Liquid-phase oxidation of toluene by molecular oxygen over copper manganese oxides

Copper manganese oxides (Cu–Mn oxides) were prepared by coprecipitation method and characterized by several techniques, such as X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and Temperature-programmed reduction (TPR). Catalytic activities of the Cu–Mn oxides were tested by the oxidation of toluene with molecular oxygen in liquid phase and solvent-free conditions. The molar ratio of Cu:Mn in catalyst was optimized to be 1:1 and thus the corresponding crystalline material was designated as Cu_1.5Mn_1.5O₄.     

Longitudinal and temporal water temperature patterns in the Yangtze River and its influence on spawning of the Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray 1835)

In this study, water temperature longitudinal and temporal patterns were investigated in four locations of the Yangtze River to identify their influence on spawning of the Chinese sturgeon (Acipenser sinensis Gray 1835). The results showed that, historically (1960–1980), the four locations, Pingshan (PS, 2,687 river kilometres [rkm]), Yichang (YC, 1,640 rkm), Chenglingji (CLJ, 1,265 rkm), and Hukou (HK, 805 rkm), all had similar average annual water temperatures (around 18.0 °C) but very different amplitudes: The upper two locations, PS (11.4–23.2 °C) and YC (9.1–25.9 °C), were relatively stable and had smaller amplitude than the lower two ones, CLJ (6.0–30.0 °C) and HK (5.9–30.8 °C). On the basis of the physiological effects for Chinese sturgeon, we defined three water temperature ranges: stressing (>23 °C), holding (23–20 °C), and spawning (20–16 °C). We found that the upper two locations with successful spawning of the Chinese sturgeon (PS and YC) had short or no stressing period but long holding and spawning periods. Currently (2013–2016), the impoundment of the Three Gorges Reservoir increases the time for water temperature decreasing to 20 °C at the current spawning ground (YC) in autumn, which increases the stressing and holding periods, and has significant negative impact on the spawning of Chinese sturgeon. Nonetheless, considering the very high stressing temperature and the short duration of the holding and spawning periods at CLJ and HK, we propose that YC is still the most suitable spawning location for the Chinese sturgeon.     

聚酯酰胺热熔胶的合成及其性能研究

研究了以聚酯胶和聚酰胺胶为原料在催化剂作用下加热共熔,通过大分子链交换反应制备织物用聚酯酰胺热熔胶的方法。用聚酯胶的溶剂对所得产品进行溶取试验并且通过红外光谱分析都证明了链交换反应的存在。用该法所得产品粘接强度大,既耐水洗又耐干洗,适用于粘合衬生产。     

Asymptotic solvers for second-order differential equation systems with multiple frequencies

In this paper, an asymptotic expansion is constructed to solve second-order differential equation systems with highly oscillatory forcing terms involving multiple frequencies. An asymptotic expansion is derived in inverse of powers of the oscillatory parameter and its truncation results in a very effective method of dicretizing the differential equation system in question. Numerical experiments illustrate the effectiveness of the asymptotic method in contrast to the standard Runge–Kutta method.     

Honey bees mating optimization algorithm for process planning problem

Process planning is a very important function in the modern manufacturing system. It impacts the efficiency of the manufacturing system greatly. The process planning problem has been proved to be a NP-hard problem. The traditional algorithms cannot solve this problem very well. Therefore, due to the intractability and importance of process planning problem, it is very necessary to develop efficiency algorithms which can obtain a good process plan with minimal global machining cost in reasonable time. In this paper, a new method based on honey bees mating optimization (HBMO) algorithm is proposed to optimize the process planning problem. With respect to the characteristics of process planning problem, the solution encoding, crossover operator, local search strategies have been developed. To evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm, three experiments have been carried out, and the comparisons among HBMO and some other existing algorithms are also presented. The results demonstrate that the HBMO algorithm has achieved satisfactory improvement.     

Effect of cobalt oxide on surface structure of alumina supported molybdena catalysts studied by in situ Raman spectroscopy

A set of Co promoted 10% Mo/Al₂O₃ samples have been characterized by means of Raman spectroscopy under ambient as well as in situ dehydrated conditions. Under ambient conditions, the degree of the polymerization of surface molybdenum oxide species decreases with increasing Co loading. Under dehydrated conditions, the polymeric molybdenum oxide species is absent with the addition of only 0.2% Co. At low Co loadings (2%), before the formation of CoMoO₄ compound, the spectral features are very similar under ambient conditions. Dehydration causes the upward shift of the Mo=O symmetric stretching mode. A broad band around 920–930 cm^–1 was thus observed. This band has been suggested to be associated with the Co-Mo interaction species. In contrast to crystalline CoMoO₄, this species shows a reversibility on H₂ reduction-O₂ reoxidation treatments. From the results obtained, it is proposed that cobalt oxide interacts with the most polymerized molybdenum oxide species to form Co-Mo interaction species and/or crystalline CoMoO₄; therefore, the amount of the surface molybdenum oxide species decreases with a change in the molecular structure as a function of the Co concentration.     

