Studies on slag deposit formation in pulverized coal combustors. 1. Results on the wetting and adherence of synthetic coal ash drops on steel

As part of a study of slag deposit formation in pulverized-coal-fired boilers, apparent contact angles and adhesion strengths of molten mineral drops contacted with cooler oxidized steel substrates have been investigated. High-speed photography indicated that freezing of the interface between the molten drop and metal surface occurred in milliseconds. Adherence occurred between an oxide film on the metal and the drop, adherence was weak on stainless steels, and particles of oxide film were broken away from the substrate when the drops were sheared off. Higher substrate temperatures gave increased adhesion, with a larger area of strong interaction between the oxide and the drop interface and less area of weak interaction. Addition of compounds to lower the liquidus temperature of the drop gave increased adherence. Pyrite drops were converted to mainly pyrrhotite on melting and showed a high degree of wetting and adherence to the oxidized steel even at low temperatures.     

Measurements and correlations for gas liquid surface tension at high pressure and high temperature

Surface tension of water/nitrogen and water–phenol/nitrogen systems was successfully measured by the hanging drop method in a wide domain of temperature (from 100 to 300°C) and pressure (from 4 to 30MPa), conditions little explored in litterature. Results show that surface tension of water–phenol mixtures decreases as phenol mass fraction increases. This decrease is observed under saturated and unsaturated conditions and is more pronounced at low temperatures and does not seem to depend on pressure. The effect of saturation on surface tension in the water/nitrogen system has been correlated with water vapor pressure by using experimental points with a great accuracy. For the water–phenol/nitrogen system, experimental data obtained with different mass fraction of phenol were correlated using Macleod‐Sugden equation for mixtures. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 4110–4117, 2018     

A green and facile one-pot synthesis of Ag–ZnO/RGO nanocomposite with effective photocatalytic activity for removal of organic pollutants

In this study, Ag–ZnO/reduced graphene oxide (Ag–ZnO/RGO) composite was synthesized by a green and facile one-step hydrothermal process. Aqueous suspension containing Ag and ZnO precursors with graphene oxide (GO) sheets was heated at 140 °C for 2 h. The morphology and structure of as-synthesized particles were characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy which revealed the formation of composite of metal, metal oxide and RGO. It was observed that the presence of Ag precursor and GO sheets in the hydrothermal solution could sufficiently decrease the size of ZnO flowers. The hybrid nanostructure, with unique morphology, obtained from this convenient method (low temperature, less time, and less number of reagents) was found to have good photocatalytic and antibacterial activity. The perfect recovery of catalyst after reaction and its unchanged efficiency for cyclic use showed that it will be an economically and environmentally friendly photocatalyst.     

DNA‐Scaffolded Multivalent Ligands to Modulate Cell Function

We report a simple, versatile, multivalent ligand system that is capable of specifically and efficiently modulating cell‐surface receptor clustering and function. The multivalent ligand is made of a polymeric DNA scaffold decorated with biorecognition ligands (i.e., antibodies) to interrogate and modulate cell receptor signaling and function. Using CD20 clustering‐mediated apoptosis in B‐cell cancer cells as a model system, we demonstrated that our multivalent ligand is significantly more effective at inducing apoptosis of target cancer cells than its monovalent counterpart. This multivalent DNA material approach represents a new chemical biology tool to interrogate cell receptor signaling and functions and to potentially manipulate such functions for the development of therapeutics.     

2D space–time wave-digital multi-fan filter banks for signals consisting of multiple plane waves

Two dimensional space–time fan filters may be used for the highly-selective enhancement of spatio-temporal plane-waves on the basis of their directions of arrival. Unlike uniform bandwidth beam filters, ideal fan filters transmit passband signals over a range of directions of arrival that is independent of their 1D temporal spectrum. In this work, closed-form 2D wave-digital filter design equations and corresponding hardware architectures are proposed for realizing M independent fan-shaped passbands having independently steerable directionality and selectivity. A design method based on LCR ladder networks is proposed and implemented using a 2D time-multiplexed raster-scanned architecture that is suitable for low frequency applications such as audio, multimedia, seismic and ultrasonic beamforming. The architectures are designed, simulated, physically realized and tested on FPGA-based prototypes. Examples of 2D IIR M-fan filterbanks with FPGA implementations, together with measured results from on-chip hardware verifications, show the successful design and hardware realization. The filterbanks and hardware architectures are shown to be suitable for real-time sensor-array beamforming applications using custom VLSI circuits.     

Movement and growth indicators in resident and adfluvial coaster brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) in the Hurricane River,Lake Superior,Michigan, USA

Brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis) are found throughout Lake Superior, Lake Nipigon, and their tributaries. Lacustrine and adfluvial life history variants were historically popular with anglers and were called coasters; coaster brook trout populations are now severely reduced and are of conservation concern. Coasters were known to grow larger and mature later than their stream resident counterparts. This study compared movement patterns, age, size, condition, and relative weight of wild coaster and resident brook trout from the Hurricane River, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, Michigan. Wild brook trout ≥ 100 mm from the Hurricane River downstream from Hurricane Falls were tagged with passive integrated transponder tags and monitored for stream-lake movement behavior from May 2003 to November 2007. During 2006 and 2007, brook trout were scale sampled and aged to construct a regression that was then used to calculate the age of all brook trout tagged from 2003 to 2007. Most brook trout movement took place in the fall with October the peak month of emigration with a secondary peak in late spring/early summer and some activity nearly year round. There were no differences found in age structure, size or condition between coasters and residents while in the stream. Our data suggest that a priori growth differences are not determining the expression of coaster outmigration and that stream-lake movements made by coasters, likely driven by habitat requirements, may be highly flexible and facultative.     

Hydro‐ethanolic extract of cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) nut and its principal compound,anacardic acid,stimulate glucose uptake in C2C12 muscle cells

Scope: Products of cashew tree (Anacardium occidentale) are used in traditional medicine for various ailments, including diabetes. Methods and results: The anti‐diabetic properties of cashew plant parts were studied using differentiated C2C12 myoblasts (myotubes) and rat liver mitochondria. Hydroethanolic extract of cashew seed (CSE) and its active component, anacardic acid (AA), stimulated glucose transport into C2C12 myotubes in a concentration‐dependent manner. Extracts of other parts (leaves, bark and apple) of cashew plant were inactive. Significant synergistic effect on glucose uptake with insulin was noticed at 100 μg/mL CSE. CSE and AA caused activation of adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase in C2C12 myotubes after 6 h of incubation. No significant effect was noticed on Akt and insulin receptor phosphorylation. Both CSE and AA exerted significant uncoupling of succinate‐stimulated respiration in rat liver mitochondria. Conclusion: Activation of adenosine monophosphate‐activated protein kinase by CSE and AA likely increases plasma membrane glucose transporters, resulting in elevated glucose uptake. In addition, the dysfunction of mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation may enhance glycolysis and contribute to increased glucose uptake. These results collectively suggest that CSE may be a potential anti‐diabetic nutraceutical.     

Energy profile and the open-loop control of the translational motion of the walking machine Cyclone

The energy profile of the walking machine Cyclone and the influence of the motion modes on the energy consumption in the case of its translational motion along a straight line is analyzed using computer simulation. The computations are performed in pseudo-real time, and the animation is done using planar geometric primitives.