Corrosion behavior of coating with plasma sprayed 8YSZ on the surface of carbon steel

The corrosion behavior of plasma sprayed 8YSZ(ZrO2 stabilized by 8 wt.%Y2O3)coating on the surface of carbon steel in seawater was investigated.The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used as a non-destructive evaluation technique to monitor the protection properties of the coating when it was immersed in seawater,and corrosion products were characterized by scanning electron microscopy,energy dispersive spectrometry and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy.The results indicated that three time constants were obtained during the initial immersion period,and then a new time constant appeared due to the formation of rust layer,which was corresponding to the corrosion process.Corrosion products were formed on the coating surface as well as inside the coating,and the crystalline composition of the rust layer mainly consisted of γ-FeOOH.     

Erythrocytes from healthy smokers bind more bilirubin than the erythrocytes from healthy non-smokers

Cigarette smoking is an adverse prognostic factor for health. Its damaging effects on many enzymatic and cellular activities are well known. The present study was carried out to evaluate whether there is a difference in the binding of bilirubin to the erythrocytes from healthy smokers and non-smokers. The results suggest that the binding of bilirubin to the erythrocytes from healthy smokers as well as in vitro smoked erythrocytes is significantly higher than that of healthy non-smokers.     

Positive psychotherapy.

Positive psychotherapy (PPT) contrasts with standard interventions for depression by increasing positive emotion, engagement, and meaning rather than directly targeting depressive symptoms. The authors have tested the effects of these interventions in a variety of settings. In informal student and clinical settings, people not uncommonly reported them to be "life-changing." Delivered on the Web, positive psychology exercises relieved depressive symptoms for at least 6 months compared with placebo interventions, the effects of which lasted less than a week. In severe depression, the effects of these Web exercises were particularly striking. This address reports two preliminary studies: In the first, PPT delivered to groups significantly decreased levels of mild-to-moderate depression through 1-year follow-up. In the second, PPT delivered to individuals produced higher remission rates than did treatment as usual and treatment as usual plus medication among outpatients with major depressive disorder. Together, these studies suggest that treatments for depression may usefully be supplemented by exercises that explicitly increase positive emotion, engagement, and meaning. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

DC Magnetron-Sputtered Mo Thin Films with High Adhesion,Conductivity and Reflectance

The main challenge in the deposition of molybdenum thin films for high efficiency in copper indium gallium selenide (CIGS) modules lies in gaining an adherent coating without compromising conductivity and reflectance characteristics. In this study, Mo thin films were deposited on soda-lime glass by DC magnetron sputtering at different deposition power (55, 100, 200 and 300 W) and with high working gas pressure (2 and 4 Pa). Analytical techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Hall effect were employed to analyze the structure, morphology and electrical resistivity of the deposited films. Ultraviolet–visible (UV–Vis) spectrometry was performed to measure the reflectance and a cross-hatch adhesion tape test was employed to determine the adhesion behavior of deposited films. With higher sputtering power and reduced gas pressure, an increase in the crystallite size of the deposited films was observed. Films deposited at higher gas pressure were found with tensile stresses and higher adhesion with the substrate. The van der Pauw method reveals an increase in conductivity at high power and low gas pressure. Improved reflectance was achieved at moderate sputtering power and low gas pressure.     

Impact of Distribution Type in Bayes Probability Flood Forecasting

Bayesian forecasting system (BFS) is widely applied to the hydrological forecast. Hydrological forecast processor (HUP), a key part of the Bayesian probability prediction, is conducted at the assumption that the rainfall is certain, which can simultaneously quantify the uncertainty of hydrological model and parameter. In the HUP, the runoff is usually assumed to obey Logweibull distribution or Normal distribution. However, Distribution type of the runoff is not certain at different areas, and there are few distribution types of HUP in existence. So common distribution types are needed to develop the HUP to provide an effective forecast result. In this paper, Nonparametric kernel density estimation, Pearson III and Empirical distribution were introduced as the prior distribution of HUP to eliminate the parameter uncertainty of probability density function. Also, the five distributions were compared in this study to get the diversity of distribution types and search the best appropriate distribution type. The 52 floods during 2004a-2014a of ZheXi basin are employed to calibrate and validate the different distribution types of BFS. The results show that the LogWeibull and Empirical Bayesian probabilistic model has the best performance on average results compared with the other four distribution models. Meanwhile the other distribution types proposed in this study have the similar ability on interval width and the containing rate of probability forecasting results. This demonstrates that more new distributions are required to make BFS more robust.     

