Toward a continuous synthesis of porous carbon xerogel beads

A continuous process for producing porous carbon xerogel beads has been developed. It consists in injecting a pre‐cured aqueous solution of resorcinol and formaldehyde on top of a column filled with hot oleic acid. The latter is pumped on the top of the column and fed at the bottom, generating an upward flow that can be adjusted to match the terminal velocity of the settling beads. Thus, the bead residence time in the column can be adjusted to match the gelation time, allowing the beads to solidify before reaching the bottom of the vessel. The obtained beads are subsequently dried and pyrolyzed. The developed experimental setup proved the continuous synthesis of porous carbon beads is possible. Nevertheless, the shaping process caused various texture changes of the porous carbon, which mainly yields macropores instead of micro and mesopores. This process also leads to the build‐up of a denser skin around the beads. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 1049–1058, 2018     

Not all arguments are processed equally: a distributional model of argument complexity

Language Resources and Evaluation - This work addresses some questions about language processing: what does it mean that natural language sentences are semantically complex? What semantic features...     

Transient and steady states of Gd2Zr2O7 and 2ZrO2∙Y2O3 (ss) interactions with calcium magnesium aluminium silicates

Reactions between calcium magnesium aluminium silicates (CMAS) and Gd₂Zr₂O₇ or 2ZrO₂?Y₂O₃ (ss) are investigated within a temperature range of 1200–1300 °C and for durations of 1 h–100 h. The evolution of CMAS penetration depth in Gd₂Zr₂O₇ and 2ZrO₂?Y₂O₃ (ss) pellets varies considerably depending on the interaction time. A quantitative analysis of the nature and composition of phases observed in stationary conditions (powder/powder interaction) is performed by SEM-FEG coupled with WDS analyses using micro-agglomerated nanoparticles of Gd₂Zr₂O₇ and 2ZrO₂?Y₂O₃. Faster kinetics of the gadolinium-based system are illustrated through an analysis of the morphology of the reaction area and of the resulting CMAS tightness of reaction products. The compositions and quantities of reaction products observed at equilibrium are very similar for the two systems, but transient states are significantly different.     

Network and Service Management for Cloud Computing and Data Centers: A Report on CNSM 2012

This short paper reports on the CNSM’2012 conference (International Conference on Network and Service Management). It presents an overview on the technical sessions, keynotes, tutorials, and panel, especially focusing on the original and dominating topics that raised the most comments and discussion. It then aims at indicating what the dominant research directions were in the network and service management community.     

Biobased poly(butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate) and poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene 2,5-furandicarboxylate)s: From synthesis using highly purified 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid to thermo-mechanical properties

To synthesize high quality (co)polyesters derived from 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid (FA), an acetic acid refluxing/pH-swing method was proposed to purify FA. 2-Carboxyl furfural and other impurities were removed completely from FA with this method. Using highly purified FA, biobased polyester poly(butylene furnadicarboxylate) (PBF) and aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters poly(butylene adipate-co-butylene 2,5-furandicarboxy-late)s (PBAFs) were synthesized via melt (co)polycondensation. The (co)polyesters were characterized with GPC, FTIR, ¹H NMR, DSC and TGA, and their tensile mechanical properties were also assessed. The copolyesters possess random chain structure, monomer feed ratio-controlled copolymer composition and excellent thermal stability (T_d,5% > 340 °C) in full composition range. Both BA-rich and BF-rich PBAFs are crystalline polymers. The crystallizability decreases with composition, up to nearly amorphous at moderate ?_BF (40–60%). PBAFs with ?_BF no more than 50% exhibit obvious high-elastic deformation and rebound resilience, and possess tensile properties (E 18–160 MPa, σ_b 9–17 MPa, ε_b 370–910%) comparable to poly(butylene adipate). PBAFs with higher ?_BF behave like nonrigid plastics with low tensile moduli (42–110 MPa), moderate strength (30–42 MPa) and high elongation at break (310–470%). In comparison, PBF is a strong and tough thermoplastic having balanced mechanical properties, namely, much higher tensile modulus (1.9 GPa) and strength (56 MPa) and high elongation at break (260%). It seems necessary and effective to use highly purified FA for synthesizing high performance FA-derived (co)polyesters.     

Individual and area socioeconomic inequalities in cause-specific unintentional injury mortality: 11-Year follow-up study of 2.7 million Canadians

This study investigated the association between individual and area socioeconomic status (SES) and leading causes of unintentional injury mortality in Canadian adults. Using the 1991–2001 Canadian Census Mortality Follow-up Study cohort (N = 2,735,152), Cox proportional hazard regression was used to calculate hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals for all-cause unintentional injury, motor vehicle collision (MVC), fall, poisoning, suffocation, fire/burn, and drowning deaths. Results indicated that associations with SES differed by cause of injury, and were generally more pronounced for males. Low education was associated with an elevated risk of mortality from all-cause unintentional injury and MVC (males only) and poisoning and drowning (both sexes). Low income was strongly associated with most causes of injury mortality, particularly fire/burn and poisoning. Having no occupation or low occupational status was associated with higher risks of all-cause injury, fall, poisoning and suffocation (both sexes) and MVC deaths among men. Associations with area deprivation were weak, and only areas with high deprivation had elevated risk of all-cause injury, MVC (males only), poisoning and drowning (both sexes). This study reveals the importance of examining SES differentials by cause of death from a multilevel perspective. Future research is needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying these differences to implement equity-oriented approaches for reducing differential exposures, vulnerability or consequences of injury mortality.