Driving Behavior Analysis of City Buses Based on Real-Time GNSS Traces and Road Information.

The driving behavior of bus drivers is related to the safety of all passengers and regulation of urban traffic. In order to analyze the relevant characteristics of speed and acceleration, accurate bus trajectories and patterns are essential for driver behavior analysis and development of effective intelligent public transportation. Exploiting real-time vehicle tracking, this paper develops a platform with vehicle-mounted terminals using differential global navigation satellite system (DGNSS) modules for driver behavior analysis.

Effect of endoglucanase and high-pressure homogenization post-treatments on mechanically grinded cellulose nanofibrils and their film performance.

In this study, the effects of mechanical grinding (G) assisted by endoglucanase (E) and high-pressure homogenization (H) post-treated cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) and its film properties were investigated. Compared to only mechanical grinding, these two post-treatment processes improved the size uniformity of CNFs in width. The crystallinity of GECNFs was increased by 4.

Evolution of chemical functional groups during torrefaction of rice straw.

The evolution of CHON functional groups during torrefaction of rice straw at 200-300 °C were investigated. The results showed that 300 °C was more suitable for rice straw torrefaction due to the ideal fuel ratio, energy densification, energy-mass co-benefit index and the significantly improved HHV of the torrefied products. The functional groups such as O-H, N-H, C-H, C = O in the solids decreased with rising temperature accompanied by the releases of HO, CH, CO, CO and NH, et al.

A carbon-coated shuttle-like FeO/Fe S heterostructure derived from metal-organic frameworks with high pseudocapacitance for ultrafast lithium storage.

Pursuing active, low-cost, and stable electrode materials with superior rate capability and long-life cycling performances for lithium-ion batteries remains a big challenge. In this study, a carbon-coated shuttle-like FeO/Fe S heterostructure is synthesized by simply annealing Fe-based metal-organic frameworks (MIL-88(Fe)) as precursors and sublimed sulfur. Carbon-coated FeO/Fe S displays a unique structure with ultrafine FeO/Fe S nanoparticles distributed in the hollow and porous carbon matrix, which offers a large specific surface area and fast charge transfer ability, and alleviates the volume change upon cycling.

In-situ synthesis of FeS nanocrystals decorated on N, S-codoped carbon nanotubes as anode material for high-performance lithium-ion batteries.

FeS has emerged as an attractive anode material for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) due to its outstanding features such as low cost, high theoretical capacity, as well as environmental benignity. However, the rapid capacity fading derived from the tremendous volume change during the charging/discharging process hinders its practical application. Nanostructure engineering and the combination with carbonaceous material are essential to address this issue.

Synergistic Effect and Chlorine-Release Behaviors During Co-pyrolysis of LLDPE, PP, and PVC.

Plastic wastes are environmentally problematic and costly to treat, but they also represent a vast untapped resource for the renewable chemical and fuel production. Pyrolysis has received extensive attention in the treatment of plastic wastes because of its technical maturity. A sole polymer in the waste plastic is easy to recycle by any means of physical or chemical techniques.

Dynamic behaviors of hyperbolic-type memristor-based Hopfield neural network considering synaptic crosstalk.

Crosstalk phenomena taking place between synapses can influence signal transmission and, in some cases, brain functions. It is thus important to discover the dynamic behaviors of the neural network infected by synaptic crosstalk. To achieve this, in this paper, a new circuit is structured to emulate the Coupled Hyperbolic Memristors, which is then utilized to simulate the synaptic crosstalk of a Hopfield Neural Network (HNN).

Thermal-Driven Ion Transport in Porous Materials for Thermoelectricity Applications.

Transport of thermal-driven ions in porous materials has not been clearly explained yet, while this transport has great application potential in co-generation of vapor and electricity for a bi-layer seawater desalination system. In this work, by taking into account the actually structure of a porous material, we theoretically modeled the thermal-driven ion transport in a porous material and also the resultant current and potential produced by such a transport. With models solved by the finite element method, it turns out that a porous material with a cross section of 30 × 10 mm could give a thermal current of about 27.

