Simplified speciation and atmospheric volatile organic compound emission rates from non-aerosol personal care products

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) emitted from personal care products (PCPs) can affect indoor air quality and outdoor air quality when ventilated. In this paper, we determine a set of simplified VOC species profiles and emission rates for a range of non-aerosol PCPs. These have been constructed from individual vapor analysis from 36 products available in the UK, using equilibrium headspace analysis with selected-ion flow-tube mass spectrometry (SIFT-MS). A simplified speciation profile is created based on the observations, comprising four alcohols, two cyclic volatile siloxanes, and monoterpenes (grouped as limonene). Estimates are made for individual unit-of-activity VOC emissions for dose-usage of shampoos, shower gel, conditioner, liquid foundation, and moisturizer. We use these values as inputs to the INdoor air Detailed Chemical Model (INDCM) and compare results against real-world case-study experimental data. Activity-based emissions are then scaled based on plausible usage patterns to estimate the potential scale of annual per-person emissions for each product type (eg, 2 g limonene person⁻¹ yr⁻¹ from shower gels). Annual emissions from non-aerosol PCPs for the UK are then calculated (decamethylcyclopentasiloxane 0.25 ktonne yr⁻¹ and limonene 0.15 ktonne yr⁻¹) and these compared with the UK National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory estimates for non-aerosol cosmetics and toiletries.     

Scope and Post‐Transformations for the Borane‐Isocyanide Multicomponent Reactions: Concise Access to Structurally Diverse Heterocyclic Compounds

A recently described family of multicomponent reactions (MCRs) involving isocyanides, aldehydes, dipolarophiles and alkylboranes that yield highly substituted aziridines, oxazolidines and pyrrolidines has been studied in detail. In this work the scope of these processes is significantly increased by preparing the borane input through hydroboration of alkenes or organometallic processes, in tandem with the MCR. The aldehyde range is also expanded, and indole‐3‐carbaldehydes yield reactive imines and bis‐indolyloxazolidines, depending on the electron density of the heterocycle. Finally, the obtained adducts constitute an ideal platform to generate structurally diverse compounds using simple post‐condensation modifications. In this way, indole imines undergo stereoselective hydrocyanation and oxazolidines are reductively opened to give amino alcohols. Additionally, palladium‐, ruthenium‐ and gold‐catalyzed processes lead to a variety of complex heterocycles. The methodology is simple, efficient and highly divergent, leading to an array of interesting scaffolds for medicinal chemistry.

     

Grain size dependence of dielectric relaxation in cerium oxide as high-k layer

Cerium oxide (CeO₂) thin films used liquid injection atomic layer deposition (ALD) for deposition and ALD procedures were run at substrate temperatures of 150°C, 200°C, 250°C, 300°C, and 350°C, respectively. CeO₂ were grown on n-Si(100) wafers. Variations in the grain sizes of the samples are governed by the deposition temperature and have been estimated using Scherrer analysis of the X-ray diffraction patterns. The changing grain size correlates with the changes seen in the Raman spectrum. Strong frequency dispersion is found in the capacitance-voltage measurement. Normalized dielectric constant measurement is quantitatively utilized to characterize the dielectric constant variation. The relationship extracted between grain size and dielectric relaxation for CeO₂ suggests that tuning properties for improved frequency dispersion can be achieved by controlling the grain size, hence the strain at the nanoscale dimensions.     

An efficient framework for image/video inpainting

Image inpainting has been widely applied to many applications, such as restoring corrupted old photos, erasing video logos, concealing errors in a digital video processing system, and so on. However, traditional geometric inpainting methods suffer low efficiency. To tackle this problem, this paper addresses an efficient transform based framework for geometric methods. Given an image, we firstly decompose it, then separately perform restoration process and finally employ Laplacian diffusion function to hold local texture coherence. Experimental results show that the proposed method not only speeds up and enhances the performances of geometric methods, but also obtains a better restoration results compared with the traditional texture and hybrid methods.     

