Geotechnical properties of the soft soil in Guangzhou College City

The paper describes some geotechnical properties of the soft soils in Guangzhou College City, China, which are difficult to both sample and test. Laboratory and in situ tests were carried out to assess the physical and mechanical indices of the soils. The data were statistically analyzed and linear regression undertaken such that equations could be developed by which the geotechnical properties of the soft soils can be predicted. The statistical validity of the degree of correlation confirmed that using these equations, the mechanical indices can be estimated from physical indices determined by routine testing.      

Equilibrium and crystallographic measurements of the binary tetrahydrofuran and helium clathrate hydrates

Clathrate compounds are crystalline materials formed by a physical interaction between host and relatively light guest molecules. Various types of nano-sized cages surrounded by host frameworks exist in the highly unique crystalline structures and free guest molecules are entrapped in an open host-guest network. Recently, we reported two peculiar phenomena, swapping and tuning, naturally occurring in the hydrate cages. Helium, one of the smallest light guest molecules, must be the challengeable material in the sense of physics and moreover possesses versatile applications in the field of superconductivity technology and thermonuclear industry. In this regard, we attempted for the first time to synthesize helium hydrates at moderate temperature and pressure conditions. According to inclusion phenomena, helium itself normally cannot form clathrate hydrates due to being too small molecularly without the help of hydrate former molecules (sI, sII, and sH formers). In this study, the hydrate equilibria of the binary clathrate hydrate containing tetrahydrofuran, helium, and water were determined at 2, 3, 5.56 THF mol%. Direct volumetric measurements were also carried out to confirm the exact amount of helium captured in the hydrate cages. Finally, the crystalline structure of the formed mixed hydrates was identified by powder X-ray diffraction, resulting in structure II.     

Algorithms for multiprocessor scheduling with two job lengths and allocation restrictions

A variant of the High Multiplicity Multiprocessor Scheduling Problem with C job lengths is considered, in which jobs can be processed only by machines not greater than a given index. When C=2, polynomial algorithms are proposed, for the feasibility version of the problem and for maximizing the number of scheduled jobs.     

Refactoring and converting a TTCN-2 test suite

When deploying TTCN-3 at Nokia, we converted two TTCN-2 test systems to TTCN-3. We explain to which extend we have been able to do the conversion automatically. The conversion tool used provided a syntactically and semantically correct conversion of the TTCN-2 code. We define some improvements made on the tool to increase readability and maintainability of the resulting code. We cover aspects of converting also the non-TTCN-2 parts and describe the experiences we made as a set of lessons learnt.     

Negative effect of [bmim][PF6] on the catalytic activity of alcohol dehydrogenase: mechanism and prevention

BACKGROUND: [bmim][PF₆] is a hydrophobic ionic liquid which could be considered as an environmentally friendly solvent for biocatalysis. In pure [bmim][PF₆], however, alcohol dehydrogenase from yeast (YADH) has no catalytic activity. The aim of the present work was (1) to quantitatively study the negative effect of [bmim][PF₆] on the catalytic activity of YADH and the related mechanism and (2) to made an attempt to lessen the negative effect of [bmim][PF₆] on YADH by microemulsifying [bmim][PF₆]. RESULTS: The activity of YADH in the homogeneous solution formed by H₂O, CH₃CH₂OH and [bmim][PF₆] decreased rapidly with the increase of the molar fraction of [bmim][PF₆]. The inhibitory effect of [bmim][PF₆] on YADH was probably caused by the competition of the imidazole group of [bmim][PF₆] with the coenzyme NAD⁺ for the binding sites on YADH. In a water‐in‐[bmim][PF₆] microemulsion, YADH was catalytically active due to the formation of the interfacial membrane of the nonionic surfactant TritonX‐100, which separated YADH from [bmim][PF₆] and avoided the direct inactivation of [bmim][PF₆] on YADH. Under optimal conditions, the activity of YADH was as high as 51 µmol L^?1 min^?1. CONCLUSION: [bmim][PF₆] was an inhibitor of YADH and its negative effect on YADH could be lessened by its microemulsification. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of carbon surface oxidation on platinum supported carbon particles on the performance of gas diffusion electrodes for the oxygen reduction reaction

The effect of carbon surface oxidation on platinum supported carbon particles (Pt/C) with nitric acid was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, polarization experiments and chronoamperometry. Cyclic voltammograms, polarization curves and electrochemical impedance spectra showed that the treated catalyst had much larger active surface area and higher ionic conductivity than the untreated catalyst, and provided enhanced performance for oxygen reduction. The formation of acidic groups was examined by IR spectra. The Pt/C surface oxidation had a large effect on the performance of a gas diffusion electrode for oxygen reduction reaction.