Trends and driving forces of low-carbon energy technology innovation in China’s industrial sectors from 1998 to 2017: from a regional perspective

Low-carbon energy technology (LC) innovation contributes to both environmental protection and economic development. Using the panel data of 30 provinces/autonomous regions/municipalities in China from 1998 to 2017, this paper constructs a two-layer logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) model to uncover the factors influencing the variation of the innovation of LC in China’s industrial sectors, including the alternative energy production technology (AEPT) and the energy conversation technology (ECT). The results show that China’s industrial LC patent applications rapidly increased after 2005 and AEPT patent applications outweighed ECT patent applications all the time with a gradually narrowing gap. Low-carbon degree played the dominant role in promoting the increase in China’s industrial LC patent applications, followed by the economic scale, R&D (research and development) efficiency, and R&D share. Economic structure contributed to the increases in LC patent applications in the central and the western regions, while led to the decreases in the eastern region, the north-eastern region, and Chinese mainland Xizang(Tibet) Autonoomous Region is not considered due to lack of data. This note applies to the entire article.. Low-carbon degree and economic scale were two main contributors to the growths of both industrial AEPT patent applications and ECT patent applications in Chinese mainland and the four regions. Several policy recommendations are made to further promote industrial innovation in China.     

Equilibria,kinetics and mechanism for the degradation of the cytotoxic compound L-NG-nitroarginine

L-N^G-nitroarginine (LNNA), an analog of L-arginine, is a competitive inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase which causes the selective reduction of blood flow to tumor cells. Despite the potential of LNNA to function as an adjuvant in cancer therapies, its poor solubility and stability have hindered the development of an injectable formulation of LNNA that is suitable for human administration. This work, for the first time, details a systematic study on the determination of equilibrium K_a constants and the rate law of LNNA degradation. The four K_a values of LNNA were determined to be 1.03, 1.10?×?10^?2, 2.51?×?10^?10, and 1.33?×?10^?13 M. From the kinetic and equilibrium studies, we have shown that the deprotonated form of LNNA is the main form of LNNA that undergoes degradation in aqueous media at room temperature. The rate law of LNNA degradation was found to be first order with respect to OH^? concentration and first order with respect to LNNA^? concentration. The rate constant at 25?°C and 1?atm was determined to be 0.04453 M^?1min^?1. A base catalyzed mechanism of LNNA degradation was proposed based on the kinetic study. The mechanism was found to be very useful in explaining the discrepancies and changes of the rate law at different pH values. It is thus recommended that LNNA should be formulated as a concentrated solution in acidic conditions for maximum chemical stability during storage and be diluted with a basic solution to near physiological pH just before administration.     

A review of silicon-based wafer bonding processes,an approach to realize the monolithic integration of Si-CMOS and Ⅲ-Ⅴ-on-Si wafers

The heterogeneous integration of Ⅲ-Ⅴ devices with Si-CMOS on a common Si platform has shown great promise in the new generations of electrical and optical systems for novel applications,such as HEMT or LED with integrated control cir-cuitry.For heterogeneous integration,direct wafer bonding(DWB)techniques can overcome the materials and thermal mis-match issues by directly bonding dissimilar materials systems and device structures together.In addition,DWB can perform at wafer-level,which eases the requirements for integration alignment and increases the scalability for volume production.In this paper,a brief review of the different bonding technologies is discussed.After that,three main DWB techniques of single-,double-and multi-bonding are presented with the demonstrations of various heterogeneous integration applications.Mean-while,the integration challenges,such as micro-defects,surface roughness and bonding yield are discussed in detail.     

Ultraviolet irradiation of lubricant and additives thin films to reduce wear to the magnetic head

This paper examined the effects of using 1 nm thickness lubricant thin film combined with additives and deep ultraviolet (UV) irradiation at 185 nm wavelength on the magnetic hard disk to the wear of the magnetic head during contact. Different types and amount of additives were added into the lubricant thin film either with or without deep UV irradiation. A test involved burnishing the magnetic head on the lubricated magnetic hard disk was conducted. The experiment was conducted in a class 100 cleanroom. Contrary to previous studies, the addition of additives into the lubricant film did not lead to a decrease in the amount of wear to the magnetic head. Without deep UV irradiation, the lubricant film combined with additives causes more wear to the magnetic head. The effects of using different percentages of cyclotriphosphazene based additives in perfluoropolyether lubricant were also discussed in this paper. We conclude that deep UV irradiation needed if additives were added when the total lubricant thin film thickness is at 1 nm or below.

     

Coaxial electrohydrodynamic atomization toward large scale production of core‐shell structured microparticles

In this work, a double‐nozzle coaxial electrohydrodynamic atomization (CEHDA) system was designed as an instructive case toward large‐scale production of core‐shell microspheres. The effect of nozzle‐to‐nozzle distance was investigated to reveal that the interference between neighboring nozzles significantly affect the product quality in terms of morphology and core‐shell structure. Optimal spacing indicated that ～3000 nozzle/m² packing density may be achieved with minimum interference of electric field from neighboring nozzle by adjusting the nozzle‐to‐nozzle distance greater than 0.018 m. The proposed multi‐scale model also showed that the X‐component of electric field strength (E_x) at the region near side nozzles increases with increasing nozzle number, and the bending of jets/sprays at the side may be reduced by using dummy nozzle at the edge side. The model could guide the design of multi‐nozzle CEHDA system for production of core‐shell microparticles in large‐scale. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 5303–5319, 2017     

Highly permeable and selective pore-spanning biomimetic membrane embedded with aquaporin Z

A highly permeable yet highly selective pore-spanning biomimetic membrane embedded with aquaporin Z is molecularly designed and constructed via a combination of pressure-assisted vesicle adsorption and covalent-conjugation-driven vesicle fusion on a porous support. This approach represents a significant breakthrough in the architecture of biomimetic membranes embedded with aquaporin in a planar form.     

