In situ formation of multiple catalysts for enhancing the hydrogen storage of MgH_(2) by adding porous Ni_(3)ZnC_(0.7)/Ni loaded carbon nanotubes microspheres

MgH_(2) is considered one of the most promising hydrogen storage materials because of its safety,high efficiency,high hydrogen storage quantity and low cost characteristics.But some shortcomings are still existed:high operating temperature and poor hydrogen absorption dynamics,which limit its application.Porous Ni_(3)ZnC_(0.7)/Ni loaded carbon nanotubes microspheres(NZC/Ni@CNT)is prepared by facile filtration and calcination method.Then the different amount of NZC/Ni@CNT(2.5,5.0 and 7.5 wt%)is added to the MgH_(2) by ball milling.Among the three samples with different amount of NZC/Ni@CNT(2.5,5.0 and 7.5 wt%),the MgH_(2)-5 wt%NZC/Ni@CNT composite exhibits the best hydrogen storage performances.After testing,the MgH_(2)-5 wt%NZC/Ni@CNT begins to release hydrogen at around 110℃ and hydrogen absorption capacity reaches 2.34 wt%H_(2) at 80℃ within 60 min.Moreover,the composite can release about 5.36 wt%H_(2) at 300℃.In addition,hydrogen absorption and desorption activation energies of the MgH_(2)-5 wt%NZC/Ni@CNT composite are reduced to 37.28 and 84.22 KJ/mol H_(2),respectively.The in situ generated Mg_(2)NiH_(4)/Mg_(2)Ni can serve as a"hydrogen pump"that plays the main role in providing more activation sites and hydrogen diffusion channels which promotes H_(2) dissociation during hydrogen absorption process.In addition,the evenly dispersed Zn and MgZn2 in Mg and MgH_(2) could provide sites for Mg/MgH_(2) nucleation and hydrogen diffusion channel.This attempt clearly proved that the bimetallic carbide Ni_(3)ZnC_(0.7) is a effective additive for the hydrogen storage performances modification of MgH_(2),and the facile synthesis of the Ni_(3)ZnC_(0.7)/Ni@CNT can provide directions of better designing high performance carbide catalysts for improving MgH_(2).

Large-Scale Production of Microalgal Lipids Containing High Levels of Docosahexaenoic Acid upon Fermentation of <i>Aurantiochytrium</i>sp. KRS101

In this study, large-scale production of microalgal lipid containing high levels of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) by fermentation of Aurantiochytrium sp. KRS101 was performed. The microalgal strain yielded productivity of docosahex-aenoic acid (DHA) productivity of 1.08 and 1.6 g/L/d by fermentation at 300-L and 5000-L scale stirrer-type bioreactor. The productivity was significantly enhanced upto 5.6 g/L/d by fermentation at 6000-L scale airlift-type bioreactor, probably due to the reduced shearing force. The microalgal lipid could be efficiently recovered by safe extraction methods such as ethanol extraction, hot water extraction or supercritical fluid extraction, promising commercial potential of the microalgal DHA-rich lipid in the food and feed industry.

Present Situations and Suggestions for Large-scale Development of Chenopodium quinoa Willd.

In this paper,based on the study of Chenopodium quinoa Willd.planting,it is concluded that the current situations of large-scale development of C.quinoa Willd.include the following four aspects:first,the research on C.quinoa Willd.varieties needs to be strengthened;second,it is insufficient to master the training environment and cultivation techniques;third,the large-scale planting of C.quinoa Willd.is not enough;fourth,the degree of mechanization of C.quinoa Willd.planting is not enough.In view of the above situation,this paper puts forward the following effective suggestions to strengthen the large-scale development of C.quinoa Willd.:the first is to increase the investment in C.quinoa Willd.variety research;the second is to strengthen the analysis of introduction and screening of C.quinoa Willd.varieties;the third is to study the best planting environment and cultivation techniques of C.quinoa Willd.;the fourth is to increase the scale of mechanized production of C.quinoa Willd.;the fifth is to increase the research and development of C.quinoa Willd.related products and their deep processing technology.

