Rapid fabrication of three-dimensional porous films with biomimetic patterns by natural evaporation of amphiphilic polyacetylene solutions under ambient conditions

A simple process for fast fabrication of thin films with biomimetic morphological structures from a group of linear homopolymers is developed. Natural evaporation of tetrahydrofuran, chloroform, and hexane-dichloromethane solutions of poly(phenylacetylene)s that contain amino acid and ethylene glycol moieties under ambient conditions instantly produces three-dimensional porous films with structural patterns reminiscent of honeycombs and radiolarian shells. Morphological analysis by optical and electronic microscopy suggests that vesicles of the amphiphilic polymers serve as building blocks in the self-organization to the biomimetic structures.     

Quasi‐alternating polyesteramides from ε‐caprolactone and α‐amino acids

Glycine‐ɛ‐caprolactone‐based and α‐alanine‐ɛ‐caprolactone‐based polyesteramides with a strong tendency to form alternating sequences (degree of randomness = 1.64 and 1.31) were synthesized by melt polycondensation of intermediate hydroxy‐ and ethyl ester‐terminated amides. These intermediates were synthesized by the reaction of equimolar amounts of ɛ‐caprolactone and glycine or L‐α‐alanine ethyl esters in mild conditions. The structure and microstructure of these polyesteramides are discussed on the basis of an in‐depth nuclear magnetic resonance study. Both polyesteramides are semi‐crystalline, but the glycine‐based one presents the highest melting enthalpy. This polyesteramide also exhibits higher Young's modulus and stress at break than its α‐ and β‐alanine counterparts. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44220.     

Theoretical study of hydrogen desorption on Mg50Ni50 using statistical physics treatment

In this work, Mg₅₀Ni₅₀ hydrogen storage alloy was synthesized by mechanical alloying technique, by using a planetary high energy ball mill (Retsch PM 200). The morphological and microstructural characterization of the powders was performed via scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The dehydriding characterization of the composite was performed via a solid gas reaction method at different temperature 313 K, 333 K and 353 K. A new model has been developed, describing pressure-composition isotherms basing on statistical physics treatment. The monolayer model with two types of sites is found to fit very well with experimental data obtained on Mg₅₀Ni₅₀. The parameters involved in the model were determined directly from the experimental data by numerical simulation. The behaviors of these parameters are discussed in relationship with absorption and desorption process. Finally, the different thermodynamical potential functions are derived by statistical physics calculations from the adopted model.     

Plasma polymerization of fluorocarbon monomers

X-ray diffraction analyses indicate that electrodeposited black chrome and black zinc surfaces can be characterized by a metal-to-metal-oxide ratio that decreases (from 3.65 to 0.33 for black zinc and from 4.00 to 0.58 for black chrome) with increasing temperature of thermal exposure and this decrease correlates with the degradation observed in the optical selectivity $\text{(}\text{α}{}_{\mathrm{s}}\text{?}{}_{\mathrm{t,H}}\text{)}$ properties of these overgrowths. While black chrome surfaces are stable up to 500°C, black zinc surfaces (used in this study) degrade optically when heated to above 250°C. When the temperature of heat treatment is increased (from ambient to 300°C for black zinc and from ambient to 600 °C for black chrome) the particles comprising these surfaces increase in size (from 90 to 157 nm for black zinc and from 106 to 193 nm for black chrome) and exhibit a more spherical appearance in comparison with the more faceted particles comprising the as-plated surfaces.     

