Numerical analysis of the burning of pulverized coal with different thermal properties in the furnace of a BKZ-420-140-2 boiler

Results are presented from numerical simulations of mass-transfer and combustion processes in the furnace of a BKZ-420-140-2 boiler using the applied program package FIRE 3D with replacement of the design ékibastuz coal by Kuznetsk grade D hard coal and Irsha-Borodino grade 2B lignite.     

Throughput-maximizing timeslot scheduling for interactive satellite multiclass services

We develop an efficient method for optimal timeslot scheduling in an interactive satellite multimedia network. We formulate the timeslot assignment problem as a binary integer programming (BIP) problem, where the throughput is maximized, and decompose this BIP problem into two sub-problems. With this decomposition, we promote the computational efficiency in finding the optimal solution of the original BIP problem.     

Self‐Interference Cancellation for Shared Band Transmission in Nonlinear Satellite Communication Channels

For efficient spectral utilization of satellite channels, a shared band transmission technique is introduced in this paper. A satellite transmits multiple received signals from a gateway and terminal in the common frequency band by superimposing the signals. To improve the power efficiency as well as the spectral efficiency, a travelling wave tube amplifier in the satellite should operate near the saturation level. This causes a nonlinear distortion of the superimposed transmit signal. Without mitigating this nonlinear effect, the self‐interference cannot be properly cancelled and the desired signal cannot be demodulated. Therefore, an adaptive compensation scheme for nonlinearity is herein proposed with the proper operation scenario. It is shown through simulations that the proposed shared band transmission approach with nonlinear compensation and self‐interference cancellation can achieve an acceptable system performance in nonlinear satellite channels.     

A Novel and Efficient Feature Extraction Method for Iris Recognition

With a growing emphasis on human identification, iris recognition has recently received increasing attention. Iris recognition includes eye imaging, iris segmentation, verification, and so on. In this letter, we propose a novel and efficient iris recognition method which employs a cumulative‐sum‐based grey change analysis. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can be used for human identification in efficient manner.     

A Temperature‐Controllable Microelectrode and Its Application to Protein Immobilization

This letter presents a smart integrated microfluidic device which can be applied to actively immobilize proteins on demand. The active component in the device is a temperature‐controllable microelectrode array with a smart polymer film, poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) which can be thermally switched between hydrophilic and hydrophobic states. It is integrated into a micro hot diaphragm having an integrated micro heater and temperature sensors on a 2‐micrometer‐thick silicon oxide/silicon nitride/silicon oxide (O/N/O) template. Only 36 mW is required to heat the large template area of 2 mm×16 mm to 40°C within 1 second. To relay the stimulus‐response activity to the microelectrode surface, the interface is modified with a smart polymer. For a model biomolecular affinity test, an anti‐6‐(2, 4‐dinitrophenyl) aminohexanoic acid (DNP) antibody protein immobilization on the microelectrodes is demonstrated by fluorescence patterns.     

High Areal Capacitance of N‐Doped Graphene Synthesized by Arc Discharge

The lack of cost effective, industrial‐scale production methods hinders the widespread applications of graphene materials. In spite of its applicability in the mass production of graphene flakes, arc discharge has not received considerable attention because of its inability to control the synthesis and heteroatom doping. In this study, a facile approach is proposed for improving doping efficiency in N‐doped graphene synthesis through arc discharge by utilizing anodic carbon fillers. Compared to the N‐doped graphene (1–1.5% N) synthesized via the arc process according to previous literature, the resulting graphene flakes show a remarkably increased doping level (≈3.5% N) with noticeable graphitic N enrichment, which is rarely achieved by the conventional process, while simultaneously retaining high turbostratic crystallinity. The electrolyte ion storage of synthesized materials is examined in which synthesized N‐doped graphene material exhibits a remarkable area normalized capacitance of 63 µF cm^?2. The surprisingly high areal capacitance, which is superior to that of most carbon materials, is attributed to the synergistic effect of extrinsic pseudocapacitance, high crystallinity, and abundance of exposed graphene edges. These results highlight the great potentials of N‐doped graphene flakes produced by arc discharge in graphene‐based supercapacitors, along with well‐studied active exfoliated graphene and reduced graphene oxide.     

