Search

The combination of multilayer aluminum foam can have high sound absorption coefficients (SAC) at low and medium frequencies, and predicting its absorption coefficient can help the optimal structural design. In this study, a hybrid EO-GRNN model was proposed for predicting the sound absorption coefficient of the three-layer composite structure of the aluminum foam. The generalized regression neural network (GRNN) model was used to predict the sound absorption coefficient of three-layer composite structural aluminum foam due to its outstanding nonlinear problem-handling capability. An equilibrium optimization (EO) algorithm was used to determine the parameters in the neuronal network. The prediction results show that this method has good accuracy and high precision. The calculation result shows that this proposed hybrid model outperforms the single GRNN model, the GRNN model optimized by PSO (PSO-GRNN), and the GRNN model optimized by FOA(FOA-GRNN). The prediction results are expressed in terms of root mean square error (RMSE), absolute error, and relative error, and this method performs well with an average RMSE of only 0.011.

The paper will focus on how history is reshaped in a case study: the film adaptation of Oliver Twist (2005). It is of significance as its Chinese authorised subtitles mediate nineteenth-century British history for a contemporary Chinese audience. But this adaptation creates various problems of translation as it negotiates the cultural and linguistic transfer between early Victorian England and twenty-first-century China. To illustrate the challenge that translators and audiences face, examples drawn from the subtitles are grouped under Eva Wai-Yee Hung’s (1980) suggested aspects of Dickens’s world: “religious beliefs, social conventions, biblical and literary allusions and the dress and hairstyle of the Victorian era”. Moreover, Andrew Higson’s “heritage” theory (1996a), William Morris’s (Bassnett, 2013) views of historical translation and Nathalie Ramière’s (2010) cultural references specific to Audiovisual Translation are adopted to read the Chinese subtitles. They are used to bring back the audiences to an impossible, inaccessible past. The historical features shown in this modern version of a British heritage film make it possible for the subtitles to interact with Chinese culture to transfer meaning via a complex combination of translation strategies. Therefore, in order to rejuvenate Chinese cultural heritage, the subtitles of the cultural and temporal specificities and complexities involved are reinterpreted and redirected to the receiving culture

Lithium sulfur batteries (Li–S) have been deemed to be the promising energy-storage systems. Nevertheless, the shuttle effect caused by diffusion of polysulfides limit their application. In this work, the different dimensions of g-C3N4 nanomaterials (2D g-C3N4 nanosheets and 3D g-C3N4 nanomesh) were doped in S electrode. Because of the large specific surface area of 3D g-C3N4 nanomesh and strong chemical adsorption of polysulfides can provide better effect for inhibition of shuttling effect and its proper electron passage make electrochemical kinetics of lithium–sulfur battery enhanced. The discharge specific capacity of the 3D g-C3N4 battery is up to 731 mAh/g and longer cycling performance with 540 mAh/g after 180 cycles. This experiment paves the way forward for the application of g-C3N4 on Li–S batteries.

To provide a first insight into combustion characteristics of ammonia-based fuel in gas turbine engines for power generation, a generic swirl burner is tested with ammonia/hydrogen mixtures in this study. Based on the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation results, Chemical Reaction Network (CRN) model is developed to study the NOx emission characteristics of different ammonia/hydrogen mixtures in a gas turbine swirl burner. The NOx emission results predicted by the CRN model using Konnov’s mechanism have shown satisfactory agreement with the experimental data. The parameter study are then performed to estimate the effect of pressure, inlet temperature and equivalence ratio. Areas are identified which more attention for model development and emission need control in future studies.

Lithium ion batteries with graphite negative electrodes have been developed to date due to their low power density, which limits their application in many cases, however. Nanoscale Li4Ti5O12 has higher power density than conventional graphite anode materials. In order to ensure that the full-cell system has high power and high energy, cathode materials are very important. In this paper, three different cathode materials, LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA), LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622), and LiCoO2 (LCO), were used to conduct a comprehensive study, and optimal NCA-Li4Ti5O12(LTO) full battery system was selected under high power conditions. On the basis, in order to further increase battery power density, and in combination with the mechanism of the supercapacitor non-Faradic energy storage, polyaniline activated carbon material (PANI-AC) with excellent capacitance characteristics was prepared. In the end, we proposed a new type of hybrid battery capacitor system with high power and high energy.

