Moisture Absorption and Desorption in an Ionomer-Based Encapsulant: A Type of Self-Breathing Encapsulant for CIGS Thin-Film PV Modules

As an alternative to conventional encapsulation concepts for a double glass photovoltaic (PV) module, we introduce an innovative ionomer-based multi-layer encapsulant, by which the application of additional edge sealing to prevent moisture penetration is not required. The spontaneous moisture absorption and desorption of this encapsulant and its raw materials, poly (ethylene-co-acrylic acid) and an ionomer, are analyzed under different climatic conditions in this work. The relative air humidity is thermodynamically the driving force for these inverse processes and determines the corresponding equilibrium moisture content (EMC). Higher air humidity results in a larger EMC. The homogenization of the absorbed water molecules is a diffusion-controlled process, in which temperature plays a dominant role. Nevertheless, the diffusion coefficient at a higher temperature is still relatively low. Hence, under normal climatic conditions for the application of PV modules, we believe that the investigated ionomer-based encapsulant can “breathe” the humidity: During the day, when there is higher relative humidity, it “inhales” (absorbs) moisture and restrains it within the outer edge of the module; then at night, when there is a lower relative humidity, it “exhales” (desorbs) the moisture. In this way, the encapsulant protects the cell from moisture ingress.     

Should medium-sized contractors still implement home-made information technologies on construction sites?

Despite the increasing dissemination of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) approach, many firms are still far from BIM and are only starting to adopt information technologies. We conducted an ethnographic action research with an industrial partner that implements information technologies on its construction sites, with a strong preference for home-made applications. Results show that the development of such applications faces difficulties and that multiple iterations and versions are necessary before achieving the expected goals because the required competencies are lacking among internal development teams. Moreover, initial needs evolve considerably throughout the application’s development and evaluation process. However, notwithstanding the difficulties encountered during the different application development phases, the industrial partner believes the decision to be worthwhile because of the desire to have internal control over the project data and the need to consider certain specificities related to business processes.     

Perceptual quality assessment for multimodal medical image fusion

Recent years have witnessed that the multimodal medical image fusion (MMIF) plays critical roles in clinical diagnostics and treatment. Many MMIF algorithms have been proposed to improve the MMIF images quality. The quality of multimodal medical fused images will significantly affect the results of the clinical diagnosis. However, little work has been designed to evaluate the effectiveness of MMIF algorithms and the quality of MMIF images. To this end, this paper presents a perceptual quality assessment method for MMIF. A MMIF image database (MMIFID) is first built to employ the classical MMIF algorithms, and the subjective experiment is conducted to assess the quality of each fused image. Then, a no-reference objective method is proposed for the perceptual quality evaluation of MMIF images,which uses Pulse Coupled Neural Network (PCNN) in Non-subsampled Contourlet Transform (NSCT). A fused image is decomposed by NSCT into low frequency sub-band (LFS) and high frequency sub-band (HFS). It is used to motivate the PCNN processing, and large firing times are employed to measure LFS and HFS. Finally, two components evaluation results are combined to obtain the overall objective quality score. Experimental results based on the MMIFID indicate that our presented method outperforms the existing image fusion quality evaluation metrics, and it provides a satisfactory correlation with subjective scores, which shows effectiveness in the quality assessment of medical fused images.     

高瓦斯突出矿井底抽巷一巷多用技术研究与实践

胡底煤业为高瓦斯高突出高矿压的三高矿井。对高瓦斯高突出的治理，该矿采用“地面网络预抽、区域模块降量、底抽穿层保掘、高位顺层保采”的四级模式，施工底抽巷，实现“底抽穿层消突、区域模块降量、异巷探测增效、多巷通风治患、循环排矸减压”等“一巷多用”。该4种方法已在1303（上）、1305（上）工作面应用并推广，取得了良好的效果，大大提高了掘进效率且满足抽放、探放水、通风需要；回填矸石初步设计现已经完善，待下一步掘进将实现填矸作用。     

用于矿山等极端环境中的高精度定位算法

高精度室内定位技术在矿山、建筑、施工等多种极端环境下都有需求。基于超宽带通信(Ultra Wideband,UWB)的室内定位技术能够提供较高的定位精度,但超宽带信号易受到障碍物的干扰,并且在类似矿山等极端环境中,障碍物不可避免。因此,超宽带非视线传输(Non-Line-of-Sight,NLoS)测距成为当前的一个研究热点。当前研究大多集中在识别和消除非视线传输对超宽带测距的影响上,实际应用中,大多数情形下超宽带信号根本无法穿透障碍物,会导致定位标签只能够与2个或1个信标节点通信,但完成三边定位至少需要3个信标节点。为此,提出了一种基于目标行为分析的定位算法,该算法能够在短时间内仅剩余一个信标节点与标签通信时,也可实现高精度定位。该算法以超宽带通信为基础,使用信号飞行时间(Time of Flight,TOF)算法测距并定位。通过分析信号正常时的目标运动轨迹来判断其速度和方向,当信号不正常时(可通信的信标节点减少),可利用预测的速度和方向参数来实现辅助定位。将该算法部署在一个基于超宽带定位的系统中进行了测试,结果表明:当能够与标签通信并完成TOF算法的信标节点数量少于3个时,基于NLoS传输识别和消除的算法无法完成定位,而基于目标行为分析的定位算法依然能够实现定位,在单信标节点区域的平均定位误差为0.93 m,最大误差为1.41 m,在2个信标节点测距的区域,平均定位误差为0.64 m,最大误差为1.2 m。     