Microstructure,mechanical properties and fracture behaviors of large-scale sand-cast Mg-3Y-2Gd-1Nd-0.4Zr alloy

In order to improve the ductility of commercial WE43 alloy and reduce its cost,a Mg-3Y-2Gd-1Nd-0.4Zr alloy with a low amount of rare earths was developed and prepared by sand casting with a differential pressure casting system.Its microstructure,mechanical properties and fracture behaviors in the as-cast,solution-treated and as-aged states were evaluated.It is found that the aged alloy exhibited excellent comprehensive mechanical properties owing to the fine dense plate-shapedβ'precipitates formed on prismatic habits during aging at 200℃for 192 hrs after solution-treated at 500℃for 24 hrs.Its ultimate tensile strength,yield strength,and elongation at ambient temperature reach to 319±10 MPa,202±2 MPa and 8.7±0.3%as well as 230±4 MPa,155±1 MPa and 16.0±0.5%at 250℃.The fracture mode of as-aged alloy was transferred from cleavage at room temperature to quasi-cleavage and ductile fracture at the test temperature 300℃.The properties of large-scale components fabricated using the developed Mg-3Y-2Gd-1Nd-0.4Zr alloy are better than those of commercial WE43 alloy,suggesting that the new developed alloy is a good candidate to fabricate the large complex thin-walled components.

THE ASYMPTOTIC STABILITY OF THE LINEAR.DISCRETE LARGE-SCALE SYSTEMS

In this paper, we directly use the tirear norm Liapunov function to investigate the stability of the linear discrete large-scale systems and obtain some criteria for the asymptotic stability of such a system.

Inbreeding and genetic load in a pair of sibling grouse species:Tetrastes sewersowi and T.bonasia

Genetic load and inbreeding are recognized as important factors to be considered in conservation programs.Elevated levels of both can increase the risk of population extinction by negatively impacting fitness-related characters in many species of plants and animals,including humans(inbreeding depression).Genomic tech-niques are increasingly used in measuring and understanding genetic load and inbreeding and their importance in evolution and conservation.We used whole genome resequencing data from two sibling grouse species in subarctic Eurasia to quantify both.We found a large range of inbreeding measured as FROH(fraction of runs of homozygosity)in individuals from different populations of Chinese Grouse(Tetrastes sewerzowi)and Hazel Grouse(T.bonasia).FROH estimated from genome-wide runs of homozygosity(ROH)ranged from 0.02 to 0.24 among Chinese Grouse populations and from 0.01 to 0.44 in Hazel Grouse.Individuals from a population of Chinese Grouse residing in the Qilian mountains and from the European populations of Hazel Grouse(including samples from Sweden,Germany and Northeast Poland)were the most inbred(FROH ranged from 0.10 to 0.23 and 0.11 to 0.44,respectively).These levels are comparable to other highly inbred populations of birds.Hazel Grouse from northern China and Chinese Grouse residing in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau showed relatively lower inbreeding levels.Comparisons of the ratio between deleterious missense mutations and synonymous mutations revealed higher levels in Chinese Grouse as compared to Hazel Grouse.These results are possibly explained by higher fixation rates,mutational melt down,in the range-restricted Chinese Grouse compared to the wide-ranging Hazel Grouse.However,when we compared the relatively more severe class of loss-of-function muta-tions,Hazel Grouse had slightly higher levels than Chinese Grouse,a result which may indicate that purifying selection(purging)has been more efficient in Chinese Grouse on this class of mutations.

Comparative Study of Exhaust Emissions from Diesel and Syngas Powered 3.5 kW Compression Ignition Engine with and without Load

Despite diesel engines being highly efficient, with low fuel consumption and reduced carbon dioxide emissions, they emit relatively high levels of particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) due to high exhaust gas temperatures. Engine emissions show the quality and completeness of combustion. This paper aims to present the results of a study comparing exhaust emissions from a diesel and syngas powered engine. Syngas was produced from co-firing coal and biomass in a gasifier then cleaned, cooled and applied as an alternative fuel in an engine operated from 0 - 100% load. Exhaust-emissions were monitored at this load conditions. The exhaust-temperature was measured using thermocouples and the emission gases were analyzed using Testo 350. The emissions were lower and decreased as the engine load increased, except for sulphur dioxide and NOx. The study shows that levels of carbon monoxide, were higher in a range of 46.5 - 80.2%, while carbon dioxide was 3.3 - 18% higher compared to those from diesel. Hydrocarbon emissions were 480 and 1250 ppm for diesel and syngas respectively. The study reveals that the engine operates optimally at higher loads since hydrocarbons and oxides of carbon are low due to complete combustion at higher temperatures. Exhaust gas temperature was higher in the syngas fuel and increased as the engine load increased in the range of 455.83 - 480.03˚C which influenced the formation of NOx. NOx from diesel was found to be higher, ranging from 32.5 - 40.5%, compared to those from syngas with an engine load of 75%. The study observed that relative to diesel, the emissions of sulfur dioxide at 50% engine load were lower in a range of 23.7 - 57.1%. Emissions of hydrocarbons depended on the degree of substitution of diesel and engine load. The study therefore shows that, relative to diesel, emissions decreased when syngas was used with upgraded syngas from Prosporis juliflora presenting as the best alternative followed by Hyphanae compressa, and lastly rice husk. For optimal performance of the syngas fuelled engine, the study reports that the engine should be operated at engine loads above 50% with strategies on NOx emissions considered.

