Theoretical investigation of solvent effects on the selective hydrogenation of furfural over Pt(111)

It was well known that solvent effect plays a very important role in the catalytic reaction. There are many theoretical studies on the solvent effect in homogeneous catalysis while there are few theoretical studies on the solvent effect in the heterogeneous catalytic reaction and there has been no work to investigate the solvent effect on furfural transformation in heterogeneous catalysis. In the present work, both the density functional calculations and the microkinetic analysis were performed to study the selective hydrogenation of furfural over Pt(111) in the presence of methanol as well as toluene and compared with that in the gas condition. The present results indicated that the methanol can enhance the adsorption strength of furfural and other oxygen-containing reaction species due to its relatively strong polarity properties and this can be a main reason for solvent-induced high activity and selectivity. Another reason is that reaction paths study showed that the presence of methanol solvent makes the dehydrogenation of furfural less thermochemical due to the fact that furfural is more stabilized than that of dehydrogenation species, and methanol also has an inhibition effect on the dehydrogenation of furfural in the kinetic aspect, and further energetic span theory proves highest activity and selectivity for hydrogenation in methanol solvent of vapor, methanol and toluene. Moreover, microkinetic model simulation demonstrated that the activity and selectivity of hydrogenation in methanol is both higher than that in vapor and toluene. The much higher activity in methanol is due to the stabilized adsorbed reactants in the surface, which leads to a higher surface coverage of furfural. It might be proposed based on the present work that a solvent with relatively strong polarity may be favorable for the high selective hydrogenation of furfural.     

Epos – an instrument for the assessment of the ethical position in software development

Digital technology becomes more powerful, intelligent, pervasive and ubiquitous. Ethical aspects of this development have not yet drawn the appropriate attention of researchers and engineers. This paper presents an instrument that aims at measuring the individual ethical position with regard to the design and development of computer software. The development of the Epos tool was based on two data collections. The data of the first survey (n₁ = 147 participants) were used to select items and to determine the factorial structure of the questionnaire. Results show that the Epos instrument reliably assesses peoples’ ethical opinion with respect to five central components: (1) regulation, (2) data privacy, (3) domain specific knowledge, (4) societal responsibility and (5) company responsibility. In the second survey, we determined the stability of the instruments factor structure by assessing a sample of n₂?=?196 participants. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) supported the initial factor structure. Next steps and further implications are discussed regarding the final version of the questionnaire.     

Biodegradation of poly(lactic acid)—cassava bagasse composites produced by injection molding

Neat poly (lactic acid) (PLA) and PLA/cassava bagasse (CB) composites were used to produce seedling tubes by extrusion and injection molding. The tubes were buried in simulated soil, and their biodegradation was investigated by weight loss, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). After 180 days, the composites' biodegradation was higher than neat PLA material, and the higher the CB content, the higher the biodegradation, which caused fissures and voids in the material. The biodegradation of PLA/CB composites increased the phosphorus content in the soil after 180 days. Composites of PLA with CB, an abundant agro-industrial residue in Brazil, are promising because they can reduce the environmental impact due to CB's proper destination, and the composites' costs and biodegradation are faster than pure PLA material. Both the faster biodegradation of the tube and the higher P content are advantageous for seedling tubes.     

A precise sensor fault detection technique using statistical techniques for wireless body area networks

One of the major challenges in wireless body area networks (WBANs) is sensor fault detection. This paper reports a method for the precise identification of faulty sensors, which should help users identify true medical conditions and reduce the rate of false alarms, thereby improving the quality of services offered by WBANs. The proposed sensor fault detection (SFD) algorithm is based on Pearson correlation coefficients and simple statistical methods. The proposed method identifies strongly correlated parameters using Pearson correlation coefficients, and the proposed SFD algorithm detects faulty sensors. We validated the proposed SFD algorithm using two datasets from the Multiparameter Intelligent Monitoring in Intensive Care database and compared the results to those of existing methods. The time complexity of the proposed algorithm was also compared to that of existing methods. The proposed algorithm achieved high detection rates and low false alarm rates with accuracies of 97.23% and 93.99% for Dataset 1 and Dataset 2, respectively.     

Finite element analysis of fracture behavior in ceramics: Competition between artificial notch and internal defects under three-point bending

Evaluation of the nonlinear relationship between the surface defect size and fracture strength of ceramics is important for engineering applications. In this study, we aim to predict the apparent nonlinear relationship between the defect size and fracture strength of single-edge notched beams (SENBs) using the finite element method. Specifically, we applied the methodology for predicting fracture strength from microstructure distribution data (relative density, pore size, aspect ratio, and grain size) to a finite element analysis (FEA) model in which the shape and size of the initial defects are defined at notch locations. By reproducing the apparent nonlinearity caused by the competition between the surface and internal defects within the framework of linear elastic fracture mechanics, the effectiveness of the FEA methodology for the evaluation of strength scatter and allowable crack size in ceramics was demonstrated.     