In order to better understand the acoustic performance of composite structured open-cell aluminum foam in the low and medium frequency bands, this paper presents a method for predicting the absorption coefficient of a given structure in the low and medium frequency bands using radial basis function (RBF) neural networks. The method uses a number of easily measurable structural parameters to obtain the sound absorption coefficient of composite structural aluminum foam and then compares the predictions with those of two conventional transfer matrix methods (TMM). Therefore, in the experimental part, 165 composite structured open-cell aluminum foams were, firstly, designed using three different thickness of aluminum open-cell foam with a density of 0.914 kg/m3 and three different thickness of aluminum open-cell foam with a density of 0.711 kg/m3. Next, the two main structural parameters of airflow resistivity and porosity of each layer were measured as inputs to the radial basis function neural network. Seventeen of these data sets were then used as a test set to compare the results of the absorption coefficients with the experimental values of the other two numerical models at 10 low frequency frequencies, respectively. Finally, a maximum root mean square error of 0.023, and a mean root mean square error of 0.012 were derived using radial basis function neural networks, which were numerically much lower than the other two TMM models, and RBF had higher accuracy, indicating that the method was effective.

Background Epilepsy is a group of neurological disorders characterized by recurrent epileptic seizures. Epilepsy is affected by many factors, approximately 20–30% of cases are caused by acquired conditions, but in the remaining cases, genetic factors play an important role. Early establishment of a specific diagnosis is important to treat and manage this disease. Methods In this study, we have recruited 43 epileptic encephalopathy patients and the molecular genetic analysis of those children was performed by whole-exome sequencing (WES). Results Fourteen patients (32.6%, 14/43) had positive genetic diagnoses, including fifteen mutations in fourteen genes. The overall diagnostic yield was 32.6%. A total of 9 patients were diagnosed as pathogenic mutations, including 4 variants had been reported as pathogenic previously and 6 novel variants that had not been reported previously. Therefore, WES heralds promise as a tool for clinical diagnosis of patients with genetic disease. Conclusion Early establishment of a specific diagnosis, on the one hand, is necessary for providing an accurate prognosis and recurrence risk as well as optimizing management and treatment options. On the other hand, to unveil the genetic architecture of epilepsy, it is of vital importance to investigate the phenotypic and genetic complexity of epilepsy.

Lithium sulfur batteries (Li-S) have been deemed to be the promising energy-storage systems. Nevertheless, the shuttle effect caused by diffusion of polysulfides limit their application. In this work, the different dimensions of g-C₃N₄ nanomaterials (2D g-C₃N₄ nanosheets and 3D g-C₃N₄ nanomesh) were doped in S electrode. Because of the large specific surface area of 3D g-C₃N₄ nanomesh and strong chemical adsorption of polysulfides can provide better effect for inhibition of shuttling effect and its proper electron passage make electrochemical kinetics of lithium-sulfur battery enhanced. The discharge specific capacity of the 3D g-C₃N₄ battery is up to 731 mAh/g and longer cycling performance with 540 mAh/g after 180 cycles. This experiment paves the way forward for the application of g-C₃N₄ on Li-S batteries.

To produce well loaded mesoporous aluminum-based adsorbents for defluoridation of zinc sulfate solution, novel Al/Ce hybrid gel (AC) and Al/Nd hybrid gel (AN) were synthesized with high water-soluble pseudo-boehmite as the main raw material. The properties, optimal defluoridation conditions, synthesis principle and adsorption mechanism were studied via related characterizations, experiments, and models. The results obtained revealed that the main bodies of AN and AC are AlO(OH). Ce(CH3COO)3 and Nd(CH3COO)3 are embedded in the frameworks, forming large amounts of ink-bottle type mesopores. The experimental data of both AC and AN fitted well to the pseudo-second-order kinetic and Langmuir isotherm models. Maximum adsorption capacities of AC and AN for fluoride ions were 26.57 mg g−1 and 29.18 mg g−1, respectively. The larger adsorption capacity indicated that the aluminum-based adsorbent modified by Nd element for the first time has a promising application prospect in defluoridation. The adsorbents showed high fluoride ion adsorption speeds with the removal rates reaching 50.15% (AC) and 33.41% (AN) within 2 min at 50 °C, 3 g l−1. The mechanism analysis revealed that the electrostatic interaction of protonated hydroxyl with fluoride ions and coordination between rare earth ions and fluoride ions are involved in the adsorption. Ce(CH3COO)3 and Nd(CH3COO)3 embedded in the main body stabilize the structure of the adsorbents, enhance the defluoridation speeds, and provide adsorption sites for fluoride ions.