Cooperative game theoretic load balancing scheme with admission control in IEEE 802.11 WLANs

A load-balancing scheme for IEEE 802.11 WLANs based on cooperative game theory is presented.A coalition among the access points（APs） with overlapping coverage is formed to share the network load through a game.Firstly, the candidate APs submit their load-competing strategies（i.e., the amount of user traffic they can admit in an AC/game period） to the control AP.Secondly, the control AP solves the game by the method of shapley value, which is the maximum traffic allocated to each AP in an AC/game period.Finally, the game is repeated periodically to distribute the traffic load among the APs.Simulation results show that the proposed game can balance the network load effectively compared with the IEEE 802.11 standard balancing solution.

Online identification and extraction method of regional large-scale adjustable load-aggregation characteristics

This article introduces the concept of load aggregation,which involves a comprehensive analysis of loads to acquire their external characteristics for the purpose of modeling and analyzing power systems.The online identification method is a computer-involved approach for data collection,processing,and system identification,commonly used for adaptive control and prediction.This paper proposes a method for dynamically aggregating large-scale adjustable loads to support high proportions of new energy integration,aiming to study the aggregation characteristics of regional large-scale adjustable loads using online identification techniques and feature extraction methods.The experiment selected 300 central air conditioners as the research subject and analyzed their regulation characteristics,economic efficiency,and comfort.The experimental results show that as the adjustment time of the air conditioner increases from 5 minutes to 35 minutes,the stable adjustment quantity during the adjustment period decreases from 28.46 to 3.57,indicating that air conditioning loads can be controlled over a long period and have better adjustment effects in the short term.Overall,the experimental results of this paper demonstrate that analyzing the aggregation characteristics of regional large-scale adjustable loads using online identification techniques and feature extraction algorithms is effective.

An Improved Analytical Model for IEEE 802.11 Distributed Coordination Function under Finite Load

In this paper, an improved analytical model for IEEE 802.11 distributed coordination function (DCF) under finite load is proposed by closely following the specifications given in IEEE 802.11 standard. The model is investigated in terms of channel throughput under perfect and slow Rayleigh fading channels. It is shown that the proposed model gives better insight into the operation of DCF.

A Load-balance and EEDF based strategy for reducing transmission delay of VoIP services in IEEE 802.16e system

To decrease the transmission delay of uplink voice over IP(VoIP)services in IEEE 802.16e sys-tem,a novel strategy which includes a load-balance algorithm and an extended earliest deadline first(EEDF)scheduling algorithm is proposed.Subsequently,this paper analyzes the performance of the pro-posed strategy in terms of transmission delay of VoIP services,system capacity,throughput and compati-bility with IEEE 802 .16e standard.Finally,simulation experiments are carried out to verify the improve-ment of the proposed strategy.The simulation results match well with the theoretical analysis and showthat the proposed strategy reduces the transmission delay of uplink VoIP services and improves the capaci-ty and throughput.These improvements are remarkable especially when the load of system is heavy.

A 1V,156.7μW,65.9dB Rail-to-Rail Operational Amplifier by Means of Negative Resistance Load and Replica-Amplifier Gain Enhancement

A low-voltage, low-power, and high-gain rail-to-rail operational amplifier （OpAmp） is presented. The replica-amplifier gain enhancement technique is applied to improve the DC gain of the amplifier, which does not degrade the output swing and is very suitable for low-voltage applications. In a 0. 18/μm standard CMOS process,a 1V OpAmp with rail-to-rail output is designed. For a load capacitance of 5 pF,simulation by HSPICE shows that this OpAmp achieves an effective open-loop DC gain of 65. 9dB,gain bandwidth of 70.28 MHz,and phase margin of 50 with a quiescent power dissipation of 156.7μW.

