Review on zirconate-cerate-based electrolytes for proton-conducting solid oxide fuel cell

The performance of low-to-intermediate temperature (400–800?°C) solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) depends on the properties of electrolyte used. SOFC performance can be enhanced by replacing electrolyte materials from conventional oxide ion (O^2-) conductors with proton (H⁺) conductors because H⁺ conductors have higher ionic conductivity and theoretical electrical efficiency than O^2- conductors within the target temperature range. Electrolytes based on cerate and/or zirconate have been proposed as potential H⁺ conductors. Cerate-based electrolytes have the highest H⁺ conductivity, but they are chemically and thermally unstable during redox cycles, whereas zirconate-based electrolytes exhibit the opposite properties. Thus, tailoring the properties of cerate and/or zirconate electrolytes by doping with rare-earth metals has become a main concern for many researchers to further improve the ionic conductivity and stability of electrolytes. This article provides an overview on the properties of four types of cerate and/or zirconate electrolytes including cerate-based, zirconate-based, single-doped cerate–zirconate and hybrid-doped cerate–zirconate. The properties of the proton electrolytes such as ionic conductivity, chemical stability and sinterability are also systematically discussed. This review further provides a summary of the performance of SOFCs operated with cerate and/or zirconate proton conductors and the actual potential of these materials as alternative electrolytes for proton-conducting SOFC application.     

Assessing students' conceptual understanding using an online three‐tier diagnostic test

When solving a mathematical problem, students who do not have sufficient conceptual understanding may perform poorly and exhibit misconceptions. This study was aimed to examine students' conceptual understanding and significant misconceptions when solving number sense‐related problems. An online three‐tier diagnostic test was administered to 125 fifth‐grade students with varied socio‐economic backgrounds in Hong Kong. Only 14.40% of the students exhibited high performance with high confidence, indicating that these students had a profound conceptual understanding of number sense. In addition, the majority of the students (66.40%) did not demonstrate number sense; these students exhibited several significant misconceptions and could solve the questions only by using a rule‐based method or guessing. Accordingly, most students performed unsatisfactorily on number sense‐related problems. This study is imperative in identifying early predictors and provides information for further compatible interventions in the teaching and learning of number sense in Hong Kong in particular and worldwide in general.     

Flexible poly(styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene) hybrid nanofibers for bioengineering and water filtration applications

Among the thermoplastic elastomers that play important roles in the polymer industry due to their superior properties, styrene-based species and polyurethane block copolymers are of great interest. Poly(styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene) (SEBS) as a triblock copolymer seems to have the potential to meet many demands in different applications due to various industrial requirements where durability, biocompatibility, breaking elongation, and interfacial adhesion are important. In this study, the SEBS triblock copolymer was functionalized with natural (Satureja hortensis, SH) and synthetic (nanopowder, TiO₂) agents to obtain composite nanofibers by electrospinning and electrospraying methods for use in biomedical and water filtration applications. The results were compared with thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) composite nanofibers, which are commonly used in these fields. Here, functionalized SEBS nanofibers exhibited antibacterial effect while at the same time improving cell viability. In addition, because of successful water filtration by using the SEBS composite nanofibers, the material may have a good potential to be used comparably to TPU for the application.     

Isometric Texture Mapping for Free-form Surfaces

Texture mapping is a frequently exploited technique in computer graphics aimed at the emulation of high-resolution details in surfaces. In this paper we present a distance-ratios preservation method for bivariate raster texture mapping to free-form surfaces in an arbitrarily precise manner. The proposed method reduces the original general problem of computing the inverse of a three-dimensional parametric surface mapping into a problem of two-dimensional image warping. Several examples that demonstrate the proposed approach are also provided.     

期刊稿件网络采编系统的建立

《中国冶金》杂志社全面启用的科技期刊稿件采编系统是以Internet为载体，具有作者在线投稿、在线查询、上传校样、专家在线审理稿件、提交审稿意见、上传审改稿、编辑在线加工处理稿件等作用，完全实现了稿件从收稿到发稿的全程数字化管理，同时建立了数据齐全、操作简便的作者、审稿专家和稿件的数据库，改进了传统的操作方法和管理模式，提高了工作效率。杂志社采用该系统还可以进行网刊发布、管理以及期刊征订和发行处理。     

Shortcoming, problems and analytical comparison for flooding-based search techniques in unstructured P2P networks

Peer-to-Peer networks attracted a significant amount of interest because of their capacity for resource sharing and content distribution. Content distribution applications allow personal computers to function in a coordinated manner as a distributed storage medium by contributing, searching, and obtaining digital content. Searching in unstructured P2P networks is an important problem, which has received considerable research attention. Acceptable searching techniques must provide large coverage rate, low traffic load, and optimum latency. This paper reviews flooding-based search techniques in unstructured P2P networks. It then analytically compares their coverage rate, and traffic overloads. Our simulation experiments have validated analytical results.     