Effects of Surface Tension and Yield Stress on Mucus Plug Rupture: A Numerical Study.

We study the effects of surface tension and yield stress on mucus plug rupture. A three-dimensional simplified configuration is employed to simulate mucus plug rupture in a collapsed lung airway of the tenth generation. The Herschel-Bulkley model is used to take into account the non-Newtonian viscoplastic fluid properties of mucus.

Development of biochar-based nanocatalysts for tar cracking/reforming during biomass pyrolysis and gasification.

Gasification and pyrolysis have been considered as potential routes for the production of fuel gas from abundant, low-cost and renewable biomass materials. Tar is the undesirable but inevitable byproduct during these processes, which not only lowers the overall energy conversion efficiency but also leads to potential contamination and clogging problems. Catalytic reforming has been seen as one of the most promising methods for tar elimination, and biochar-based nanocatalysts (BBNs) show promise as an efficient tar reforming catalyst.

Study on ASJ Cutting of TC18, Based upon Multivariate Nonlinear Regression and SA-BP-AGA.

TC18 titanium alloy has been widely applied, but is considered as a difficult machining material. Taking the kerf angle as the quality criterion, this paper studied the cutting performance of TC18 by the use of an abrasive slurry jet (ASJ), based upon multivariate nonlinear regression and SA-BP-AGA. Cutting experiments were carried out according to the Taguchi orthogonal method.

EEG-Based Brain-Computer Interfaces Using Motor-Imagery: Techniques and Challenges.

Electroencephalography (EEG)-based brain-computer interfaces (BCIs), particularly those using motor-imagery (MI) data, have the potential to become groundbreaking technologies in both clinical and entertainment settings. MI data is generated when a subject imagines the movement of a limb. This paper reviews state-of-the-art signal processing techniques for MI EEG-based BCIs, with a particular focus on the feature extraction, feature selection and classification techniques used.

Ventilation mode changes our safety in buses: Study on "air-rain" flow against chemical and arson attack in public transport vehicles.

Objectives: Public transport vehicles (PTVs) play a decisive role in development of the urban economy. However, the safety of PTVs is threatened by the man-released chemical or arson attack. It was found that indoor air safety can be greatly improved by employing air-rain ventilation instead of the common ventilation in a PTV.

Enhanced CO biofixation and protein production by microalgae biofilm attached on modified surface of nickel foam.

In this work, a photobioreactor with microalgae biofilm was proposed to enhance CO biofixation and protein production using nickel foam with the modified surface as the carrier for immobilizing microalgae cells. The results demonstrated that, compared with microalgae suspension, microalgae biofilm lowered mass transfer resistance and promoted mass transfer efficiency of CO from the bubbles into the immobilized microalgae cells, enhancing CO biofixation and protein production. Moreover, parametric studies on the performance of the photobioreactor with microalgae biofilm were also conducted.

Numerical simulation of particle migration from crushed sandstones during groundwater inrush.

Groundwater inrush through fault fracture zones is caused by small particle migration from fractured rocks of the faults. To investigate particle migration with the water flow, a 3D model was established for the solid-water two-phase flow. First, the simulated crushed sandstone was represented by certain different-sized particles with a novel cohesive force.

Analysis and generation of chaos using compositely connected coupled memristors.

In large-scale high-density integrated circuits, memristors in close proximity to one another both influence, and are influenced by, the behavior of nearby memristors. However, the previous analyses of memristors-based circuit applications have seldom considered the possibility of coupling effects between memristors which invariably influences the response of all memristors, thus rendering much previous research as incomplete. In this paper, the circuit dynamics of memristive Chua's circuits are systematically analyzed based on a pair of compositely connected flux-controlled memristors characterized by cubic nonlinearity as a typical example.

Characterization of herb residue and high ash-containing paper sludge blends from fixed bed pyrolysis.

