The influence of a low air pressure environment on human metabolic rate during short-term (< 2 h) exposures.

Passengers in aircraft cabins are exposed to low-pressure environments. One of the missing links in the research on thermal comfort under cabin conditions is the influence of low air pressure on the metabolic rate. In this research, we simulated the cabin pressure regime in a chamber in which the pressure level could be controlled.

Confined Water Dissociation in Disordered Silicate Nanometer-Channels at Elevated Temperatures: Mechanism, Dynamics and Impact on Substrates.

The effects of elevated temperature on the physical and chemical properties of water molecules filled in the nanometer-channels of calcium silicate hydrate have been investigated by performing reactive molecular dynamics simulation on C-S-H gel subjected to high temperature from 500 to 1500 K. The mobility of interlayer water molecules is temperature-dependent: with the elevation of temperature, the self-diffusivity of water molecules increases, and the glassy dynamic nature of interlayer water at low temperature transforms to bulk water characteristic at high temperature. In addition, the high temperature contributes to the water dissociation and hydroxyl group formation, and proton exchange between neighboring water molecules and calcium silicate substrate frequently happens.

Combined Effect of Free Nitrous Acid Pretreatment and Sodium Dodecylbenzene Sulfonate on Short-Chain Fatty Acid Production from Waste Activated Sludge.

Free nitrous acid (FNA) serving as a pretreatment is an effective approach to accelerate sludge disintegration. Also, sodium dodecylbenzene sulfonate (SDBS), a type of surfactants, has been determined at significant levels in sewage sludge, which thereby affects the characteristics of sludge. Both FNA pretreatment and sludge SDBS levels can affect short-chain fatty acid (SCFA) generation from sludge anaerobic fermentation.

Pyrolysis Treatment of Chromite Ore Processing Residue by Biomass: Cellulose Pyrolysis and Cr(VI) Reduction Behavior.

The pyrolysis treatment with biomass is a promising technology for the remediation of chromite-ore-processing residue (COPR). However, the mechanism of this process is still unclear. In this study, the behavior of pyrolysis reduction of Cr(VI) by cellulose, the main component of biomass, was elucidated.

Molecular structure and dynamics of an aqueous sodium chloride solution in nano-pores between portlandite surfaces: a molecular dynamics study.

Portlandite plays an important role in the hydration phase of cement-based materials and influences the strength and durability of such materials. This study describes a molecular dynamics study of the structure and dynamics of water and ions confined at ambient temperature in calcium hydroxyl nanopores with widths of 35 Å. Strong layering of water in the vicinity of the (001) surface of portlandite demonstrates special structural features such as large density, good orientation preference, ordered interfacial organization and low diffusion rate.

A new approach to estimate fugitive methane emissions from coal mining in China.

Developing a more accurate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions inventory draws too much attention. Because of its resource endowment and technical status, China has made coal-related GHG emissions a big part of its inventory. Lacking a stoichiometric carbon conversion coefficient and influenced by geological conditions and mining technologies, previous efforts to estimate fugitive methane emissions from coal mining in China has led to disagreeing results.

Thermal Conductivity of Ultrahigh Molecular Weight Polyethylene Crystal: Defect Effect Uncovered by 0 K Limit Phonon Diffusion.

Crystalline ultrahigh molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) has the highest reported thermal conductivity at room temperature: 104 W/(m·K), while theoretical predictions proposed an even higher value of 300 W/(m·K). Defects and amorphous fraction in practical UHMWPE fibers significantly reduces the thermal conductivity from the ideal value. Although the amorphous effect can be readily analyzed based on the effective medium theory, the defect effects are poorly understood.

Highly sensitive determination of chloramphenicol based on thin-layered MoS2/polyaniline nanocomposite.

The nanocomposite of molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) and polyaniline (PANI) was prepared through in situ polymerization of aniline on the surface and interlayer of thin-layered MoS2. Owing to the physisorption of aromatic aniline onto the basal plane of MoS2, the electrochemical properties of MoS2/PANI nanocomposite were improved. And a novel electrochemical sensor based on MoS2/PANI nanocomposite was used to determine chloramphenicol by differential pulse voltammetry, exhibiting excellent performance.

Mechanical performance and ultrasonic properties of cemented gangue backfill with admixture of fly ash.

