Search results for "Stability."

Long-Term Stability of (Ti/Zr/Hf)CoSb1−xSnxThermoelectric p-Type Half-Heusler Compounds Upon Thermal Cycling

2015

The effect of thermal cycling upon the thermoelectric performance of state-of-the-art p-type half-Heusler materials was investigated and correlated with the impact on the structural properties. We simulated a heat treatment of the material similar to actual applications in the mid-temperature range, such as occurs during the energy conversion from an automotive exhaust pipe. We compared three different compositions based on the (Ti/Zr/Hf)CoSb1−xSnx system. The best and most reliable performance was achieved using Ti0.5Hf0.5CoSb0.85Sn0.15, which reached a maximum figure of merit ZT of 1.1 at 700 °C. The intrinsic phase separation and resulting microstructuring, which are responsible for the …

Fission in the landscape of heaviest elements: Some recent examples

2016

The fission process still remains a main factor that determines the stability of the atomic nucleus of heaviest elements. Fission half-lives vary over a wide range, 10^−19 to 10^24 s. Present experimental techniques for the synthesis of the superheavy elements that usually measure α-decay chains are sensitive only in a limited range of half-lives, often 10^5 to 10^3 s. In the past years, measurement techniques for very short-lived and very long-lived nuclei were significantly improved at the gas-filled recoil separator TASCA at GSI Darmstadt. Recently, several experimental studies of fission-related phenomena have successfully been performed. In this paper, results on 254−256Rf and 266Lr ar…

A new method to evaluate the influence of the glenosphere positioning on stability and range of motion of a reverse shoulder prosthesis

2019

Abstract Purpose Shoulder instability and reduced range of motion are two common complications of a total reverse shoulder arthroplasty. In this work, a new approach is proposed to estimate how the glenoid component positioning can influence the stability and the range of motion of a reverse shoulder prosthesis. Materials and methods A standard reverse shoulder prosthesis has been analysed. To perform virtual simulation of the shoulder-prosthesis assembly, all the components of the prosthesis have been acquired via a 3D laser scanner and the solid models of the shoulder bones have been reconstructed through CT images. Loads on the shoulder joint have been estimated using anatomical models d…

Study of the thermal behaviour of ordered bimetallic EDTA complexes

1986

Abstract The study of the thermal behaviour of a family of isostructural ordered bimetallic MM'(EDTA)·6H 2 O complexes has been performed using TG and DTA. Formal kinetic analysis of the dehydration step has been approached using non-isothermal procedures. The resulting correlation among the calculated E a values and the cationic sizes implies a common dehydration mechanism. Copper-containing complexes show distinctive behaviour during the ligand pyrolysis processes. A mechanistic interpretation involving formation of Cu(I) and Cu(0) intermediates is furnished. The evolution of the inorganic residues in systems containing both Co and Ni is especially considered given the interest in the (Co…

Potassium demineralization of coconut fiber via combined hydrothermal treatment and washing: Effect on pyrolysis kinetics, mechanisms, and bio-oil co…

2021

Abstract Producing clean energy from waste biomass via pyrolysis is critical in reducing dependence on fossil fuels and alleviating their environmental impacts. Inherent potassium in low energy density coconut fibers reduces bio-oil yield and compromises bio-oil quality and the integrity of reactors within which pyrolysis occurs. The effect of consecutive hydrothermal treatment (180°C-220 °C) and water washing on coconut fiber demineralization, pyrolysis behavior, and bio-oil composition was investigated. Chemical fractionation method classified the most occurring inorganic (potassium) as ~76% water-soluble, ~19% ion-exchangeable, and ~5% acid-soluble species. Demineralization results show …

2016

Raman spectroscopic data were obtained for (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 samples during compression to 57 GPa. Single crystals of San Carlos olivine compressed hydrostatically above 41 GPa showed appearance of a new “defect” peak in the 820–840 cm−1 region associated with SiOSi linkages appearing between adjacent Embedded Image tetrahedra to result in five- or sixfold-coordinated silicate species. Appearance of this feature is accompanied by a broad amorphous background. The changes occur at lower pressure than metastable crystalline transitions of end-member Mg2SiO4 forsterite (Fo-I) into Fo-II and Fo-III phases described recently. We complemented our experimental study using density functional theory (DFT…

Influence of PVP/VA copolymer composition on drug–polymer solubility

2015

In this study, the influence of copolymer composition on drug-polymer solubility was investigated. The solubility of the model drug celecoxib (CCX) in various polyvinylpyrrolidone/vinyl acetate (PVP/VA) copolymer compositions (70/30, 60/40, 50/50 and 30/70 w/w) and the pure homopolymers polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) and polyvinyl acetate (PVA) was predicted at 25 °C using a thermal analysis method based on the recrystallization of a supersaturated amorphous dispersion (recrystallization method). These solubilities were compared with a prediction based on the solubility of CCX in the liquid monomeric precursors of PVP/VA, N-vinylpyrrolidone (NVP) and vinyl acetate (VA), using the Flory-Huggins …

A Deep Reinforcement Learning scheme for Battery Energy Management

2020

Deep reinforcement learning is considered promising for many energy cost optimization tasks in smart buildings. How-ever, agent learning, in this context, is sometimes unstable and unpredictable, especially when the environments are complex. In this paper, we examine deep Reinforcement Learning (RL) algorithms developed for game play applied to a battery control task with an energy cost optimization objective. We explore how agent behavior and hyperparameters can be analyzed in a simplified environment with the goal of modifying the algorithms for increased stability. Our modified Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) agent is able to perform consistently close to the optimum over multi…

The transcriptional inhibitor thiolutin blocks mRNA degradation in yeast.

2007

Thiolutin is commonly used as a general inhibitor of transcription in yeast. It has been used to calculate mRNA decay rates by stopping the transcription and then determining the relative abundance of individual mRNAs at different times after inhibition. We report here that thiolutin is also an inhibitor of mRNA degradation, and thus its use can lead to miscalculations of mRNA half-lives. The inhibition of mRNA decay seems to affect the mRNA degradation pathway without impeding poly(A) shortening, given that the decay rate of total poly(A) amount is not reduced by thiolutin. Moreover, the thiolutin-dependent inhibition of mRNA degradation has variable effects on different functional groups …

Nonlinear relaxation in quantum and mesoscopic systems

2013

The nonlinear relaxation of three mesoscopic and quantum systems are investigated. Specifically we study the nonlinear relaxation in: (i) a long Josephson junction (LJJ) driven by a non-Gaussian Lévy noise current; (ii) a metastable quantum open system driven by an external periodical driving; and (iii) the electron spin relaxation process in n-type GaAs crystals driven by a fluctuating electric field. In the first system the LJJ phase evolution is described by the perturbed sine-Gordon equation. Two well known noise induced effects are found: the noise enhanced stability and resonant activation phenomena. We investigate the mean escape time as a function of the bias current frequency, nois…