Detecting Fixed Patterns in Chordal Graphs in Polynomial Time

The Contractibility problem takes as input two graphs G and H, and the task is to decide whether H can be obtained from G by a sequence of edge contractions. The Induced Minor and Induced Topological Minor problems are similar, but the first allows both edge contractions and vertex deletions, whereas the latter allows only vertex deletions and vertex dissolutions. All three problems are NP-complete, even for certain fixed graphs H. We show that these problems can be solved in polynomial time for every fixed H when the input graph G is chordal. Our results can be considered tight, since these problems are known to be W[1]-hard on chordal graphs when parameterized by the size of H. To solve Contractibility and Induced Minor, we define and use a generalization of the classic Disjoint Paths problem, where we require the vertices of each of the k paths to be chosen from a specified set. We prove that this variant is NP-complete even when k=2, but that it is polynomial-time solvable on chordal graphs for every fixed k. Our algorithm for Induced Topological Minor is based on another generalization of Disjoint Paths called Induced Disjoint Paths, where the vertices from different paths may no longer be adjacent. We show that this problem, which is known to be NP-complete when k=2, can be solved in polynomial time on chordal graphs even when k is part of the input. Our results fit into the general framework of graph containment problems, where the aim is to decide whether a graph can be modified into another graph by a sequence of specified graph operations. Allowing combinations of the four well-known operations edge deletion, edge contraction, vertex deletion, and vertex dissolution results in the following ten containment relations: (induced) minor, (induced) topological minor, (induced) subgraph, (induced) spanning subgraph, dissolution, and contraction. Our results, combined with existing results, settle the complexity of each of the ten corresponding containment problems on chordal graphs.     

Use of laser scanning confocal microscopy for characterizing changes in film thickness and local surface morphology of UV-exposed polymer coatings

Laser scanning confocal microscopy (LSCM) has been used to characterize the changes in film thickness and local surface morphology of polymer coatings during the UV degradation process. With the noninvasive feature of LSCM, one can obtain thickness information directly and nondestructively at various exposure times without destroying the specimens or deriving the thickness values from IR measurement by assuming uniform film ablation. Two acrylic polymer coatings were chosen for the study, and the physical and chemical changes of the two systems at various exposure times were measured and analyzed. Those measurable physical changes caused by UV exposure include film ablation, formation of pits and other surface defects, and increases in surface roughness. It was found in both coatings that changes in measured film thickness by LSCM were not correlated linearly to the predicted thickness loss using the changes in the CH band obtained by the Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements in the later degradation stages. This result suggested it was not a uniform film ablation process during the UV degradation. At later stages, where surface deformation became severe, surface roughness and profile information using LSCM were also proven to be useful for analyzing the surface degradation process Presented at the 81st Annual Meeting of the Federation of Societies for Coatings Technology, November 13–14, 2004 in Philadelphia, PA.     

Local orders,lattice distortions,and electronic structure dominated mechanical properties of (ZrHfTaM1M2)C (M = Nb,Ti, V)

High-entropy carbides (HECs) are regarded as potential candidate structural materials with attractive mechanical properties due to their ultra-high hardness. It is essential to reveal the atomic and electronic basis for strengthening mechanism in order to develop the advanced HECs. In the present work, C (M = Nb, Ti, V) are selected as case studies. The effects of transition metals (M) on the lattice parameters, bulk modulus, enthalpy of formation, electron work function (EWF), and bonding morphology/strength of HECs are comprehensively studied by first-principles calculations. It is found that the lattice parameters, equilibrium volumes, and bulk modulus of HECs are improved with the increase of M atomic volumes. The atomic-size differences among various groups of elements not only result in the lattice mismatch/distortion but also contribute to the formation of weak spots. In the view of bonding charge density, the electron redistributions caused by the coupling effect of the lattice distortion and valance electron differences can be revealed obviously, which identify the different bonding strength. Moreover, in terms of EWF, the proposed power-law-scaled hardness of HECs is validated and matches well with those reported theoretical and experimental results, providing a strategy to design advanced HECs with excellent mechanical properties.