Metal Cations in Efficient Perovskite Solar Cells: Progress and Perspective

Metal halide perovskite solar cells (PVSCs) have revolutionized photovoltaics since the first prototype in 2009, and up to now the highest efficiency has soared to 24.2%, which is on par with commercial thin film cells and not far from monocrystalline silicon solar cells. Optimizing device performance and improving stability have always been the research highlight of PVSCs. Metal cations are introduced into perovskites to further optimize the quality, and this strategy is showing a vigorous development trend. Here, the progress of research into metal cations for PVSCs is discussed by focusing on the position of the cations in perovskites, the modulation of the film quality, and the influence on the photovoltaic performance. Metal cations are considered in the order of alkali cations, alkaline earth cations, then metal cations in the ds and d regions, and ultimately trivalent cations (p‐ and f‐block metal cations) according to the periodic table of elements. Finally, this work is summarized and some relevant issues are discussed.     

Durable and Recyclable Superhydrophobic Fabric and Mesh for Oil–Water Separation

The authors report durable and recyclable nanocomposite superhydrophobic coatings on two different substrates of fabric and mesh as prepared by titania nanoparticles and polydimethysiloxane (PDMS). The felted wool fabric and the steel mesh are initially coated with a thin layer of PDMS, which is followed by the deposition of nanocomposite coating of titania nanoparticles embedded in PDMS. The dual surface modification of two kinds of substrates generates highly hydrophobic surface character, which is retained after durability performance as measured in ultrasonication, sand, and emery paper abrasion tests. Oil–water separation experiments are performed using water mixtures with four oils, that is, n‐hexane, toluene, kerosene, and diesel to ensure the industrial applications of prepared composite materials. Moreover, nanocomposite coatings are tested for several cycles of oil–water separation in harsh conditions such as hot water, sodium chloride, and hydrochloric acid. The adopted approach improves the separation performance by inducing durability of the prepared nanocomposite coatings along with introducing recyclable character.     

Time-dependent reliability prediction using transfer learning

Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization - One of the key challenges in reliability estimation is the acquisition of failure information especially under real-life scenarios or computationally...     

Grain Boundary Shortening in CuTl-1234 Superconductor by the Addition of ZnO Nanoparticles

The superconducting properties of Cu_0.5Tl_0.5 Ba₂Ca₃Cu₄O_12?x are studied after the inclusion of ZnO nanoparticles. The ZnO nanoparticles prepared by a sol-gel method were incorporated during the second stage of the synthesis of Cu_0.5Tl_0.5Ba₂Ca₃Cu₄O_12?x phase in y =?0, 3.0, 5.0, and 7.0 wt%. It is observed that the structure, the morphology, and the superconductivity properties are greatly influenced by the inclusion of ZnO nanoparticles. The lattice parameters of the orthorhombic phase of Cu_0.5Tl_0.5Ba₂Ca₃Cu₄O_12?x superconductor are decreased with the increase of x. Similarly, the grain morphology has been changed from needle-like to spherical grains. One of the major benefits of the inclusion of ZnO nanoparticles is the increase in critical temperature, critical magnetic fields, and critical current density as observed from the theoretical calculations of fluctuation-induced conductivity analysis.     

Nanoplastic removal function and the mechanical nature of colloidal silica slurry polishing

The nanomechanical deformations on a broad range of optical material surfaces (single crystals of Al₂O₃ [sapphire], SiC, Y₃Al₅O₁₂ [YAG], CaF₂, and LiB₃O₅ [LBO]; a SiO₂–Al₂O₃–P₂O₅–Li₂O glass-ceramics [Zerodur]; and glasses of SiO₂:TiO₂ [ULE], SiO₂ [fused silica], and P₂O₅–Al₂O₃–K₂O–BaO [Phosphate]) near the elastic-plastic load boundary have been measured by nanoindentation and nanoscratching to mimic the nanoplastic removal caused by a single slurry particle during polishing. Nanoindenation in air was performed to determine the workpiece hardness at various loads using a commercial nanoindenter with a Berkovich tip. Similarly, an atomic force microscope (AFM) with a stiff diamond coated tip (150 nm radius) was used to produce nanoplastic scratches in air and aqueous environments over a range of applied loads (~20-170 μN). The resulting nanoplastic deformation of the nanoscratches were used to calculate the removal function (i.e., depth per pass) which ranged from 0.18 to 3.6 nm per pass for these materials. A linear correlation between the nanoplastic removal function and the polishing rate (using a fixed polishing process with colloidal silica slurry on a polyurethane pad) of these materials was observed implying that: (a) the polishing mechanism using colloidal silica slurry can be dominated by mechanical rather than chemical interactions; and (b) the nanoplastic removal function, as opposed to interface particle interactions, is the controlling factor for the polishing material removal rate. Furthermore, this correlation is consistent with the Ensemble Hertzian Multi-Gap (EHMG) microscopic material removal rate model described previously. The nanoplastic removal depth was also found to correlate to the measured nanoindentation hardness (H₁) of the optical material, scaling as H₁^−3.5. Two-dimensional (2D) finite element analysis simulations of nanoindentation showed a similar nonlinear dependence of plastic deformation with the workpiece material hardness. The findings of this study are used to determine an effective Preston coefficient for the material removal rate expression and enhance the predictive nature of the nanoplastic polishing rate for various materials utilizing their material properties.