Self‐Tuning PI Control Using Adaptive PSO of a Web Transport System with Overlapping Decentralized Control

Web transport systems for transporting films, textile material, paper, etc., are usually large‐scale systems. The velocity and the tension of the web are controlled by dividing the systems into several subsystems in which strong coupling exists between the velocity and tension control. A self‐tuning PI (STPI) controller with an estimator based on a novel adaptive particle swarm optimization method is constructed, and it is applied for controlling an actual web transport system. The controllers are designed on the basis of the methodology of the overlapping decentralized control by taking into consideration online executions performed by a general computer. The effectiveness of the constructed control system is verified on the basis of several experimental results obtained by using an actual experimental web transport system. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Electr Eng Jpn, 184(1): 56–65, 2013; Published online in Wiley Online Library (wileyonlinelibrary.com). DOI 10.1002/eej.22366     

Wetted Wall Cyclones for Bioaerosol Sampling

A wetted wall bioaerosol sampling cyclone with an aerosol sampling flow rate of 1250 L/min and a continuous liquid outflow rate of about 1 mL/min was developed by upgrading an existing system. The aerosol-to-hydrosol collection efficiency curve for the upgraded device was shown to have a cutpoint of 1.2 μ m aerodynamic diameter (AD) and an average collection efficiency of 90% over the size range of 2 to 10.2 μ m AD. Tests with near-monodisperse cells and clusters of Bacillus atrophaeus (aka BG) spores showed an average aerosol-to-hydrosol collection efficiency of 98% over the size range from 1.7 to 9.8 μ m AD. Pressure drop across the cyclone, which is also the ideal specific power, was 5.5 kPa (22 inches H₂O). Stokes scaling was used to design geometrically similar cyclones with nominal air sampling flow rates of 100 and 300 L/min. Extensive tests were performed with the 100 L/min unit and check tests with the 300 L/min. Results with the scaled units showed similar, although somewhat lower collection efficiencies than the 1250 L/min device, but with lower consumption of liquid and lower pressure losses. For the 100 L/min cyclone, the cutpoint of the aerosol-to-hydrosol efficiency curve was 1.2 μ m AD, and the average collection efficiency for single cells and clusters of BG spores was 86% over a size range of 1.2 to 8.3 μ m AD. Also, for the 100 L/min cyclone, typical output liquid flow rates were 100 μ L/min, and the pressure loss was 1.6 kPa (6.4 inches H₂O).     

Natural language manual programming for pulsed fiber laser micromachining

This paper proposes the use of voice commands expressed in natural language for part program generation for pulsed fiber laser micromachining. Traditionally, according to ISO G-code, a part program is an ordered list of program blocks in an ASCII formatted computer file. Each block identifies a machine operation and defines its parameters, following a predefined syntax. Under the proposed approach, such a file is replaced by natural language voice commands without any particular syntax constraints. Such an approach has the potential to facilitate the generation of part programs in domains (laser micromanufacturing, rapid prototyping, desktop computer numerical control) where traditional ISO G-code programming seems inappropriate, and the adoption and implementation of complex solutions such as STEP-NC or CAD/CAM systems could be unjustified. The input system is responsible for the recognition and interpretation of voice commands according to a statistical knowledge base learnt from examples. The proposed approach has been implemented in a prototype computer system, named smart programming system that has been validated by an application to the programming of pulsed fiber laser micromachining.     

Thermal conduction between a heated microcantilever and a surrounding air environment

This paper investigates transient heat conduction between a heated microcantilever and its air environment. Continuum finite element simulations allow detailed analysis of heat flow within and from the resistively heated microcantilever. Heat generation of 8 mW excites the cantilever with heating that is either steady, pulse, sinusoidal, or pulse duty cycle. The time-averaged heat conduction from the cantilever leg to the nearby air is typically two to six times greater than the heat conduction from the heater to the air. The cooling time constant increases as the pulse heating time increases; for heating times of 1–1000 μs, the cooling time ranges 4.6–70 μs. The effective heat transfer coefficients around the heater and around the leg are considerably large; on the order of 1 kW/m² K. This study of heat transfer between a microcantilever and its surrounding air environment will aid the design and operation of microcantilever heaters.     

The effect of the evolution of environmental conditions on the corrosion evolutionary path in a repository for spent fuel and high-level waste in Opalinus Clay

The corrosion evolutionary path (CEP) defines the time-dependent corrosion behaviour of canisters in a deep geologic repository. In turn, the CEP is largely determined by the evolution of the environmental conditions in the near- and far-fields. The evolution of environmental conditions in a repository for spent fuel and high-level waste in Opalinus Clay is described along with the impact on the corrosion behaviour of the canisters.