Cemented gangue backfill (CGB) is prepared by mixing cement, coal gangue and water. Fly ash from the combustion of coal is commonly utilized as admixture to improve the mechanical performance and fluidity of CGB, as well as to reduce cost of preparing CGB. Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) is one of the most commonly used indicators for evaluating the mechanical performance of CGB.

The lubrication performance of the ceramic-on-ceramic hip implant under starved conditions.

Lubrication plays an important role in the clinical performance of the ceramic-on-ceramic (CoC) hip implant in terms of reducing wear and avoiding squeaking. All the previous lubrication analyses of CoC hip implants assumed that synovial fluid was sufficiently supplied to the contact area. The aim of this study was to investigate the lubrication performance of the CoC hip implant under starved conditions.

Temperature dependence of electrical and thermal conduction in single silver nanowire.

In this work, the thermal and electrical transport in an individual silver nanowire is characterized down to 35 K for in-depth understanding of the strong structural defect induced electron scattering. The results indicate that, at room temperature, the electrical resistivity increases by around 4 folds from that of bulk silver. The Debye temperature (151 K) of the silver nanowire is found 36% lower than that (235 K) of bulk silver, confirming strong phonon softening.

Isolation and characterization of Chinese standard fulvic acid sub-fractions separated from forest soil by stepwise elution with pyrophosphate buffer.

XAD-8 adsorption technique coupled with stepwise elution using pyrophosphate buffers with initial pH values of 3, 5, 7, 9, and 13 was developed to isolate Chinese standard fulvic acid (FA) and then separated the FA into five sub-fractions: FApH3, FApH5, FApH7, FApH9 and FApH13, respectively. Mass percentages of FApH3-FApH13 decreased from 42% to 2.5%, and the recovery ratios ranged from 99.

Network propagation with dual flow for gene prioritization.

Based on the hypothesis that the neighbors of disease genes trend to cause similar diseases, network-based methods for disease prediction have received increasing attention. Taking full advantage of network structure, the performance of global distance measurements is generally superior to local distance measurements. However, some problems exist in the global distance measurements.

Hybrid control of the Neimark-Sacker bifurcation in a delayed Nicholson's blowflies equation.

In this article, for delayed Nicholson's blowflies equation, we propose a hybrid control nonstandard finite-difference (NSFD) scheme in which state feedback and parameter perturbation are used to control the Neimark-Sacker bifurcation. Firstly, the local stability of the positive equilibria for hybrid control delay differential equation is discussed according to Hopf bifurcation theory. Then, for any step-size, a hybrid control numerical algorithm is introduced to generate the Neimark-Sacker bifurcation at a desired point.

Studies on crude oil removal from pebbles by the application of biodiesel.

Oil residues along shorelines are hard to remove after an oil spill. The effect of biodiesel to eliminate crude oil from pebbles alone and in combination with petroleum degrading bacteria was investigated in simulated systems. Adding biodiesel made oil detach from pebbles and formed oil-biodiesel mixtures, most of which remained on top of seawater.

Graphene oxide-based microspheres for the dispersive solid-phase extraction of non-steroidal estrogens from water samples.

A modified Quick, Easy, Cheap, Effective, Rugged and Safe (QuEChERS) method based on the dispersive solid-phase extraction (dSPE) combined with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed for the determination of non-steroidal estrogens in water samples. In this study, graphene oxide-based silica microspheres (SiO2@GO) were used as dSPE material for the preconcentration of analytes. HPLC was used for the separation and detection.

Water transport in the nano-pore of the calcium silicate phase: reactivity, structure and dynamics.

Reactive force field molecular dynamics was utilized to simulate the reactivity, structure and dynamics of water molecules confined in calcium-silicate-hydrate (C-S-H) nano-pores of 4.5 nm width. Due to the highly reactive C-S-H surface, hydrolytic reactions occur in the solid-liquid interfacial zone, and partially surface adsorbed water molecules transforming into the Si-OH and Ca-OH groups are strongly embedded in the C-S-H structure.

ß-Ga2O3 nanorod synthesis with a one-step microwave irradiation hydrothermal method and its efficient photocatalytic degradation for perfluorooctanoic acid.