Some new insights on informational entropy for water distribution networks

Several researchers have studied the use of informational entropy as a surrogate measure for the reliability of water distribution networks. The hypothesis is that the numerical value of network entropy in some way reflects the reliability of water distribution networks, and this appears to be supported by the analysis of some example water distribution networks. However, the precise relationship between the entropy value and some measures of reliability has not been formally established. The primary objective in this paper is to present an alternative methodology to calculate the informational entropy of water distribution networks. This methodology is termed as the Path Entropy Method (PEM), which provides some insights into the entropy of branching-tree networks and maximum-entropy flows of single-source networks. In addition, a quick method of computing the maximum-entropy value of single-source networks is presented and termed as the Simplified Path Entropy Method (SPEM).     

Structure and properties of nano-confined poly(3-hexylthiophene) in nano-array/polymer hybrid ordered-bulk heterojunction solar cells

The ordered-bulk heterojunction (BHJ) photovoltaic device comprising a semiconducting donor polymer incorporated into pristine/unmodified vertically aligned arrays of metal oxide acceptor nanotubes/nanorods is widely perceived as being structurally ideal for energy conversion but the power conversion efficiencies of such devices remain relatively low (in the order of η = 0.6%) when compared with bilayer or non-ordered bulk heterojunction systems. We explain the incongruity by investigating the morphology and microstructure of regio-regular poly(3-hexyl thiophene) (P3HT) infiltrated and confined within the cavities of TiO(2) nanotube arrays. A series of TiO(2) nanotube arrays with different nanotube diameters and inter-nanotube spacings are fabricated by the liquid-phase atomic layer deposition (LALD) technique, and P3HT is infiltrated into the array cavities via a vacuum-annealing technique. X-Ray diffraction studies reveal that the P3HT chains in both nano-confined and non-confined (i.e. planar film) environments are well-aligned and oriented edge-on with respect to the underlying substrate. Up to 2.5-fold improvement in the incident-photon-to-converted-electron efficiency (IPCE) is observed in ordered-BHJ structures over benchmark planar devices which we attribute to the increase in interfacial area resulting from the use of the nanostructures. However, the large effective surface area conferred by the nano-arrays (up to 9.5 times that of the planar system) suggests that much higher efficiencies could be harnessed. Our study shows that the morphology and orientation of the infiltrated polymer play a critical role in the charge transport of the device, and suggests that better understanding and control of polymer morphology under nano-confinement in the nano-array will be the key to fully reaping the promised benefit of ordered-BHJ devices.     

Predicting the Academic Performance of Construction Engineering Students by Teaching and Learning Approaches: Case Study

There are various teaching approaches that instructors may adopt in their quest to teach effectively, and students can choose from a range of learning approaches to help them achieve good grades. This study investigates the effectiveness of personal learning approaches adopted by undergraduates and the teaching approaches employed by instructors in the context of construction engineering courses. The research questions are as follows. (1)?What are the students’ learning approaches that lead to better academic achievement? (2)?What are the instructors’ teaching approaches that give rise to better academic achievement? The study also aims to construct a model to predict a student’s likely academic performance in a construction engineering course. The research design is a self-administered survey. Using a structured questionnaire consisting of questions relating to learning strategies and teaching approaches, data were collected from undergraduates who majored in construction engineering. Statistical analyses undertaken include Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression modeling. Pearson correlation analysis shows that both the Growing Teaching approach and the students’ Achieving Motive learning approach are significantly correlated with academic performance. A robust grade prediction model was developed, whereby a student’s grade in a construction engineering course may be predicted using one teaching approach (Growing Teaching) and three learning approaches (Achieving Motive, Achieving Strategy, and Deep Motive). To help students obtain higher grades in a construction engineering course, instructors should adopt the Growing Teaching approach, and students should adopt the Achieving Motive learning approach. Because students who adopt the Deep Motive learning approach are penalized with lower grades, it is recommended that instructors modify their teaching methods and approaches so that students do not take shortcuts in their learning without deeper regard for higher-order learning outcomes.     

基于改进叶素动量理论的水平轴风电机组气动性能计算

综合考虑到风剪切、塔影效应、三维旋转效应的影响,本文对传统的叶素动量理论（bladeelementmomentum,BEM）进行改进,建立风电机组气动性能计算模型,基于该模型编制计算程序,以商用1．5MW风电机组为计算实例,计算出其在不同的风速、转速和桨距角配置下的轴向和切向气动荷载分布,以及推力、功率和风能利用系数,与传统BEM模型及风电设计分析软件FOCUS5计算值对比,验证了该模型的正确性和优越性。