Sintering behaviour of fluorapatite–silicate composites produced from natural fluorapatite and quartz

In this work, the sintering behaviour of fluorapatite (FAp)–silicate composites prepared by mixing variable amounts of natural quartz (2.5 wt% to 20 wt%) and FAp was studied. The composites were pressureless sintered in air at temperatures from 1000 °C to 1350 °C. The effects of temperatures on the densification, phase formation, chemical bonding and Vickers hardness of the composites were evaluated. All the samples exhibited mixed phase, comprising FAp and francolite as the major constituents along with some minor phases of cristobalite, wollastonite, dicalcium silicate and/or whitlockite dependent on the quartz content and sintering temperature. The composite containing 2.5 wt% quartz exhibited the best sintering properties. The highest bulk density of 3 g/cm³ and a Vickers hardness of >4.2 GPa were obtained for the 2.5 wt% quartz–FAp composite when sintered at 1100 °C. The addition of quartz was found to alter the microstructure of the composites, where it exhibited a rod-like morphology when sintered at 1000 °C and a regular rounded grain structure when sintered at 1350 °C. A wetted grain surface was observed for composites containing high quartz content and was believed to be associated with a transient liquid phase sintering.     

Effect of Li2O on the crystallization behavior of CaO-Al2O3-SiO2-Li2O-Ce2O3 mold slags

The effect of Li₂O on the crystallization properties of CaO-Al₂O₃-SiO₂-Li₂O-Ce₂O₃ slags was investigated. With increasing the Li₂O content, LiAlO₂ and CaCeAlO₄ were the main crystalline phases. LiAlO₂ formed for the charge compensating of Li⁺ ions to [AlO₄^5?]-tetrahedrons, and CaCeAlO₄ formed as a result of the charge balance of Ce³⁺ ions, Ca²⁺ ions, and [AlO₆^9?]-octahedrons. Increasing the content of Li₂O to 10%, the crystallization temperature was the highest, and the incubation time was the shortest. The crystallization ability was strong due to the three factors of strengthening the interaction between ions and ion groups, decreasing the polymerization degree, and increasing the melting temperature. Further increasing the content of Li₂O, the crystallization performance was obviously suppressed, because the melting temperature and the force between the cations and the anion groups decreased.     

Classification of DoS Attacks in Smart Underwater Wireless Sensor Network

As per the most recent literature, Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM), a multi access technique, is considered most suitable for the 3G, 4G and 5G techniques in high speed wireless communication. What made OFDM most popular is its ability to deliver high bandwidth efficiency and superior data rate. Besides it, high value of peak to average power ratio (PAPR) and Inter Carrier Interference (ICI) are the challenges to tackle down via appropriate mitigation scheme. As a research contribution in the present work, an improved self-cancellation (SC) technique is designed and simulated through Simulink to mitigate the effect of ICI. This novel proposed technique (Improved SC) is designed over discrete wavelet transform (DWT) based OFDM and compared with conventional SC scheme over different channel conditions i.e. AWGN and Rayleigh fading environments. It is found that proposed DWT-OFDM with Improved SC scheme outperforms conventional SC technique significantly, under both AWGN and Rayleigh channel conditions. Further, in order to justify the novelty in the research contribution, a Split-DWT based Simulink model for Improved SC scheme is investigated to analyse the BER performance. This Split-DWT based Simulink model presented here foretells the future research potential in wavelet hybridization of OFDM to side-line ICI effects more efficiently.

     

Stream-Based Data Sampling Mechanism for Process Object

Process object is the instance of process. Vertexes and edges are in the graph of process object. There are different types of the object itself and the associations between object. For the large-scale data, there are many changes reflected. Recently, how to find appropriate real-time data for process object becomes a hot research topic. Data sampling is a kind of finding c hanges o f p rocess o bjects. There i s r equirements f or s ampling to be adaptive to underlying distribution of data stream. In this paper, we have proposed a adaptive data sampling mechanism to find a ppropriate d ata t o m odeling. F irst o f all, we use concept drift to make the partition of the life cycle of process object. Then, entity community detection is proposed to find changes. Finally, we propose stream-based real-time optimization of data sampling. Contributions of this paper are concept drift, community detection, and stream-based real-time computing. Experiments show the effectiveness and feasibility of our proposed adaptive data sampling mechanism for process object.     

Y4.67Si3O13-based phosphors: Structure,morphology and upconversion luminescence for optical thermometry

How to improve the sensitivity of the temperature-sensing luminescent materials is one of the most important objects currently. In this work, to obtain high sensitivity and learn the corresponding mechanism, the rare earth (RE) ions doped Y_4.67Si₃O₁₃ (YS) phosphors were developed by solid-state reaction. The phase purity, structure, morphology and luminescence characteristics were evaluated by XRD, TEM, emission spectra, etc. The change of the optical bandgaps between the host and RE-doped phosphors was found, agreeing with the calculation results based on density-functional theory. The temperature-dependence of the upconversion (UC) luminescence revealed that a linear relationship exists between the fluorescence intensity ratio of Ho³⁺ and temperature. The theoretical resolution was evaluated. High absolute (0.083 K⁻¹) and relative (3.53% K⁻¹ at 293 K) sensitivities have been gained in the YS:1%Ho³⁺, 10%Yb³⁺. The effect of the Yb³⁺ doping concentration and pump power on the sensitivities was discussed. The pump-power–dependence of the UC luminescence indicated the main mechanism for high sensitivities in the YS:1%Ho³⁺, 10%Yb³⁺. Moreover, the decay-lifetime based temperature sensing was also evaluated. The above results imply that the present phosphors could be promising candidates for temperature sensors, and the proposed strategies are instructive in exploring other new temperature sensing luminescent materials.     