Synthesis and characterization of Co-doped nano-TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> through co-precipitation method for photocatalytic activity

The aim of this work was synthesis and investigation of various properties of Co-doped titanium dioxide nanostructures. Synthesis was conducted by the co-precipitation method using cobalt nitrate and titanium isopropoxide as a precursor, followed by thermal treatment at a temperature of 500 °C. The materials were fully characterized using several techniques (X-ray diffraction XRD, SEM, FTIR, TGA/DTA, UV–Vis diffuse reflectance DRS and photoluminescence). However, dopant has no effect on XRD pattern of the host but it can influence on the various characteristics of host such as optical and electrical properties. The scanning electron microscopy was used to detect the morphology of synthesized nanoparticles which sizes changed with the altitude in the doping concentration to 6%. FTIR spectra exhibit broad peaks where anatase phases of TiO₂ demonstrate very sharp UV–Vis band gap results showed the reduction in band gap from from 3.21 eV, for undoped TiO₂, to 2.74 eV, for Co doped 6% TiO₂. The photocatalytic activity of the samples were studied based on the degradation of methyl orange as a model compound, where the results showed that Co doped 6% TiO₂ a good photocatalytic activity.     

Context-aware services based on spatio-temporal zoning and crowdsourcing

Crowdsourcing offers great opportunities to recognise user context and prescribe relevant services for both offline and real-time activities. In this work, we present a zoning model that leverages spatio-temporal dimensions and then employs different contexts to recommend necessary customised services. The context model takes into consideration three context sets: fully restricted, fully unrestricted and semi-restricted with respect to both spatial and temporal dimensions. As a proof of concept, we apply this zoning model in a scenario where a very large crowd get together to perform spatio-temporal activities. The user context of the heterogeneous crowd is captured using the carried smartphones, i.e. via crowdsourcing. Depending on the context sets and zone, the system can recommend a set of services to each user. The system has been deployed since 2014 to support the spatio-temporal activities of a very large crowd. We present our implementation details and the user feedback, which is very encouraging.     

A new semantic relatedness measurement using WordNet features

Computing semantic similarity/relatedness between concepts and words is an important issue of many research fields. Information theoretic approaches exploit the notion of Information Content (IC) that provides for a concept a better understanding of its semantics. In this paper, we present a complete IC metrics survey with a critical study. Then, we propose a new intrinsic IC computing method using taxonomical features extracted from an ontology for a particular concept. This approach quantifies the subgraph formed by the concept subsumers using the depth and the descendents count as taxonomical parameters. In a second part, we integrate this IC metric in a new parameterized multistrategy approach for measuring word semantic relatedness. This measure exploits the WordNet features such as the noun “is a” taxonomy, the nominalization relation allowing the use of verb “is a” taxonomy and the shared words (overlaps) in glosses. Our work has been evaluated and compared with related works using a wide set of benchmarks conceived for word semantic similarity/relatedness tasks. Obtained results show that our IC method and the new relatedness measure correlated better with human judgments than related works.     

A decomposition-based hybrid multiobjective evolutionary algorithm with dynamic resource allocation

Different crossover operators suit different problems. It is, therefore, potentially problematic to chose the ideal crossover operator in an evolutionary optimization scheme. Using multiple crossover operators could be an effective way to address this issue. This paper reports on the implementation of this idea, i.e. the use of two crossover operators in a decomposition-based multi-objective evolutionary algorithm, but not simultaneously. After each cycle, the operator which has helped produce the better offspring is rewarded. This means that the overall algorithm uses a dynamic resource allocation to reward the better of the crossover operators in the optimization process. The operators used are the Simplex Crossover operator (SPX) and the Center of Mass Crossover operator (CMX). We report experimental results that show that this innovative use of two crossover operators improves the algorithm performance on standard test problems. Results on the sensitivity of the suggested algorithm to key parameters such as population size, neighborhood size and maximum number of solutions to be altered for a given subproblem in the the decomposition process are also included.     

A study on the optimum insulation thicknesses of building walls with respect to different zones in Morocco

Morocco has very limited indigenous energy resources; consequently, with the increase in energy consumption over the last years, studies focusing on energy saving as well as usage of sustainable energy resources have accelerated. However, in Morocco the buildings have an important part in the energy consumption; therefore, the most logical solution is energy saving by using thermal insulation. For this purpose, in this study, six cities, namely Agadir, Tangier, Fez, Ifran, Marrakech and Errachidia are selected to represent the six zones of Morocco. Using the life-cycle cost analysis method, the optimum insulation thicknesses as well as energy savings and payback periods for electricity tariff and three different types of insulation material have been determined.