Treatment of Bone Waste Using Thermal Plasma Technology

Daily meat consumption produces a lot of bone waste, and dumped bone waste without treatment would result in environmental hazards. Conventional treatment methods of waste bones have some disadvantages. Herein, an investigation of bone waste treated using thermal plasma technology is presented. A high-temperature plasma torch operated at 25.2 kW was used to treat bone waste for seven minutes. The bone waste was finally changed into vitric matter and lost 2/3 of its weight after the treatment. The process was highly efficient, economical, convenient, and fuel-free. This method could be used as an alternative for disposal of bone waste, small infectious animals, hazardous hospital waste, etc.     

Enhanced electromagnetic transmission through a slit surrounded by rectangular grooves

Electromagnetic transmission through a slit surrounded by rectangular grooves in a conducting plane is investigated. An electromagnetic boundary-value problem associated with a slit surrounded by rectangular grooves in a conducting plane is rigorously solved based on the Fourier transform, eigenfunction expansion and mode matching method. The transmission coefficient through the slit is represented in a series. Computation is performed to illustrate the effect of the groove geometry on the transmission behaviours.     

Superior mechanical properties and strengthening mechanisms of lightweight AlxCrNbVMo refractory high-entropy alloys(x = 0, 0.5,1.0) fabricated by the powder metallurgy process

Light and strong AlxCrNbVMo(x=0,0.5,and 1.0) refractory high-entropy alloys(RHEAs) were designed and fabricated via a the powder metallurgical process.The microstructure of the AlxCrNbVMo alloys consisted of a single BCC crystalline structure with a sub-micron grain size of 2-3 μm,and small amounts(4 vol.%) of fine oxide dispersoids.This homogeneous microstructure,without chemical segregation or micropores was achieved via high-energy ball milling and spark-plasma sintering.The alloys exhibited superior mechanical properties at 25 and 1000℃ compared to those of other RHEAs.Here,CrNbVMo alloy showed a yield strength of 2743 MPa at room temperature.Surprisingly,the yield strength of the CrNbVMo alloy at 1000℃ was 1513 MPa.The specific yield strength of the CrNbVMo alloy was increased by 27 % and 87 % at 25 and 1000℃,respectively,compared to the AlMo_(0.5) NbTa_(0.5)TiZr RHEA,which exhibited so far the highest specific yield strength among the cast RHEAs.The addition of Al to CrNbVMo alloy was advantageous in reducing its reduce density to below 8.0 g/cm~3,while the elastic modulus decreased due to the much lower elastic modulus of Al compared to that of the CrNbVMo alloy.Quantitative analysis of the strengthening contributions,showed that the solid solution strengthening,arising from a large misfit effect due to the size and modulus,and the high shear modulus of matrix,was revealed to predominant strengthening mechanism,accounting for over 50 % of the yield strength of the AlxCrNbVMo RHEAs.     

A Review of Three‐Dimensional Resistive Switching Cross‐Bar Array Memories from the Integration and Materials Property Points of View

Issues in the circuitry, integration, and material properties of the two‐dimensional (2D) and three‐dimensional (3D) crossbar array (CBA)‐type resistance switching memories are described. Two important quantitative guidelines for the memory integration are provided with respect to the required numbers of signal wires and sneak current paths. The advantage of 3D CBAs over 2D CBAs (i.e., the decrease in effect memory cell size) can be exploited only under certain limited conditions due to the increased area and layout complexity of the periphery circuits. The sneak current problem can be mitigated by the adoption of different voltage application schemes and various selection devices. These have critical correlations, however, and depend on the involved types of resistance switching memory. The problem is quantitatively dealt with using the generalized equation for the overall resistance of the parasitic current paths. Atomic layer deposition is discussed in detail as the most feasible fabrication process of 3D CBAs because it can provide the device with the necessary conformality and atomic‐level accuracy in thickness control. Other subsidiary issues related to the line resistance, maximum available current, and fabrication technologies are also reviewed. Finally, a summary and outlook on various other applications of 3D CBAs are provided.     

Novel zero-voltage and zero-current-switching (ZVZCS) full-bridge PWM converter using coupled output inductor

A novel zero-voltage and zero-current-switching (ZVZCS) full-bridge pulse-width-modulated (PWM) converter is proposed to improve the previously proposed ZVZCS full-bridge PWM converters. By employing a simple auxiliary circuit with neither lossy components nor active switches, soft-switching of the primary switches is achieved. The proposed converter has many advantages such as simple auxiliary circuit, high efficiency, low voltage stress of the rectifier diode and self-adjustment of the circulating current, which make the proposed converter attractive for the high voltage and high power applications. The principles of operation and design considerations are presented and verified on the 4 kW experimental converter operating at 80 kHz.     

