改进遗传算法在电力系统无功优化中的应用

针对常规遗传算法（GA）的不足,提出了一种改进搜索策略的遗传算法,采取了以下改进措施：在遗传迭代中,根据种群进化过程的个体的适应值大小,对群体进行分级,对级别高的个体进行小范围的搜索,对级别低的个体在大范围内进行搜索,保证群体的多样性的同时,又留住了优良个体。将改进的遗传算法应用于电力系统无功优化,并与常规遗传算法进行了比较,结果表明改进算法在计算速度、收敛性和全局最优搜索能力都有提高。     

马尼托瓦克新型塔式起重机将在bauma China2014首次亮相

在bauma China2014上，马尼托瓦克将携两款新型Potain系列平头式塔机和1台Grove品牌KT890E型移动式越野起重机盛装亮相。Potain系列塔机是马尼托瓦克中国张家港工厂的最近创新成果。     

The effect of probiotics (Lactobacillus rhamnosus HN001, Lactobacillus paracasei LPC-37, and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCFM) on the availability of minerals from Dutch-type cheese

The use of probiotic cultures in the production of Dutch-type cheeses did not lead to significant changes in their chemical composition but it lowered their acidity. The availability of calcium and magnesium analyzed by in vitro enzymatic hydrolysis was 19 and 35%, respectively; the availability of phosphorus was significantly higher, at >90%. The use of probiotic cultures significantly increased the availability of calcium (~2.5%), phosphorus (~6%), and magnesium (~18%). The in vitro method supports accurate determination of the effect of the Lactobacillus spp. cultures on the availability of mineral compounds ingested with Dutch-type cheese.     

Indentation cracking and deformation mechanism of sodium aluminoborosilicate glasses

Developing less brittle oxide glasses is a grand challenge in the field of glass science and technology, as it would pave the way toward new glass applications and limit the overall raw material usage and energy consumption. However, in order to achieve this goal, more insight into the correlation between the chemical composition and material properties is required. In this work, we focus on the mechanical properties of quaternary sodium aluminoborosilicate glasses, wherein systematic changes in glass chemistry yield different resistances to indentation crack initiation. We discuss the origin of the composition dependence of indentation cracking based on an evaluation of the deformation mechanism taking place during the indentation event. To this end, we use a simple metric, the extent of indent side length recovery upon annealing, to quantify the extent of reversible volume deformation. Finally, we also compare the compositional trend in crack initiation resistance to that in crack growth resistance (fracture toughness), showing no simple correlation among the two.     

Tailored blank welding between low carbon steel sheet and STS 304 stainless steel sheet by CO2 laser beam

A basic reseach of tailored blank welding between a low carbon steel sheet and a STS 304 stainless steel sheet was carried out with CO₂ laser beam. The materials used in this work were a low carbon steel sheet with a thickness of 0.9 mm and a STS 304 stainless steel sheet with the same thickness. Experiments were carried out by applying the Taguchi method to obtain optimized conditions in order to apply this tailored blank laser welding method in the practical manufacturing process. In order to compare the laser welding results with the conventional welding process, GTA welding was carried out for the same materials. Optical microscopy, SEM and XRD analyses were performed to observe the microstructures and to analyze the various phases. A tensile test, hardness test and Erichsen test were performed to evaluate the formability of welded specimens. In addition, immersion test was carried to estimate corrosion resistance. A WDS analysis showed that laser welding resulted in almost the same dilution of both low carbon steel and stainless steel in welded metal, meanwhile, GTA welding resulted in more dilution of stainless steel due to its slower heat conductivity. The formability of the laser welded specimen reached 83% of that in base metal. On the other hand, it was 63% in the case of GTA welding. During the tension test, base metal was fractured in the case of a laser welded specimen, meanwhile the welded zone was fractured in the case of the GTA welded specimen. The corrosion test showed that weight loss per unit area was less in the laser welded specimen than that of the GTA welded specimen.     