High ash-containing paper sludge which is rich in various metal oxides is employed in herb residue pyrolysis to enhance the yield of fuel gas and reduce tar yield in a drop tube fixed bed reactor. Effects of heat treatment temperature and blending ratio of paper sludge on the yields and composition of pyrolysis products (gas, tar and char) were investigated. Results indicate that paper sludge shows a significantly catalytic effect during the pyrolysis processes of herb residue, accelerating the pyrolysis reactions.

Toxic effects of coal fly ash on wheat seedlings.

We studied heavy metal (HM) stress on wheat seedlings (AK-58) with and without coal fly ash (CFA) exposure. Three CFA spray rates were used to simulate air quality of the second level. Results show airborne particulates can directly enter plant leaves, affecting the whole plant.

Thermo-Electric Properties of Cu and Ni Nanoparticles Packed Beds.

The hot-wire method and the four-probe resistivity method are applied to probe the thermal conductivity (k) and the electric conductivity (σ) of Cu and Ni nanoparticle packed beds (NPBs). A fitting method based on classical physical theory is devised to separate ke (electronic thermal conductivity) and kp (phonon thermal conductivity) from k at room temperature. Results turn out that kp only accounts for a small proportion of k (4-20%); the proportion decreases with increasing porosity or temperature.

Formation, growth and applications of femtoliter droplets on a microlens.

Formation and growth of femtoliter droplets on surface microstructures are important in many fundamental and practical interfacial processes, such as water collection, vapour condensation in cooling devices, drop self-removal on anti-icing surfaces and fabrication of droplet-templated functional microstructures. In this work, we experimentally and theoretically investigate the growth of femtoliter oil-like liquid on the microlens surrounded by a hydrophilic planar area. The droplets were produced by solvent exchange, a process where the droplets nucleate and grow from an oversaturation created by displacing a good solvent by a poor solvent of the droplet liquid.

Experimental Study on the Flow and Heat Transfer Characteristics of TiO-Water Nanofluids in a Spirally Fluted Tube.

The flow and heat transfer characteristics of TiO-water nanofluids with different nanoparticle mass fractions in a spirally fluted tube and a smooth tube are experimentally investigated at different Reynolds numbers. The effects of pH values and doses of dispersant agent on the stability of TiO-water nanofluids are discussed. The effects of nanoparticle mass fractions and Reynolds numbers on Nusselt numbers and frictional resistance coefficients in the spirally fluted tube and the smooth tube are also investigated.

Experimental Research on Stability and Natural Convection of TiO-Water Nanofluid in Enclosures with Different Rotation Angles.

The stability and natural convection heat transfer characteristics of TiO-water nanofluid in enclosures with different rotation angles (α = -45°, α = 0°, α = 45°, and α = 90°) are experimentally investigated. The effects of different pH values and doses (m) of dispersant agent on the stability of TiO-water nanofluid are investigated. It is found that TiO-water nanofluid with m = 6 wt% and pH = 8 has the lowest transmittance and has the best stability.

Numerical Study on Convective Heat Transfer Enhancement in Horizontal Rectangle Enclosures Filled with Ag-Ga Nanofluid.

The natural convection heat transfer of horizontal rectangle enclosures with different aspect ratios (A = 2:1 and A = 4:1) filled with Ag-Ga nanofluid (different nanoparticle volume fractions φ = 0.01, φ = 0.03, φ = 0.

Dechlorination of PVC wastes by hydrothermal treatment using alkaline additives.

Some chemicals were usually utilized in the hydrothermal dechlorination (HTD) of chlorine-containing wastes without revealing their roles. This work intends to investigate the role of chemical additives in the HTD of PVC (polyvinyl chloride). Several chemicals, including NaCO, KOH, NaOH, NH·HO, CaO and NaHCO, were added into the PVC HTD process, which was conducted in subcritical Ni-containing water at 220°C for 30 min.