Development of optical anisotropy in vitrains during carbonization

The purpose of this work was to examine the possible significance in the formation of metallurgical coke of the anisotropic spherical mesophase exemplified by that found during the carbonization of pitch-like materials, and to ascertain if the various types of optical anisotropy found in coke could form a basis for the characterization of cokes produced from different coals. Vitrains from a wide range of coals were carbonized at temperatures from 370 to 1000 °C and the types and amounts of optical anisotropy in the resulting semi-cokes and cokes were determined from microscopic examination, the anisotropic components being classified according to grain size of the granular mosaics and appearance. The anisotropy developed directly from the isotropic phase, appearing initially as a fine-grained mosaic. With increasing carbonization temperature, this fine-grained mosaic was transformed into progressively coarser-grained anisotropy, the extent of this transformation depending on the rank of the vitrain. It is therefore concluded that the formation, growth and coalescence of anisotropic spherical bodies, such as occurs during the carbonization of pitch, is not a necessary precursor of the mosaic anisotropy in coke. The type and amount of anisotropy developed provide a quantitative means of characterising different cokes.     

Altered arachidonic acid content in polymorphonuclear and mononuclear cells from patients with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma

We previously have found that monocytes from patients with allergic rhinitis and/or asthma produce less PGE₂ than cells from normal subjects in response to a histamine-induced lymphokine. In order to investigate this observation further, we measured the fatty acid content in the total phospholipids derived from the plasma, red cells, buffy coat cells, neutrophils, monocytes and lymphocytes of 27 allergic patients and 21 normal controls. There were no substantial differences between atopics and normals in the fatty acid analyses carried out for plasma and red cells. However, linoleic acid (18∶2n−6) levels were elevated significantly in the buffy coat fraction, while arachidonic acid (20∶4n−6) levels were reduced. Measurement of fatty acid levels after fractionation of the buffy coat population into neutrophils and monocytes yielded similar elevations in 18∶2n−6 and reduced 20∶4n−6. In contrast, lymphocytes appeared to have the reverse pattern, i.e., significantly reduced 18∶2n−6 and elevated 20∶4n−6 levels. These data suggest that atopic leukocytes may have altered essential fatty acid metabolism.     

Atomization of metal fluorides for enhanced flow characteristics of a multicomponent powder

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) PS304 coating is a plasma spray deposited tribological coating with feedstock composed of NiCr, Cr₂O₃, Ag and BaF₂-CaF₂ powders. The effects of rounded BaF₂-CaF₂ particles on the gravity-fed flow characteristics of PS304 feedstock have been investigated. The BaF₂-CaF₂ powder was fabricated by water atomization using four sets of process parameters. Each of these powders was then characterized by microscopy and classified by screening to obtain 45-106 μm particles and added incrementally from 0-10 wt.% to the other constituents of the PS304 feedstock, namely nichrome, chromia and silver powders. The relationship between feedstock flow rate, measured with the Hall flowmeter, and concentration of fluorides was found to be linear in each case. The slopes of the lines were between those of the linear relationships previously reported using angular and spherical fluorides and were closer to the relationship predicted using the rule of mixtures. The results offer a fluoride fabrication technique potentially more cost-effective than gas atomization processes or traditional comminution processes.     

时尚

时尚是有规律的.它不是以进步的形式运动,而是在循环中运动.外在的一致性通常会破坏内在的一致性.本文就时尚的规律、时尚的产生与运动过程、时尚与限制性规则、现代时尚的新变革等方面展开讨论.     

Sulfur-Tolerant NOx Storage Traps: An Infrared and Thermodynamic Study of the Reactions of Alkali and Alkaline-Earth Metal Sulfates

The sulfur tolerance of a barium-containing NO_x storage/reduction trap was investigated using infrared analysis. It was confirmed that barium carbonate could be replaced by barium sulfate by reaction with low concentrations of sulfur dioxide (50 ppm) in the presence of large concentrations of carbon dioxide (10%) at temperatures up to 700 °C. These sulfates could at least be partially removed by switching to hydrogen-rich conditions at elevated temperatures. Thermodynamic calculations were used to evaluate the effects of gas composition and temperature on the various reactions of barium sulfate and carbonate under oxidizing and reducing conditions. These calculations clearly showed that if, under a hydrogen-rich atmosphere, carbon dioxide is included as a reactant and barium carbonate as a product then barium sulfate can be removed by reaction with carbon dioxide at a much lower temperature than is possible by decomposition to barium oxide. It was also found that if hydrogen sulfide was included as a product of decomposition of barium sulfate instead of sulfur dioxide then the temperature of reaction could be significantly lowered. Similar calculations were conducted using a selection of other alkaline-earth and alkali metals. In this case calculations were simulated in a gas mixture containing carbon monoxide, hydrogen and carbon dioxide with partial pressures similar to those encountered in real exhausts during switches to rich conditions. The results indicated that there are metals such as lithium and strontium with less stable sulfates than barium, which may also possess sufficient NO_x storage capacity to give sulfur-tolerant NO_x traps.     