混沌精英哈里斯鹰优化算法

针对哈里斯鹰优化（HHO）算法存在的收敛精度低、收敛速度慢、易于陷入局部最优的不足,提出了一种混沌精英哈里斯鹰优化（CEHHO）算法。首先,引入精英等级制度策略,以充分利用优势种群来增强种群多样性以及提升算法收敛速度和精度;其次,利用Tent混沌映射调整算法关键参数;然后,使用一种非线性能量因子调节策略来平衡算法的开发与探索;最后,使用高斯随机游走策略对最优个体施加扰动,并在算法停滞时,利用随机游走策略使算法有效跳出局部最优。通过对20个基准测试函数在不同维度下进行仿真实验,来评估算法的寻优能力。实验结果表明,改进算法的表现优于鲸鱼优化算法（WOA）、灰狼优化（GWO）算法、粒子群优化（PSO）算法和生物地理优化（BBO）算法,性能较原始HHO算法有明显提升,验证了改进算法的有效性。     

多元醇胺对钢铁渣粉溶解特性的影响

为了解决钢铁渣粉溶解性差所引起的活性低的问题,研究了三乙醇胺( TEA)、三异丙醇胺( TIPA)和二乙醇单异丙醇胺( DEIPA)对钢铁渣粉在碱性环境下溶解的影响规律,通过电导率仪、酸度计、电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱仪( inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy,ICP-AES)和八通道微量热仪对钢铁渣粉的溶解特性进行了表征。结果表明：多元醇胺降低了钢铁渣粉液相的pH并提高了液相电导率,主要表现为增加了液相中Fe、Ca、Al元素的质量浓度,其中TEA和DEIPA的影响效果大于TIPA;多元醇胺提高了钢铁渣粉早期的溶解热和最大水化热峰值,进一步证实了多元醇胺对钢铁渣粉具有增溶作用。     

Characterisation of sol–gel method synthesised MgZnFe2 O4 nanoparticles and its cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cell line,MDA MB‐231 in vitro

In this study, nanocrystalline magnesium zinc ferrite nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a simple sol–gel method using copper nitrate and ferric nitrate as raw materials. The calcined samples were characterised by differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the average particle size of the calcined sample was in a range of 17–41 nm with an average of 29 nm and has spherical size. A cytotoxicity test was performed on human breast cancer cells (MDA MB‐231) and (MCF‐7) at various concentrations starting from (0 µg/ml) to (800 µg/ml). The sample possessed a mild toxic effect toward MDA MB‐231 and MCF‐7 after being examined with MTT (3‐[4, 5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl]‐2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay for up to 72 h of incubation. Higher reduction of cells viability was observed as the concentration of sample was increased in MDA MB‐231 cell line than in MCF‐7. Therefore, further cytotoxicity tests were performed on MDA MB‐231 cell line.Inspec keywords: sol‐gel processing, nanoparticles, nanofabrication, magnesium compounds, zinc compounds, toxicology, biological organs, cancer, cellular biophysics, nanomedicine, calcination, differential thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectra, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, particle size, organic compoundsOther keywords: sol‐gel method, cytotoxic effects, breast cancer cell line, MDA MB‐231 in vitro, nanocrystalline magnesium zinc ferrite nanoparticles, copper nitrate, ferric nitrate, raw materials, calcined samples, differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, average particle size, cytotoxicity testing, human breast cancer cells, mild toxic effect, 3‐[4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl]‐2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, cell viability, MCF‐7, MDA MB‐231 cell line, size 17 nm to 41 nm     

Compensation of hysteresis in piezoelectric actuator with iterative learning control

This paper presents the application of iterative learning control (ILC) to compensate hysteresis in a piezoelectric actuator. The proposed controller is a hybrid of proportional-integral-differential (PID) control, whose main function is for trajectory tracking, and a chatter-based ILC, whose main function is for hysteresis compensation. Stability analysis of the proposed ILC is presented, with the PID included in the dynamic of the piezoelectric actuator. The performance of the proposed controller is analysed through simulation and verified with experiment with a piezoelectric actuator.