Sensory innervation around immediately vs. delayed loaded implants: a pilot study

Although neurophysiological and psychophysical proof of osseoperception is accumulating, histomorphometric evidence for the neural mechanisms of functional compensation following immediate and delayed implant loading is still lacking. For this randomized split-mouth study, six mongrel dogs randomly received one of four treatment protocols at 36 implant-recipient sites over 16 weeks （third maxillary incisor, third and fourth mandibular premolar）： immediate implant placement and immediate loading （liP＋ IL）; delayed implant placement and delayed loading （DIP＋DL）; delayed implant placement and immediate loading （DIP＋IL）; and natural extraction socket healing （control）. Histomorphometry was performed in the peri-implant bone and soft tissues within 300 pm around the implants. Immunocytochemistry and transmission electron microscopy were used to confirm the presence of neural structures and to reveal their ultrastructural characteristics, respectively. Myelinated nerve fibres densely populated the peri-implant crestal gingival and apical regions, although they were also identified in the woven bone and in the osteons near the implant threads. Compared with the control group in the mandible, the group that received IIP＋IL showed a higher innervation （in N.mm^-2, 5.94±1.12 vs. 3.15±0.63, P〈0.001） and smaller fibre diameter （in pm, 1.37±0.05 vs. 1.64±0.13, P=0.016）, smaller axon diameter （in pm, 0.89±0.05 vs. 1.24±0,10, P=0.009） and g-ratio （0.64±0.04 vs. 0.76±0.05, P〈0.001） in the middle region around the implants. Compared with DIP＋IL in the mandible, IIP＋IL had a higher nerve density （in N.mm^-2, 13.23±2.54 vs. 9.64±1.86, P=0.027）, greater fibre diameter （in pm, 1.32±0.02 vs. 1.20±0.04, P=0.021）, greater axon diameter （in μm, 0.92±0.01 vs. 0.89±0.03, P=-0.035） and lower g-ratio （0.69±0.01 vs. 0.74±0.01, P=-0.033） in the apical region around the implants. It may be assumed that the treatment protocol with liP＋ IL is the preferred method to allow optimized peri-implant re-innervation, but further functional measurements are still required.

Stability Analysis of Bohai Oil-Drilling Ship No. 6 Under Static and Cyclic Loads

This paper presents a procedure to calculate the safety factor against sliding of a marine gravity structure subjected to a combination of static and cyclic loads. This procedure claculates the stress at the sliding surface by the finite element method (FEM) and takes the dynamic properties of clay into account. With this procedure, the stability of a Bohai oil-drilling ship is analyzed. The calculated safety factor is much smaller than 1, indicating that this oil-drilling ship would fail just as what had happened to it.

Seismic performance of precast shear wall-slab connection under cyclic loading: experimental test vs. numerical analysis

The structural behaviour of precast shear wall-diaphragm connection was compared with the monolithic connection under seismic loading.The monolithic connection was made by using U-bars connecting shear wall and slab,and the precast connection was made by using dowel bars in two steps.Firstly,U-shaped dowel bars from the precast shear wall lower panel and precast slab were connected by the longitudinal reinforcement,and screed concreting was done above the precast slab.Secondly,the shear wall upper panel was connected using the dowel bar protruding from the shear wall lower panel.The gap between the dowel bars and the duct was filled with non-shrink grout.The specimens were subjected to reverse cyclic loading at the ends of the slab.This study also aimed to develop a 3-D numerical model using ABAQUS software.The non-linear properties of concrete were defined by using the concrete damaged plasticity(CDP)model to analyse the response of the structure.The precast dowel connection between the shear wall and slab showed superior performance concerning ductility,strength,stiffness and energy dissipation.The developed finite element model exactly predicted the behaviour of connections as similar to that of experimental testing in the laboratory.The average difference between the results from finite element analysis and experimental testing was less than 20%.The results point to the conclusion that the shear resistance is provided by the dowel bars and the stiffness of the precast specimen is due to the diaphragm action of the precast slab.The damage parameter and the interaction between structural members play a crucial role in the modelling of precast connections.