An International Collaborative Study on Trypsin Inhibitor Assay for Legumes,Cereals, and Related Products

For determining trypsin inhibitor activity (TIA) in soy products, the American Oil Chemists' Society (AOCS) Method Ba 12-75 has been used. It measures differences in absorbance at 410 nm of bovine trypsin activity toward a synthetic substrate (Nα-benzoyl-DL-arginine-p-nitroanilide) in the absence and presence of an inhibitor. Recently, a significantly improved method was developed (JAOCS, 2019, 96:635–645), featuring 5 mL of total assay volume, enzyme-last sequence, and single inhibitor level in duplicate. It is proposed as the AOCS Method Ba 12a-2020. As a part of the AOCS method approval process, a collaborative study involving 12 international laboratories was conducted to evaluate the performance of the proposed method. The study involved measuring TIA in 10 selected test samples plus a blind duplicate. They included soybeans, pulses, cereals, and their processed products (flours, concentrates, and isolates). After rigorous statistical treatment of the data, only three outliers were removed from the data of two samples. Repeatability relative standard deviations (RSDr) for the 11 samples ranged from 0.99% to 5.52%. Reproducibility RSD (RSD_R) ranged from 7.07% to 22.92%, with seven samples having RSD_R around 10% or less. The remaining four samples had very low TIA, and their RSD_R values ranged from 13.34% to 22.92%. The study has demonstrated reliable performance of the proposed AOCS method. Several collaborators carried out additional experiments addressing some aspects of the method, leading to further refinements. The proposed method is undergoing evaluation by the AOCS Uniform Methods Committee for adoption as an Official Method for measuring TIA in various legume and grain products.     

Preparation and characterization of thermoresponsive poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-N-isopropylmethacrylamide) hydrogel materials for smart windows

In this study, a series of thermoresponsive cross-linked copolymer poly [N-isopropylacrylamide(NIPAm)-co-N-isopropylmethacrylamide(NIPMAm)] (P-M series samples: P-M-0, 10, 20, 30, 40, where numbers are co-monomer contents) hydrogels were prepared by free radical polymerization using the main monomer N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm), co-monomer N-isopropylmethacrylamide (NIPMAm), cross-linking agent N, N-methylenebisacrylamide, initiator (ammonium persulfate)/catalyst, and solvent water. In addition, a series of samples [P-G series samples: P-G-0, 10, 20, 30, 40, where numbers are co-solvent glycerol content) were prepared using P-M-40 as components and water/co-solvent glycerol as a mixed solvent. The effects of co-monomer NIPMAm and co-solvent glycerol contents on the lower critical solution temperature (LCST)/freezing temperature and light transmittance as function of temperature of the prepared copolymer gels were investigated. The resulting thermoresponsive polymer gels had LCSTs in the range of 17.9 to 38.7°C and freezing points in the range of 6.3 to −38.5°C. These gels are suitable materials for smart windows that are responsive to various environmental conditions.     

pH sensitive phosphate crosslinked films of starch-carboxymethyl cellulose

This work aims to develop hydrogel films of starch and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) crosslinked with sodium trimetaphosphate (STMP) and to characterize some of their properties. Starch and STMP (S/T), starch and CMC (S/C), and mixed (S/T/C) films were prepared by casting. The degree of substitution, morphology, swelling degree, FTIR, mechanical properties, and sorption isotherms were studied. Reticulated samples (S/T and S/T/C) showed the same degree of substitution (0.050 ± 0.001). All films presented homogeneous morphology, but the mixed film showed greater roughness. Crosslinking increased the swelling capacity of the mixed hydrogel at pH 7, although it remained decreased concerning the S/T hydrogel. However, this property was sensitive to pH variations. The mixed film (S/T/C) showed greater mechanical resistance. The casting process was efficient to produce hydrogel films of starch/CMC crosslinked with STMP and the general results demonstrated the advantages of the mixed hydrogel.     

Exploiting SSDs in operational multiversion databases

Multiversion databases store both current and historical data. Rows are typically annotated with timestamps representing the period when the row is/was valid. We develop novel techniques to reduce index maintenance in multiversion databases, so that indexes can be used effectively for analytical queries over current data without being a heavy burden on transaction throughput. To achieve this end, we re-design persistent index data structures in the storage hierarchy to employ an extra level of indirection. The indirection level is stored on solid-state disks that can support very fast random I/Os, so that traversing the extra level of indirection incurs a relatively small overhead. The extra level of indirection dramatically reduces the number of magnetic disk I/Os that are needed for index updates and localizes maintenance to indexes on updated attributes. Additionally, we batch insertions within the indirection layer in order to reduce physical disk I/Os for indexing new records. In this work, we further exploit SSDs by introducing novel DeltaBlock techniques for storing the recent changes to data on SSDs. Using our DeltaBlock, we propose an efficient method to periodically flush the recently changed data from SSDs to HDDs such that, on the one hand, we keep track of every change (or delta) for every record, and, on the other hand, we avoid redundantly storing the unchanged portion of updated records. By reducing the index maintenance overhead on transactions, we enable operational data stores to create more indexes to support queries. We have developed a prototype of our indirection proposal by extending the widely used generalized search tree open-source project, which is also employed in PostgreSQL. Our working implementation demonstrates that we can significantly reduce index maintenance and/or query processing cost by a factor of 3. For the insertion of new records, our novel batching technique can save up to 90 % of the insertion time. For updates, our prototype demonstrates that we can significantly reduce the database size by up to 80 % even with a modest space allocated for DeltaBlocks on SSDs.     

Annular ring slot antenna design with reconfigurable polarization

A microstrip‐fed conventional annular ring slot (ARS) antenna with linear polarization (LP) is initially studied. To generate two orthogonal degenerate modes for circular polarization (CP) radiations, two identical meandering perturbation slots (MPS) are symmetrically loaded into the ARS. By further incorporating a PIN diode switch across each MPS, the proposed antenna can switch between left‐hand CP (LHCP), right‐hand CP (RHCP), and LP. All three polarizations have shown good impedance bandwidth and broad CP bandwidth that can satisfy the wireless local area network (WLAN) 2.4‐GHz operating band (2400–2480 MHz). Furthermore, desirable gains of 1.8–2.0 dBi and 2.40–2.84 dBic are also exhibited at LP and LHCP/RHCP, respectively. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:110–120, 2016.