Theoretical and experimental analyses of rheological,compatibility and mechanical properties of PVMQ/XNBR-g GMA/XNBR/GO ternary hybrid nanocomposites

Iranian Polymer Journal - Effects of graphene oxide (GO) on various properties of rubber hybrid nanocomposites based on PVMQ/XNBR-g-GMA/XNBR (phenyl-vinyl-methyl-polysiloxane/carboxylated nitrile...     

Catalytic Conversion of NO and C3H6 in Exhaust Gases Over Silver Catalysts Under Stoichiometric or Excess Oxygen

The role of Ag in simultaneously catalyzing NO reduction and C₃H₆ oxidation was shown to be strongly dependent on the redox properties of its local environment. Under an atmosphere of 1,000 ppm NO, 3,000 ppm C₃H₆, and 1% O₂ and a GHSV of 30,000 h⁻¹, a perovskite La_0.88Ag_0.12FeO₃ prepared by reactive grinding is active giving a complete NO conversion and 92% C₃H₆ conversion at 500 °C. These values are much higher than the NO conversion of 55% and C₃H₆ conversion of 45% obtained over a 3 wt.% Ag/Al₂O₃ catalyst under the same conditions. Under an excess of oxygen (10% O₂) a good SCR performance with a plateau of N₂ yield above 97% over a wide temperature window of 350–500 °C along with C₃H₆ conversion of 90% at 500 °C was observed over Ag/Al₂O₃, while minor N₂ yields (∼10% at 250–350 °C) and high C₃H₆ conversions (reaching ∼100% at 450 °C) were obtained over La_0.88Ag_0.12FeO₃. Abundant molecular oxygen is desorbed from Ag substituted perovskite after 10% O₂ adsorption as verified by O₂- temperature programmed desorption (TPD). This reflects the strongly oxidative properties of La_0.88Ag_0.12FeO₃, which lead to a satisfactory NO reduction at 1% O₂ due to the ease of nitrate formation but to a significant C₃H₆ combustion above that value. The formation of nitrate species over the less oxidizing Ag/Al₂O₃ was accelerated under an excess of oxygen resulting in an excellent lean NO reduction behavior. The redox properties of silver catalysts could be adjusted via mixing perovskite with alumina for an optimal elimination of both NO and C₃H₆ over the whole range of oxygen concentration between 0 to 10%.     

Correct program parallelisations

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - A commonly used approach to develop deterministic parallel programs is to augment a sequential program with compiler directives...     

An Oral Mixed Fat Load Is Followed by a Modest Anti-inflammatory Adipocytokine Response in Overweight Patients with Metabolic Syndrome

We investigated the postprandial changes in plasma levels of adipocytokines in overweight patients with metabolic syndrome after an oral fat load. After an oral fat load and during a prolonged fast, blood was drawn at 0, 2, 3, 4 and 8 h for measurement of adiponectin, adipsin, cathepsin S, chemerin, hepatic growth factor, interferon‐γ‐inducible protein‐10, leptin, macrophage chemoattractant protein‐1, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, nerve growth factor, retinol binding protein‐4, resistin, serum amyloid A1, tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase‐1 and thrombopoietin using a microbead‐based Luminex assay. Area under the curves (AUC) were calculated and compared. Plasma adiponectin levels were higher after an oral fat load compared to fasting at t = 2 h (950 ± 513 vs. ?1,881 ± 713 ng/ml) while the plasma levels for adipsin (?9 ± 5 vs. 16 ± 5 ng/ml), chemerin (?122 ± 35 vs. 13 ± 21 ng/ml), SAA‐1 (?391 ± 213 vs. 522 ± 173 ng/ml) and TPO (?335 ± 144 vs. 622 ± 216 ng/ml) were lower after an oral fat load compared to fasting. The baseline corrected AUC for IP‐10 was higher after fat load compared to fasting (median ?116 pg h/ml; IQR ?270 to 10 vs. ?21 pg h/ml; IQR ?136 to 418 (p = 0.047). In conclusion, in overweight male subjects with the metabolic syndrome, an oral fat load is accompanied with a modest anti‐inflammatory response of adipose tissue‐derived adipocytokines.     

