风能研究中心M2测风塔实测时间序列风速数据进行非线性混沌特征识别。结果表明:风速时间序列具有明显的混沌特征;各风速时间序列表现出不同程度的混沌特征;各混沌识别方法对风速时间序列混沌特征的表达形式不同,互为补充,相互验证。     

阳泉矿区煤样不同应力状态下声发射特性分析

为探索原煤煤样的力学性能和不同应力状态下的声发射活动特性,对阳泉矿区新景矿、平舒矿主采煤层的煤样进行了单轴、三轴压缩和巴西劈裂的声发射试验,分析了2种煤样力学性能及不同加载过程的声发射活动规律。证明通过监测声发射(微震)活动分析煤样或煤岩体内部破坏状态是一种方便有效的手段。     

Beta-Binomial删除信道中的喷泉码文件传输协议

由于命名数据网络(NDN,Named-Data Networking)无环路、逐包、逐跳转发的特点,使得数据包回传成功率降低,而传统的TCP/IP协议中的ARQ和ACK机制对于多播会话不再适用.由于NDN中的传输信道可以等效为二进制删除信道,因此可以通过应用层编码来实现文件的可靠传输.传统的信道编码技术如卷积码、级联码和RS码等复杂度较高,而将NDN与低复杂度的喷泉码的结合可以实现分布式的存储架构,因而可通过喷泉编码在应用层协议中实现可靠的纠删机制,保证整体文件的传输可靠性.以往的研究一般是基于确定的删除概率信道模型,但是由于网络的异构性和信道噪声等因素影响,可能会造成信道丢包概率呈随机性分布.因此,本文在Beta-Binomial分布模型的前提下,根据贝叶斯统计的先验信息和中心极限定理,对随机概率下的纠删信道的文件可靠传输协议进行了数学建模和理论推导.仿真结果显示此模型更具有普适性,此传输协议可在信道状况未知的前提下从理论上求出最小发包数,减少冗余编码包,提高文件整体的投递成功率,在保证传输可靠性的同时有效提升协议传输效率.     

Effect of ultrasound on the true flotation of lignite and its entrainment behavior

In this study, the ultrasound was fixed in the pulp zone of flotation cell and its effect on the true flotation of lignite was analyzed. Flotation results indicated that the simultaneous ultrasound treatment increased the concentrate yield and decreased the concentrate ash content. Screening analysis of flotation products revealed that the ultrasound could crush coarse coal to fine coal and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests indicated that the ultrasound could reduce the coverage of high-ash coal fines on the coarse particle surface. Thus, the flotation recovery of coarse lignite particle was increased. In addition, the true flotation and entrainment of ?0.074 mm fine particles were studied by the sink-float test and the method of Trahar. It was found the ultrasound significantly enhanced the true flotation of fine particles and improved the overall water recovery in lignite flotation.     

Developing microencapsulated 12‐hydroxystearic acid (HSA) for phase change material use

Phase change materials (PCM) have an increasingly more important role as a thermal energy storage (TES) media. However, leakage problem of PCM causes limitation during their integration in TES systems. Therefore, the encapsulation of PCMs is attracting research interest to extend usage of PCMs in real TES applications in recent years. In this study, hydroxystearic acid (HSA) was encapsulated with polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) and different PMMA comonomer shells via emulsion polymerization method for the first time in literature. HSA with high melting temperature range (74–78°C) can widen the scope of using PCMs, and the encapsulated form can make it more versatile. The chemical structures, morphologies, and thermophysical properties of capsules were determined by FT‐IR, SEM, DSC, TGA, and thermal infrared camera. Among the produced HSA capsule candidates, PMMA‐HEMA is the most promising with latent heat of 48.5 J/g with melting range of 47 to 85°C. SEM analysis indicated that the capsules have spherical shape with compact surface at nano‐micro (100–440 nm) size range; however, some capsules exhibited agglomeration.