In-situ synthesis of TiC/Fe alloy composites with high strength and hardness by reactive sintering

Fe alloy composites reinforced with in-situ titanium carbide(Ti C) particles were fabricated by reactive sintering using different reactant C/Ti ratios of 0.8,0.9,1 and 1.1 to investigate the microstructure and mechanical properties of in-situ Ti C/Fe alloy composites.The microstructure showed that the in-situ synthesized Ti C particles were spherical with a size of 1–3 μm,irrespective of C/Ti ratio.The stoichiometry of in-situ Ti C increased from 0.85 to 0.88 with increasing C/Ti ratio from 0.8 to 0.9,but remained almost unchanged for C/Ti ratios between 0.9 and 1.1 due to the same driving force for carbon diffusion in Ti Cxat the common sintering temperature.The in-situ Ti C/Fe alloy composite with C/Ti = 0.9 showed improved mechanical properties compared with other C/Ti ratios because the presence of excess carbon(C/Ti = 1 and 1.1) resulted in unreacted carbon within the Fe alloy matrix,while insufficient carbon(C/Ti = 0.8)caused the depletion of carbon from the Fe alloy matrix,leading to a significant decrease in hardness.This study presents that the maximized hardness and superior strength of in-situ Ti C/Fe alloy composites can be achieved by microstructure control and stoichiometric analysis of the in-situ synthesized Ti C particles,while maintaining the ductility of the composites,compared to those of the unreinforced Fe alloy.Therefore,we anticipate that the in-situ synthesized Ti C/Fe alloy composites with enhanced mechanical properties have great potential in cutting tool,mold and roller material applications.     

Mobile Small Cells for Further Enhanced 5G Heterogeneous Networks

A heterogeneous network (HetNet) is a network topology composed by deploying multiple HetNets under the coverage of macro cells (MCs). It can improve network throughput, extend cell coverage, and offload network traffic; for example, the network traffic of a 5G mobile communications network. A HetNet involves a mix of radio technologies and various cell types working together seamlessly. In a HetNet, coordination between MCs and small cells (SCs) has a positive impact on the performance of the networks contained within, and consequently on the overall user experience. Therefore, to improve user‐perceived service quality, HetNets require high‐efficiency network protocols and enhanced radio technologies. In this paper, we introduce a 5G HetNet comprised of MCs and both fixed and mobile SCs (mSCs). The featured mSCs can be mounted on a car, bus, or train and have different characteristics to fixed SCs (fSCs). In this paper, we address the technical challenges related to mSCs. In addition, we analyze the network performance under two HetNet scenarios — MCs and fSCs, and MCs and mSCs.     

Comparison of the antioxidant activities of roasted and explosive puffed coffees

We investigated the explosive process effect on antioxidant activities of coffee bean. The total polyphenol contents of powdered extract of explosive puffing coffee bean at 0.75 MPa (PEP 7.5) and powdered extract of explosive puffing coffee bean at 0.9 MPa (PEP 9.0) were at a significantly higher than that of the powdered extract of roasting coffee bean (PER) (P < 0.05). PEP 7.5 showed the highest levels of 3‐CQA (86.23 μg mg^?1), 4‐CQA (43.71 μg mg^?1), and 5‐CQA (31.66 μg mg^?1), and PEP 9.0 had also similar levels of chlorogenic acids, with 3‐CQA (77.99 μg mg^?1), 4‐CQA (43.71 μg mg^?1), and 5‐CQA (30.32 μg mg^?1). PEP 7.5 and PEP 9.0 showed relatively higher antioxidant capacities in DPPH, ABTS, taurine, FRAP, and β‐carotene/linoleic acid assays. PEPs partly recovered the HepG2 cell damage induced by t‐BOOH. These results suggest that puffed coffee has beneficial health effects, and could be used for the development of novel processed coffee products.     

Efficiency optimization of green phosphorescent organic light-emitting device

Using a narrow band gap host of bis[2-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-pyridine]beryllium (Bepp₂) and green phosphorescent Ir(ppy)₃ [fac-tris(2-phenylpyridine) iridium III] guest concentration as low as 2%, high efficiency phosphorescent organic light-emitting diode (PHOLED) is realized. Current and power efficiencies of 62.5 cd/A (max.), 51.0 lm/W (max.), and external quantum efficiency (max.) of 19.8% are reported in this green PHOLED. A low current efficiency roll-off value of 10% over the brightness of 10,000 cd/m² is noticed in this Bepp₂ single host device. Such a high efficiency is obtained by the optimization of the doping concentration with the knowledge of the hole trapping and the emission zone situations in this host-guest system. It is suggested that the reported device performance is suitable for applications in high brightness displays and lighting.