ß-Ga2O3 nanorod was first directly prepared by the microwave irradiation hydrothermal way without any subsequent heat treatments, and its characterizations were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM), high-resolution transmission electron microscope (HRTEM), UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectroscopy techniques, and also its photocatalytic degradation for perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) was investigated. XRD patterns revealed that ß-Ga2O3 crystallization increased with the enhancement of microwave power and the adding of active carbon (AC). PFOA, as an environmental and persistent pollutant, is hard decomposed by hydroxyl radicals (HO·); however, it is facilely destroyed by ß-Ga2O3 photocatalytic reaction in an anaerobic atmosphere.

Advances and patents about grinding equipments with nano-particle jet minimum quantity lubrication.

In recent years, a large number of patents have been devoted to developing minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) grinding techniques that can significantly improve both environmentally conscious and energy saving and costeffective sustainable grinding fluid alternatives. Among them, one patent is about a controllable nano-fluids jet MQL grinding system based on electrostatic atomization. Using the principle of electrostatics, it can achieve the control of droplet transfer by charging the sprayed droplets.

N₂O emission from a combined ex-situ nitrification and in-situ denitrification bioreactor landfill.

A combined process comprised of ex-situ nitrification in an aged refuse bioreactor (designated as A bioreactor) and in-situ denitrification in a fresh refuse bioreactor (designated as F bioreactor) was constructed for investigating N2O emission during the stabilization of municipal solid waste (MSW). The results showed that N2O concentration in the F bioreactor varied from undetectable to about 130 ppm, while it was much higher in the A bioreactor with the concentration varying from undetectable to about 900 ppm. The greatly differences of continuous monitoring of N2O emission after leachate cross recirculation in each period were primarily attributed to the stabilization degree of MSW.

The atmospheric degradation pathways of BrCH2O2: computational calculation on mechanisms of the reaction with HO2.

Mechanisms for the atmospheric degradation reaction of BrCH2O2+HO2 were investigated using quantum chemistry methods. The result indicates that the dominant product is BrCH2OOH+O2((3)Σ). While CH2O+HBr+O3, BrCHO+OH+HO2 and CH2O+Br+HO3 will be competitive to a certain extent in the atmosphere.

Electron transport and bulk-like behavior of Wiedemann-Franz law for sub-7 nm-thin iridium films on silkworm silk.

For ultrathin metallic films, either supported or free-standing, the inside nanocrystalline nature significantly reduces the electron and thermal transport. Quantum mechanical reflection of electrons at the grain boundary reduces the electrical conductivity further than the thermal conductivity, leading to a Lorenz number in the order of 7.0 × 10(-8) W Ω K(-2), much higher than that of the bulk counterpart.

Determination of pyrazole and pyrrole pesticides in environmental water samples by solid-phase extraction using multi-walled carbon nanotubes as adsorbent coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography.

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method using multi-walled carbon nanotubes as adsorbent coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography was developed for the determination of four pyrazole and pyrrole pesticides (fenpyroximate, chlorfenapyr, fipronil and flusilazole) in environmental water samples. Several parameters, such as extraction adsorbent, elution solvent and volume and sample loading flow rate were optimized to obtain high SPE recoveries and extraction efficiency. The calibration curves for the pesticides extracted were linear in the range of 0.

Effect of fast freeze-thaw cycles on mechanical properties of ordinary-air-entrained concrete.

Freezing-thawing resistance is a very significant characteristic for concrete in severe environment (such as cold region with the lowest temperature below 0°C). In this study, ordinary-air-entrained (O-A-E) concrete was produced in a laboratory environment; the compressive strength, cubic compressive strength of C50, C40, C30, C25, and C20 ordinary-air-entrained concrete, tensile strength, and cleavage strength of C30 ordinary-air-entrained concrete were measured after fast freeze-thaw cycles. The effects of fast freeze-thaw cycles on the mechanical properties (compressive strength and cleavage strength) of ordinary-air-entrained concrete materials are investigated on the basis of the experimental results.

Influence of the feed moisture, rotor speed, and blades gap on the performances of a biomass pulverization technology.

Recently, a novel biomass pulverization technology was proposed by our group. In this paper, further detailed studies of this technology were carried out. The effects of feed moisture and crusher operational parameters (rotor speed and blades gap) on product particle size distribution and energy consumption were investigated.