Volatile constituents of palm wine and palm sap

Palm wine and pasteurised palm sap volatiles were collected, concentrated on a Tenax GC and analysed by gas chromatography and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. Eighty-two components were identified: 47 esters, 9 alcohols, 5 acids, 6 carbonyls, 2 acetals, 4 terpenes and 9 hydrocarbons. These had all been found previously in conventional wines. Odour evaluation of the separated palm wine components as they eluted suggested that no one compound is responsible for the characteristic palm wine odour. The acetates of higher alcohols and the ethyl esters of straight-chain aliphatic C₆-C₁₀ acids seemed to be important and may play a big role in imparting the fruity nuances of characteristic palm wine odour. Their association with alcohols seemed also to be necessary for the expression of typical palm wine odour. The qualitative difference between palm sap aroma and palm wine aroma appeared to be due mainly to the presence of these esters and alcohols in palm wine and their apparent absence from palm sap, as well as to the presence of some low-boiling esters and alcohols in palm sap and their apparent absence from palm wine.     

A novel simultaneous unipolar multispectral integrated technology approach for HgCdTe IR detectors and focal plane arrays

In the last few years Rockwell has developed a novel simultaneous unipolar multispectral integrated HgCdTe detector and focal plane array technology that is a natural and relatively straightforward derivative of our baseline double layer planar heterostructure (DLPH) molecular beam epitaxial (MBE) technology. Recently this technology was awarded a U.S. patent. This simultaneous unipolar multispectral integrated technology (SUMIT) shares the high performance characteristics of its DLPH antecedent. Two color focal plane arrays with low-10¹³ cm⁻²s⁻¹ background limited detectivity performance (BLIP D^*) have been obtained for mid-wave infrared (MWIR, 3–5 m) devices at T>130 K and for long-wave infrared (LWIR, 8–10 m) devices at T∼80 K.     

Real‐Time License Plate Detection in High‐Resolution Videos Using Fastest Available Cascade Classifier and Core Patterns

We present a novel method for real‐time automatic license plate detection in high‐resolution videos. Although there have been extensive studies of license plate detection since the 1970s, the suggested approaches resulting from such studies have difficulties in processing high‐resolution imagery in real‐time. Herein, we propose a novel cascade structure, the fastest classifier available, by rejecting false positives most efficiently. Furthermore, we train the classifier using the core patterns of various types of license plates, improving both the computation load and the accuracy of license plate detection. To show its superiority, our approach is compared with other state‐of‐the‐art approaches. In addition, we collected 20,000 images including license plates from real traffic scenes for comprehensive experiments. The results show that our proposed approach significantly reduces the computational load in comparison to the other state‐of‐the‐art approaches, with comparable performance accuracy.     

Modus Operandi of Simultaneous Covering Synthesis from Precursor Heterogeneity for Shelled Nanorods for Multipotent Cancer Theranostics

The synthesis of nanostructures using homogeneous precursors in the solution phase is widely used to achieve uniformity and well‐defined morphological control. However, drawbacks such as the lack of diversity due to the limited reaction rate modulation exist. One‐step, core–shell nanorod formation using simultaneous covering synthesis using solid and ionic heterogeneous precursors is proposed in this study. A Te‐Bi₂Te₃/TeO₂ core–shell structure is successfully synthesized by precisely controlling various influencing factors, including concentration, temperature, and pH, and its physicochemical and photochemical properties are thoroughly investigated. The proposed nanostructure overcomes the oxidation susceptibility of Te and can be applied to multipotent cancer theranostics in vitro and in vivo in combination with computed tomography imaging.