New combination test for hepatitis C virus genotype and viral load determination using Amplicor GT HCV MONITOR test v2.0

AIM: To develop a new sensitive and inexpensive hepatitis C virus (HCV) combination test (HCV Guideline test) that enables the determination of HCV genotypes 1, 2 and 3, and simultaneous determination of HCV viral load using commercial Amplicor GT HOV MONITOR test v2.0 (microwell version). METHODS: The HCV Guideline test used the PCR product generated in commercial Amplicor GT HCV Monitor test v2.0 for viral load measurement using microwell plate version of Amplicor HCV Monitor and also captured on separate plates containing capture probes and competitive oligonucleotide probes specific for HCV genotypes 1, 2 and 3, The HCV genotype was subsequently determined using the biotin-labeled PCR product and five biotin-labeled HCV-specific probes. RESULTS: The sensitivity of the HCV Guideline test was 0.5 KIU/mL. Specificity of the HCV Guideline test was confirmed by direct sequencing of HCV core region and molecular evolutionary analyses based on a panel of 31 samples. The comparison of the HCV Guideline test and an in-house HCV core genotyping assay using 252 samples from chronic hepatitis C patients indicated concordant results for 97.2% of samples (59.5% genotype 1, 33.7% genotype 2, 6.0% genotype 3, and 0.8% mixed genotypes). Similarly, the HCV Guideline test showed concordance with a serological test, and the serological test failed to assign any serotype in 12.7% of the samples, indicating a better sensitivity of the HCV Guideline test. CONCLUSION: Clinically, both viral load and genotypes (1, 2 and 3) have been found to be major predictors of antiviral therapy outcome regarding chronic hepatitis C based on guidelines and they are, in normal circumstances, performed as separate stand-alone assays. The HCV Guideline test is a useful method for screening large cohorts in a routine clinical setting for determining the treatment regimen and for predicting the outcome of antiviral therapy of chronic hepatitis C.

Local vs. cross station simulation of suspended sediment load in successive hydrometric stations: heuristic modeling approach

The present paper aims at modeling suspended sediment load(SSL) using heuristic data driven methodologies, e.g. Gene Expression Programming(GEP) and Support Vector Machine(SVM) in three successive hydrometric stations of Housatonic River in U.S. The simulations were carried out through local and cross-station data management scenarios to investigate the interrelations between the SSL values of upstream/downstream stations. The available scenarios were applied to predict SSL values using GEP to obtain the best models. Then, the best models were predicted by SVM approach and the obtained results were compared with those of GEP. The comparison of the results revealed that the SVM technique is more capable than the GEP for modeling the SSL through the both local and cross-station data management strategies. Besides, local application seems to be better than cross-station application for modeling SSL. Nevertheless, the cross-station application demonstrated to be a valid methodology for simulating SSL, which would be of interest for the stations with lack of observational data. Also, the prediction capability of conventional Sediment Rating Curve(SRC) method was compared with those of GEPand SVM techniques. The obtained results revealed the superiority of GEP and SVM-based models over the traditional SRC technique in the studied stations.

1.0 V low voltage CMOS mixer based on voltage control load technique

A CMOS active mixer based on voltage control load technique which can operate at 1.0 V supply voltage was proposed, and its operation principle, noise and linearity analysis were also presented. Contrary to the conventional Gilbert-type mixer which is based on RF current-commutating, the load impedance in this proposed mixer is controlled by the LO signal, and it has only two stacked transistors at each branch which is suitable for low voltage applications. The mixer was designed and fabricated in 0.18 tam CMOS process for 2.4 GHz ISM band applications. With an input of 2.44 GHz RF signal and 2.442 GHz LO signal, the measurement specifications of the proposed mixer are： the conversion gain （Gc） is 5.3 dB, the input-referred third-order intercept point （PIIP3） is 4.6 dBm, the input-referred 1 dB compression point （P1dB） is --7.4 dBm, and the single-sideband noise figure （NFSSB） is 21.7 dB.

Fuzzy vs. Probabilistic Techniques to Address Uncertainty for Radial Distribution Load Flow Simulation

For Power distribution system the most important task for distribution engineer is to efficiently simulate the system and address the uncertainty using a suitable mathematical method. This paper presents a comparison of two methods used in analyzing uncertainties. The first method is Montecarlo simulation (MCS) that considers input parameters as random variables and second one is fuzzy alpha cut method (FAC) in which uncertain parameters are treated as fuzzy numbers with given membership functions. Both techniques are tested on a typical Load flow solution simulation, where connected loads are considered as uncertain. In order to provide a basis for comparison between above two approaches, the shapes of the membership function used in the fuzzy method is taken same as the shape of the probability density function used in the Monte Carlo simulations. For more than one uncertain input variable, simulation result indicates that MCS method provides better output results compared to FAC, however takes more time due to number of runs. FAC provides an alternate method to MCS when addressing single or limited input variables and is fast.