基于网络数据统计的食品欺诈研究分析

目的 建立符合我国国情的食品欺诈数据库, 补充国际上已建立的经济利益驱动型掺假(economically motivated adulteration, EMA)数据库空白。方法 搜集2001~2019年发生的食品欺诈行为, 初步建立具有中国国情的食品欺诈数据库。对数据库中信息完备的454条欺诈数据进行分析。结果 媒体报道数据占食品欺诈信息总数的71.6%; 食用农产品、酒类、乳制品、肉制品等11类产品是欺诈事件发生较多的食品类别; 产品欺诈(72.2%)高居食品欺诈类型的首位; 2001~2019年食品欺诈事件数量呈现出先上升后降低, 再上升再降低的“M”状趋势; 目前食品欺诈检测技术主要以理化分析技术为主, 针对的食品类别还有限; 食品欺诈信息以中国为主(89.0%), 涉及到世界各个地区。结论 食品欺诈是广泛存在的全球性问题, 本研究建立的食品欺诈数据库为预防食品安全风险起到了重要的技术支撑作用。     

扩渗时间对镁合金表面扩渗Zn+La2O3组织与性能的影响

在390℃温度下对AZ31镁合金进行固态扩渗Zn+La2O3（扩渗剂中的质量分数为0.4%）处理，扩渗时间分别为0、2、4、6h。研究了不同扩渗时间下镁合金表面渗层组织的变化，并测试了镁合金表面扩渗层的硬度和耐腐蚀性能。结果表明：当扩渗时间为2h时，未出现渗层；当扩渗时间为4h时，扩渗层中出现了Mg0.97Zn0.03固溶体和Mg-Zn化合物(MgZn+Mg2Zn3+MgZn2+ Mg2Zn11)。随着扩渗时间的延长，使得Zn原子的扩渗能力增强，Mg和Zn反应扩散形成了多种化合物，在AZ31镁合金表面得到了渗层。当扩渗时间为6h时，Mg7Zn3作为一种新相出现在了渗层中，同时，渗层组织粗化。扩渗试样的硬度随扩渗时间的增加而增加，而耐腐蚀性能在扩渗时间为4 h时为最佳。     

Preparation and corrosion resistance of cordierite–spodumene composite ceramics using zircon as a modifying agent

To prolong the service life of cordierite–spodumene composite ceramics applied to the solar heat transmission pipeline, the zircon modifier was introduced to improve the corrosion resistance of the ceramics. The effects of zircon on the density, bending strength, crystalline phase, microstructure and chemical stability were studied. The results showed that the sintering temperature range of the composite ceramics was broadened to 40–60?°C with the introduction of 5–15?wt% zircon. Moreover, the mechanical strength and corrosion resistance of the ceramic materials were improved with the zircon introduction. In particular, sample C3 containing 15?wt% of zircon and sintered at 1360?°C exhibited the best performance, which had the 0.03% Wa, 0.07% Pa, 2.34?g?cm^?3 Db and 100.17?MPa bending strength. After acid and alkali corrosion, the water absorption was still less than 0.5% and the strength loss rate decreased to less than 5.3%. The XRD and SEM analyses demonstrated that the ZrSiO₄ grains dispersed at the grain boundaries could enhance the mechanical properties. Furthermore, the existence of the Zr⁴⁺ ions not only reduced the cationic solubility of the glassy phases but also led to a reaction with OH^? to form Zr(OH)₄ on the surfaces. This improved the corrosion resistance of the composite ceramics and endowed it with a high residual strength after the acid and alkali corrosion.     

Hierarchical self-assembled hollow hydroxyapatite flower microspheres containing terpene functional groups for efficient drug loading and pH-responsive drug release

In this paper, we fabricated hierarchical self-assembled hollow rose-like flower microspheres (HRFM) and hollow burr-like flower microspheres (HBFM) hydroxyapatite (HAP) using dehydroabietyl phosphate tri-ester (DDPT) as an organic phosphorus source, a regulating agent, and a soft template simultaneously via a one-step solvothermal method. The HBFM and HRFM have been explored for their application in drug delivery, using doxorubicin (DOX) as a drug model. The formation mechanisms of HRFM and HBFM were proposed on the basis of the electrostatic potential diagrams and self-assembled behavior of DDPT organic molecule. After the rosin-based terpene functional groups were incorporated, both HRFM and HBFM exhibited low cytotoxicity against Hela cell, pH-dependent sustained drug release properties, and high drug loading capacity. The drug-loading capacities of HBFM and HRFM were 116.6?mg?g^?1 and 148.3?mg?g^?1, respectively. Thus, the as-prepared HRFM and HBFM are promising for the applications in drug delivery.     

Properties evaluation and fabrication of green clay reformulated from water sludge

Water sludge from Sungai Dua Penang fresh water processing plant has been successfully converted into functional pottery clay with improved physicochemical behavior and properties. Water sludge was generally made of kaolinite mineral that consisted of silica and alumina. At 7 h of milling duration, water sludge demonstrated a narrow particle size distribution at the size range of 107–150 µm. Water sludge owned a specific surface area of 27 m²/g with 8.8 nm (diameter) pore size and 0.05 cm³/g pore volume. Plasticity of clay body increased when clay formulation involved fine particles, e.g. water sludge or bentonite, which promote water adsorption ability. Fine particles with large surface area and better compaction also explained the enhanced hardness of pottery clay. The incorporation of clay minerals such as bentonite and sodium silicate into the formulation has facilitated metals immobilization within the clay body. Final clay product has a terra cotta color and performed a uniform shrinkage without obvious fracture. The fabrication of pottery wares from water sludge with minimized metals leakage has not only higher reutilize value but also a cost effective green method for handling waste and environmental issues.