Behavior of Boron in Molten Aluminum and its Grain Refinement Mechanism

The mechanism of heterogeneous grain refining of aluminum by ultrafine elemental boron particles was investigated. In order to facilitate the observation of the boron-aluminum interface, a boron filament was introduced in a melt at 1013 K (740 °C) containing different levels of Ti. The Al/B interface was studied using transmission electron microscopy and different phases were identified using the electron diffraction method. The experimental results showed that boron is dissolved in pure aluminum while its dissolution is inhibited in presence of titanium solute. A thin layer of TiB₂ formed at the surface of boron thickens with residence time in the melt. The mechanisms by which aluminum is crystallized on boron are discussed.     

Comparing rutting of airfield pavements to simulations using Pavement Analysis Using Nonlinear Damage Approach (PANDA)

This study presents the rutting performance results of full-scale pavement test sections subjected to F-15E and C-17 aircraft wheels at two different temperatures. Pavement structures for the tests were constructed under shelter in the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) pavement test facility. The full-scale test results are used to validate viscoelastic, viscoplastic and hardening-relaxation constitutive relationships implemented in the Pavement Analysis Using Nonlinear Damage Approach (PANDA) model. PANDA is a mechanistic-based model which incorporates nonlinear viscoelastic, viscoplastic, hardening-relaxation, viscodamage, moisture-induced damage and ageing constitutive relationships. Results of dynamic modulus and different repeated creep-recovery laboratory tests are analysed to extract the parameters associated with viscoelastic, viscoplastic and hardening-relaxation constitutive relationships implemented in PANDA. Once calibrated, PANDA is used to predict the rutting performance observed in full-scale pavement test sections. The simulation results illustrate that PANDA is capable of predicting the rutting of airfield pavements subjected to heavy aircraft wheel loads at intermediate and high temperatures. It is shown that PANDA successfully predicts the effect of shear flow and upheaval at the edges of the wheel. The data from simulation suggested that PANDA, once calibrated, can provide insight into the critical locations of tensile and compressive stresses within the pavement structure. PANDA simulations not only provide a tool for evaluating existing structures, but also can be used in designing more sustainable pavement structures and materials.     

Analysis and Optimization of Current-Driven Passive Mixers in Narrowband Direct-Conversion Receivers

Properties of the current-driven passive mixer are explored to maximize its performance in a zero-IF receiver. Since there is no reverse isolation between the RF and baseband sides of the mixer, the mixer reflects the baseband impedance to the RF and vice versa through simple frequency shifting. It is also shown that in an IQ down-conversion system the lack of reverse isolation causes a mutual interaction between the two quadrature mixers, which results in different high- and low-side conversion gains, and unexpected IIP2 and IIP3 values. With a thorough and accurate mathematical analysis it is shown how to design this mixer and its current buffer, and how to size components to get the best linearity, conversion gain and noise figure while alleviating the IQ cross-talk problem.     

An analytical solution for nonlinear dynamics of a viscoelastic beam-heavy mass system

The aim of this study is to develop an approximate analytic solution for nonlinear dynamic response of a simply-supported Kelvin-Voigt viscoelastic beam with an attached heavy intra-span mass. A geometric nonlinearity due to midplane stretching is considered and Newton’s second law of motion along with Kelvin-Voigt rheological model, which is a two-parameter energy dissipation model, are employed to derive the nonlinear equations of motion. The method of multiple timescales is applied directly to the governing equations of motion, and nonlinear natural frequencies and vibration responses of the system are obtained analytically. Regarding the resonance case, the limit-cycle of the response is formulated analytically. A parametric study is conducted in order to highlight the influences of the system parameters. The main objective is to examine how the vibration response of a plain (i.e. without additional adornment) beam is modified by the presence of a heavy mass, attached somewhere along the beam length.