This paper explores how sexuality and femininity1 are transferred in the Chinese subtitles of the chick flick, Bridget Jones’s Diary (2001). In order to address this question, the article is divided into three main parts. In the first section, a review of how the film is received in the Anglophone and Chinese markets is presented respectively, also including the challenges posted to the subtitlers, e.g. the translation of sexuality and swearing in the discourse of women. The second section offers a theoretical framework that structures the paper, adopting Ernst-August Gutt’s (1986) “Relevance Theory” and Anthony Baldry and Paul Thibault’s (2006) “Multimodality” to examine how the Chinese subtitles work for primarily the Chinese female audiences. What follows is a detailed analysis of two situational categories of recurrent features (swearing and sexuality) in the Chinese subtilties of this chick flick, specifically proving constructions of feminist ideology. The paper concludes that the Chinese subtitles articulates a relatively moderate version compared to the original explicit sexuality and taboo language. Such moderation reflects an increasingly improved entanglement of feminine identity in a contemporary Chinese context.

Lithium ion batteries with graphite negative electrodes have been developed to date due to their low power density, which limits their application in many cases, however. Nanoscale Li4Ti5O12 has higher power density than conventional graphite anode materials. In order to ensure that the full-cell system has high power and high energy, cathode materials are very important. In this paper, three different cathode materials, LiNi0.8Co0.15Al0.05O2 (NCA), LiNi0.6Co0.2Mn0.2O2 (NCM622), and LiCoO2 (LCO), were used to conduct a comprehensive study, and optimal NCA-Li4Ti5O12(LTO) full battery system was selected under high power conditions. On the basis, in order to further increase battery power density, and in combination with the mechanism of the supercapacitor non-Faradic energy storage, polyaniline activated carbon material (PANI-AC) with excellent capacitance characteristics was prepared. In the end, we proposed a new type of hybrid battery capacitor system with high power and high energy.

The impact of MnO 2 as an additive on the properties of NiFe 2 O 4 -based cermets prepared by the two-steps sintering method has been investigated. The new material was characterized in terms of the crystal structure, microstructure, linear shrinkage, relative density and porosity. Moreover, the bending strength of NiFe 2 O 4 -based cermets was measured. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD) shows that the addition of MnO 2 has no obvious influence on the crystal structure of the cermets. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) studies reveals that the grain sizes of cermets decreases slightly with doped MnO 2 . The results show that the linear shrinkage, relative density and bending strength increase at first and then decrease slightly. A high-density (99.56%) and high-strength (84.28 MPa) NiFe 2 O 4 -based cermets has been obtained by adding 0.50 wt% MnO 2 into the matrix.

Electroplating technique was applied to coat carbon fibers with nickel. Before plating, the initial fibers were pretreated to improve the wettability in bath. The electroplating parameters were optimized to obtain high-quality nickel-coated carbon fibers, and the effects on plating were studied. The coated carbon fibers were characterized by SEM, XRD, and XPS. The coatings are uniform, smooth, bright, and adherent to carbon fibers not only along length but also along the diameter of the filaments, and mainly composed of pure nickel. Metal-carbon-oxygen bonds are present at the interface between nickel coatings and fibers, which provides the interfacial binding force. The results of performance tests showed that the nickel-coated fibers possess a good bonding strength not less than 78.5 kPa, and exhibit excellent oxidation resistance at high temperature. Compared with the initial fibers, the wettability with aluminum is also improved obviously.

Quasi-static compression tests for closed-cell aluminum foams manufactured by the melt route were conducted. Deformation mechanisms at the cell level are discussed. Cell shape and the inhomogeneity of the foam structure are considered the primary factors affecting the deformation modes. Four failure modes of closed-cell aluminum foam at the cell/membrane level reveal the mechanisms of energy absorption on the mesoscopic scale. Moreover, the friction between compacting cells helps to increase the energy absorption.

Loss of function and gain of function mutations of the sodium channel were investigated using an intact two-dimensional rabbit sinoatrial node (SAN) and atrial cell model. The effects of three external stimuli (acetylcholine secretion by the vagal nerve, acid-base concentration, and tissue temperature) on cardiac pacemaker function and conduction were studied. Our results show that these two groups of mutations have different effects on pacemaker function and conduction. Furthermore, we found that the negative effects of these mutations could be altered by external stimuli. The bradycardic effects of mutations were magnified by an increase in acetylcholine level. Changes in acid-base concentration and tissue temperature increased the ability of the SAN to recover its pacemaker function. The results of this study increase our understanding of sodium channel disorders, and help to advance research on the treatment of these conditions.