澳大利亚“基于能力本位的评估”模式及对我国高职教育 质量评估的启 示

澳大利亚职业教育在全球享有较高的声誉,这与其坚持严格的"基于能力本位的评估"(competency based assessment, CBA)密不可分。介绍了澳大利亚CBA的内涵特征,并详细描述"准备评估、开发评估工具、开展评估、对评估结果进行评估"的CBA运作过程,关注评估工具的开发和后续常规系统性检查及完善,以期对我国的高等职业教育质量评估起到启示和借鉴作用。     

Damage evolution in polymer due to exposure to high-pressure hydrogen gas

The use of hydrogen as a fuel is increasing exponentially, and the most economical way to store and transport hydrogen for fuel use is as a high-pressure gas. Polymers are widely used for hydrogen distribution and storage systems because they are chemically inert towards hydrogen. However, when exposed to high-pressure hydrogen, some hydrogen diffuses through polymers and occupies the preexisting cavities inside the material. Upon depressurization, the hydrogen trapped inside polymer cavities can cause blistering or cracking by expanding these cavities. A continuum mechanics–based deformation model was deployed to predict the stress distribution and damage propagation while the polymer undergoes depressurization after high-pressure hydrogen exposure. The effects of cavity size, cavity location, and pressure inside the cavity on damage initiation and evolution inside the polymer were studied. The stress and damage evolution in the presence of multiple cavities was also studied, because interaction among cavities alters the damage and stress field. It was found that all these factors significantly change the stress state in the polymer, resulting in different paths for damage propagation. The effect of adding carbon black filler particles and plasticizer on the damage was also studied. It was found that damage tolerance of the polymer increases drastically with the addition of carbon black fillers, but decreases with the addition of the plasticizer.     

面向草莓抓取的气动四叶片软体抓手研制

农林业中果蔬的自动化采摘需求日趋强烈,末端抓手是实现无损采摘的关键。传统的末端抓手以刚性结构居多,现有的各种柔性抓手也存在抓取力不足、包覆性不佳等缺点。本文以草莓的无损采摘为研究对象,提出将草莓外部轮廓曲线作为设计曲线,设计了一种新型气动四叶片软体抓手。首先,对软体抓手的结构做仿真优化,提出一种安全地附着在目标物表面的设想。然后,在进行草莓表面的最小破坏应力试验的基础上,测试了软体抓手的末端力,验证了其实现无损抓取的可行性。再次,利用动态捕捉技术,研究了软体抓手叶面的弯曲变形规律。最后,选择使用弧线型气体通道的软体抓手进行了草莓抓取测试,结果证明了气动四叶片软体抓手可以实现草莓的无损抓取,抓取成功率达90%,破损率为2%,表明所研制的四叶片软体抓手用于草莓抓取时具有良好的稳定性和实用性,可用于草莓采摘的末端执行器。本研究也可为其他易损果蔬的采摘技术提供理论基础和技术支撑。     

Spreading and Curing Behaviors of a Thermosetting Droplet-Silicone on a Heated Surface

Thermosetting materials are widely used as encapsulation in the electrical packaging to protect the core electronic components from external force, moisture, dust, and other factors. However, the spreading and curing behaviors of such kind of fluid on a heated surface have been rarely explored. In this study, we experimentally and numerically investigated the spreading and curing behaviors of the silicone(OE6550 A/B, which is widely used in the light-emitting diode packaging) droplet with diameter of ～2.2 mm on a heated surface with temperature ranging from 25 ℃ to 250 ℃. For the experiments, we established a setup with high-speed camera and heating unit to capture the fast spreading process of the silicone droplet on the heated surface. For the numerical simulation, we built a viscosity model of the silicone by using the Kiuna's model and combined the viscosity model with the Volume of Fluid(VOF) model by the User Defined Function(UDF) method. The results show that the surface temperature significantly affected the spreading behaviors of the silicone droplet since it determines the temperature and viscosity distribution inside the droplet. For surface temperature varied from 25 ℃ to 250 ℃, the final contact radius changed from ～2.95 mm to ～1.78 mm and the total spreading time changed from ～511 s to ～0.15 s. By further analyzing the viscosity evolution of the droplet, we found that the decreasing of the total spreading time was caused by the decrease of the viscosity under high surface temperature at initial spreading stage, while the reduction of the final contact radius was caused by the curing of the precursor film. This study supplies a strategy to tuning the spreading and curing behavior of silicone by imposing high surface temperature, which is of great importance to the electronic packaging.     

Influence of the dispersion of Nanoclays on the cellular structure of foams based on polystyrene

In the present work blends of polystyrene (PS) with sepiolites have been produced using a melt extrusion process. The dispersion degree of the sepiolites in the PS has been analyzed by dynamic shear rheology and X-ray micro-computed tomography. Sepiolites treated with quaternary ammonium salts (O-QASEP) are better dispersed in the PS matrix than natural sepiolites (N-SEP) or sepiolites organo-modified with silane groups (O-SGSEP). A percolated network is obtained when using 6.0 wt% of O-QASEP, 8.0 wt% of N-SEP and 10.0 wt% of O-SGSEP. It has been shown that multiple extrusion processes have a negative effect on the polymer architecture. They produce a reduction in the length of the polymeric chains, and they do not lead to a better dispersion of the particles in the polymer matrix. Foams have been produced using a gas dissolution foaming process, where a strong effect of the dispersion degree on the cellular structure of the different foams was found. The effects on the cellular structure obtained by using different types of sepiolites, different contents of sepiolites and different extrusion conditions have been analyzed. The foams produced with the formulations containing O-QASEP present the lowest cell size and the most homogeneous cellular structures.