Mesoplasticity approach to studies of the cutting mechanism in ultra-precision machining

There have been various theoretical attempts by researchers worldwide to link up different scales of plasticity studies from the nano-, micro- and macro-scale of observation, based on molecular dynamics, crystal plasticity and continuum mechanics. Very few attempts, however, have been reported in ultra-precision machining studies. A mesoplasticity approach advocated by Lee and Yang is adopted by the authors and is successfully applied to studies of the micro-cutting mechanisms in ultra-precision machining. Traditionally, the shear angle in metal cutting, as well as the cutting force variation, can only be determined from cutting tests. In the pioneering work of the authors, the use of mesoplasticity theory enables prediction of the fluctuation of the shear angle and micro-cutting force, shear band formation, chip morphology in diamond turning and size effect in nano-indentation. These findings are verified by experiments. The mesoplasticity formulation opens up a new direction of studies to enable how the plastic behaviour of materials and their constitutive representations in deformation processing, such as machining can be predicted, assessed and deduced from the basic properties of the materials measurable at the microscale.     

An adaptive clinical decision support system for serving the elderly with chronic diseases in healthcare industry

With the increasing ageing population worldwide, providing effective nursing care planning in nursing homes is important in meeting the expectations of elderly patients and in streamlining the healthcare information process, hence maintaining high‐quality services. Instead of the traditional manual nursing care planning formulation based on expert experience and subjective judgement, this paper describes an adaptive decision support system, namely, the cloud‐based nursing care planning system, to enable decision making in formulating nursing care strategies. By integrating cloud computing technology and the case‐based reasoning (CBR) technique, medical records and documents pertaining to the elderly can be captured in real time, whereas appropriate treatment plans based on past similar treatment records can be formulated. However, the current case adaptation processes in CBR rely on domain experts to modify retrieved cases, which may not satisfy the needs of the elderly. Therefore, text mining is integrated in the case adaptation process of CBR for extracting up‐to‐date medical information from the Internet so that its efficiency can be improved. By conducting a pilot study in a nursing home, it was shown that the time for formulating applicable treatment plans for elderly patients can be reduced, and the service satisfaction level can be enhanced.     

Effect of strongly competing background compounds on the kinetics of trace organic contaminant desorption from activated carbon

Strongly competing (SC) compounds, naturally found in any drinking water source, are known to decrease the adsorption capacity of activated carbon for trace contaminants. While the effect of these substances on the capacity and adsorption kinetics of trace contaminants is fairly well studied, relatively little is known about their impact on desorption kinetics. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between SC matter and trace compound desorption kinetics. A surrogate SC compound, 1,4-dichlorobenzene (p-DCB), was used to displace the preadsorbed target trace contaminant, atrazine, from powdered activated carbon (PAC). The initial concentrations of p-DCB and atrazine were varied to achieve different degrees of competition to atrazine. Atrazine's desorption diffusion coefficient was found to increase with increasing adsorbed concentration of the SC matter, expressed as an equivalent background compound (EBC).The EBC was modeled with atrazine-like adsorption properties, thus representing the portion of p-DCB that competed to occupy atrazine adsorption sites. The increase in atrazine diffusion rate can be explained by a shift from surface diffusion to diffusion through the carbon's pores as the availability of surface sites decreased due to the EBC's competition. The observed desorption kinetic relationship was consistent with the effect of SC competition on adsorption kinetics; further, the effect was consistent for three different types of SC matter. These findings highlight that the impact of SC matter on activated carbon applications could be either detrimental (displacing adsorbed trace contaminants and enhancing their rate of release) or beneficial (offsetting pore constriction effects by enhancing their rate of uptake).     

Improved frequency/voltage converters for fast quartz crystal microbalance applications

The monitoring of frequency changes in fast quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) applications is a real challenge in today's instrumentation. In these applications, such as ac electrogravimetry, small frequency shifts, in the order of tens of hertz, around the resonance of the sensor can occur up to a frequency modulation of 1 kHz. These frequency changes have to be monitored very accurately both in magnitude and phase. Phase-locked loop techniques can be used for obtaining a high performance frequency/voltage converter which can provide reliable measurements. Sensitivity higher than 10 mVHz, for a frequency shift resolution of 0.1 Hz, with very low distortion in tracking both the magnitude and phase of the frequency variations around the resonance frequency of the sensor are required specifications. Moreover, the resonance frequency can vary in a broad frequency range from 5 to 10 MHz in typical QCM sensors, which introduces an additional difficulty. A new frequency-voltage conversion system based on a double tuning analog-digital phase-locked loop is proposed. The reported electronic characterization and experimental results obtained with conducting polymers prove its reliability for ac-electrogravimetry measurements and, in general, for fast QCM applications.