Performance investigation on a novel 3D wave flow channel design for PEMFC

Flow field structure can largely determine the output performance of Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell. Excellent channel configuration accelerates electrochemical reactions in the catalytic layer, effectively avoiding flooding on the cathode side. In present study, a three-dimensional, multi-phase model of PEMFC with a 3D wave flow channel is established. CFD method is applied to optimize the geometry constructions of three-dimensional wave flow channels. The results reveal that 3D wave flow channel is overall better than straight channel in promoting reactant gases transport, removing liquid water accumulated in microporous layer and avoiding thermal stress concentration in the membrane. Moreover, results show the optimal flow channel minimum depth and wave length of the 3D wave flow channel are 0.45 mm and 2 mm, respectively. Due to the periodic geometric characteristics of the wave channel, the convective mass transfer is introduced, improving gas flow rate in through-plane direction. Furthermore, when the cell output voltage is 0.4 V, the current density in the novel channel is 23.8% higher than that of conventional channel.     

Colostrum source and passive immunity transfer in dairy bull calves

Colostrum is essential for good neonate health; however, it is not known whether different calves absorb the nutrients from colostrum equally well. In this study, the absorption of protein, IgG, and γ-glutamyl transferase was compared in newborn dairy bull calves for 1 wk after feeding colostrum from different sources. Thirty-five Holstein-Friesian bull calves were randomly allocated into 3 groups and fed colostrum within 4 h after birth. Group A calves (n = 12) were bottle fed colostrum from their own dam for 3 d. Colostrum from these group A cows was also used as foster cow colostrum for the group B calves (n = 12), such that each group A and B calf pair received identical colostrum from each milking of the respective group A dam (10% of birth weight per day). The group C calves (n = 11) were fed 1 bottle (2 L) of pooled colostrum and transition milk (referred to as pooled colostrum), as was the standard practice on the dairy farm. The pooled colostrum was collected from the other dairy cows on the farm 0 to 4 d postpartum and stored at 4°C for less than 12 h. Blood was sampled from calves before the first feeding and at 1, 2, 3, and 7 d after birth. Levels of total solids, total protein, and IgG were higher in the dam colostrum than in the pooled colostrum. At birth, there were no differences between the calf groups for any measurements, and all calves had very low IgG levels. After receiving colostrum, the glucose, plasma γ-glutamyl transferase, serum total protein, and IgG concentrations increased significantly in all calves. There were no differences in any blood measurements at any time point between the pairs of group A and group B calves that received colostrum from the same cow except for the IgG concentration 2 d after birth. However, the group A calves had a higher total serum protein level and IgG concentration than the group C calves for all the time points after the first feeding. The group B calves had a higher IgG concentration than the group C calves on d 1, 2, and 7 after birth. Compared with groups A and B, there was no difference in the proportion of calves in group C that failed to have passive immunity transferred adequately based on the IgG threshold (<10 g/L). Thus, the calves receiving identical colostrum from the same cow had the same levels of IgG, and even the pooled colostrum provided sufficient transfer of IgG as the calves were fed within 4 h after birth.     

Flame characteristics of premixed H2-air mixtures explosion venting in a spherical container through a duct

The explosion venting duct can effectively reduce the hazard degree of a gas explosion and conduct the venting energy to the safe area. To investigate the flame quantitative propagation law of explosion venting with a duct, the effects of hydrogen fraction and explosion venting duct length on jet flame propagation characteristics of premixed H₂-air mixtures were analyzed through experiment and simulation. The experiment results under initial conditions of room temperature and 1 atm show that when hydrogen fraction was high enough, part of the unburned hydrogen was mixed with air again to reach an ignitable concentration, resulting in the secondary combustion was easier produced and the duration of the secondary flame increased. With the increase of venting duct length, the flame front distance and propagation velocity increased. Meanwhile, the spatial distribution of pressure field and temperature field, and the propagation process and mechanism of the flame venting with a duct were analyzed using FLUENT software. The variation of the pressure wave and the pressure reflection oscillation law in the explosion venting duct was captured. Therefore, in the industrial explosion venting design with a duct, the hazard caused by the coupling of venting pressure and venting flame under different fractions should be considered comprehensively.     

Advances in the in vitro digestion and fermentation of polysaccharides

In vitro digestion models are widely used to study the structural changes, digestion and release of food components under simulated gastrointestinal conditions. As compared to the in vivo digestion tests, the in vitro digestion reflects the digestion and utilisation of food after ingestion and has the advantages of being time consuming, inexpensive, reproducible and free from moral and ethical restrictions. This study reviewed the current research studies on the in vitro simulated digestion of polysaccharides conducted in the last 5 years and focused on the oral, gastric and intestinal digestion models, with the aim of providing a basis for the further testing of changes in the content, structure and active ingredients of polysaccharides before and after digestion.     

Enhanced photoreactivity of MOFs by intercalating interlayer bands via simultaneous ?NCO and ?SCu modification

Herein, we propose a novel method to enhance the photoreactivity of an MOF catalyst by grafting isocyanate bonds ( NCO) and sulfhydryl-complexed copper ( SCu) onto ZIF-8 (NIF-SCu). The grafting process intercalated interlayer bands between the conduction and valence bands of ZIF-8, thereby providing a “ladder” for facile electron transition. The extreme improvement in the photoreactivity of NIF-SCu could be attributed to the enhancement in light responses in the range of 350–450 nm by  NCO groups and the widening of the visible light range of the MOF by  SCu groups. The formation of staggered energy levels in NIF-SCu could also narrow the band gap, lower the resistance, and facilitate the transfer of photogenerated carriers, thereby generating electrons with strong reduction potential in the  SCu conduction band. This study provides a new strategy for improving or even endowing the photoactivity of environmental functional materials with wide bandgaps.