Hybrid intelligent framework for one-day ahead wind speed forecasting

Neural Computing and Applications - Nowadays wind power is considered as one of the fastest growing alternative energies, that is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the upcoming...     

Kinetics and Mechanism of Low-Grade Manganese Ore Reduction by Natural Gas

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - The calcination and the reduction behaviors of a low-grade manganese ore by methane was studied at 973 K to 1273 K by several techniques. The onset...     

Functional Chromatography Reveals Three Natural Products that Target the Same Protein with Distinct Mechanisms of Action

Access to lead compounds with defined molecular targets continues to be a barrier to the translation of natural product resources. As a solution, we developed a system that uses discrete, recombinant proteins as the vehicles for natural product isolation. Here, we describe the use of this functional chromatographic method to identify natural products that bind to the AAA+ chaperone, p97, a promising cancer target. Application of this method to a panel of fungal and plant extracts identified rheoemodin, 1‐hydroxydehydroherbarin, and phomapyrrolidone A as distinct p97 modulators. Excitingly, each of these molecules displayed a unique mechanism of p97 modulation. This discovery provides strong support for the application of functional chromatography to the discovery of protein modulators that would likely escape traditional high‐throughput or phenotypic screening platforms.     

Synthesis of Gemini‐Like Methyl Acrylate‐Acrylic Acid‐Methyl Acrylate Triblock Copolymers Surfactants by RAFT Polymerization in Solution and Investigation of their Behavior at the Air–Water Interface

A series of methyl acrylate‐acrylic acid amphiphilic triblock copolymers (PMA‐PAA‐PMA) were prepared by solution polymerization using S,S′‐bis (α,α‐dimethy1acetic acid) trithiocarbonate (BDAT) as a reversible addition fragmentation chain transfer (RAFT) agent and methyl acrylate (MA) as the first monomer. The triblock copolymers and their common MA homopolymer precursors were characterized in terms of their compositions, molecular weights and behavior at the air–water interface using ¹H‐NMR spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, gel permeation chromatography, surface tension, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and dynamic light scattering respectively. The results indicated that PMA‐PAA‐PMA was successfully synthesized through RAFT polymerization. The polydispersity index (PDI) decreased when the molar ratio [n(MA)/n(AA)] increased, the lowest PDI was obtained at 5.23 wt% RAFT and the molecular weights were consistent with the theoretical value as the RAFT agent percentage varied. The polymer neutralized by sodium hydroxide solution shows a low critical micelle concentration (CMC), which was <10^?2 mol L^?1 in water. The A_min values increased and showed a maximum with decreased AA chain length. TEM showed that the neutralized polymer formed a special vesicle structure with large pore structure which led to a low CMC and surface tension of water.     

Characterization of a Si-SiO2 Mixture Generated from SiO(g) and CO(g)

Metallurgical and Materials Transactions B - The reaction between SiO(g) and CO(g) is a relevant intermediate reaction in the silicon production process. One of the products generated from this gas...     

Synthesis and evaluation of the thermal properties of biosourced poly(ether)ureas and copoly(ether)ureas from 1,4:3,6‐dianhydrohexitols

A new series of poly(ether)ureas were prepared by solution polyaddition of three diamines based on 1,4:3,6‐dianhydrohexitols with three types of diisocyanate. The corresponding poly(ether)ureas were obtained with high yields. They were characterized by various analytical techniques (NMR, TGA and differential thermal analysis, DSC). NMR spectroscopy allowed us to confirm structure type and to optimize reaction conditions and DSC proved the high thermal properties of the products obtained (T_g and T_m in the range 126 ? 158 °C and 235 ? 330 °C respectively). Then, copoly(ether)ureas partially based on commercial diamines were synthesized in order to reduce polymer cost and tune their thermal behaviour. The reactivity of both diamines was evaluated by their incorporation in the polymer by means of NMR spectra. Then their thermal properties were compared with fully commercial diamine based polyureas by DSC studies. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry     

Estimating the Effective Metal-Mould Interfacial Heat Transfer Coefficient via Experimental-Simulated Cooling Curve Convergence

The design of improved casting systems requires accurate modeling of metal cooling processes. This can only be accomplished after determining the interfacial heat transfer coefficient (IHTC) between a solidifying casting and its mould. In the current work, a simple and robust inverse heat conduction technique was applied for the estimation of the effective IHTC between an aluminum alloy casting and a steel permanent mould during solidification. The solidification of the alloy at varying mould preheating temperatures was monitored using a thermocouple, and the experimental cooling curves were compared with curves simulated by casting solidification modeling software. The IHTC value applied to the software was varied until its output converged with the experimental data, leading to an estimation of 6000 W/m²K for this system. This technique is useful as a preliminary tool in materials modeling, and it will promote the development of improved casting processes without the need for excessive experimentation.