Integrated thermal and energy management of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles

In this research, the significant influence of engine and cabin thermal management on the fuel efficiency and emissions of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles is investigated. A practical solution to implement an optimal energy management strategy of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles which considers the temperature noise factor is introduced.

Recent progress in the development and use of organic ionic plastic crystal electrolytes

Significant progress has been made recently in the development of Organic Ionic Plastic Crystals (OIPCs), a unique family of solid state electrolytes with applications in electrochemical devices such as lithium batteries and dye-sensitised solar cells. The negligible volatility of OIPCs renders them more suitable than molecular species for long-term device use, while the high thermal and electrochemical stability of many OIPCs fulfils an essential requirement for solid state electrolytes for many device applications. However, the complex mechanisms of conduction through these materials, both in their pure state and in the presence of a small amount of a second component (such as lithium salts to enable their use in lithium batteries) are still not fully understood. At the same time, the range of anions and cations utilised in the synthesis of plastic crystal phases continues to increase. This perspective concentrates on recent research into both fundamental and device-oriented aspects of these materials. Important fundamental understanding of the physical properties and transport mechanisms of different OIPCs has been achieved through use of techniques including variable temperature solid-state NMR and crystallographic analysis, as well as detailed molecular dynamics simulations. In parallel, the applicability of these materials as electrolytes for dye-sensitised solar cells and lithium batteries is being more widely demonstrated. The possibility of using OIPCs as solid state electrolytes for fuel cells is also discussed.

A self-supported, flexible, binder-free pseudo-supercapacitor electrode material with high capacitance and cycling stability from hollow, capsular polypyrrole fibers

Flexible energy devices with high performance and long-term stability are highly promising for applications in portable electronics, but remain challenging to develop. As an electrode material for pseudo-supercapacitors, conducting polymers typically show higher energy storage ability over carbon materials and larger conductivity than transition-metal oxides. However, conducting polymer-based supercapacitors often have poor cycling stability, attributable to the structural rupture caused by the large volume contrast between doping and de-doping states, which has been the main obstacle to their practical applications. Herein, we report a simple method to prepare a flexible, binder-free, self-supported polypyrrole (PPy) supercapacitor electrode with high cycling stability through using novel, hollow PPy nanofibers with porous capsular walls as a film-forming material. The unique fiber structure and capsular walls provide the PPy film with enough free-space to adapt to volume variation during doping/de-doping, leading to super-high cycling stability (capacitance retention > 90% after 11000 charge-discharge cycles at a high current density of 10 A g^-1) and high rate capability (capacitance retention ∼ 82.1% at a current density in the range of 0.25-10 A g^-1).

Self-cleaning, superhydrophobic cotton fabrics with excellent washing durability, solvent resistance and chemical stability prepared from an SU-8 derived surface coating

Superhydrophobic cotton fabrics with a very low contact angle hysteresis were prepared using a single-pot coating solution comprising SU-8 (a negative photoresist), a fluorinated alkyl silane and silica nanoparticles. The fabric was treated using a dip-coating technique and subsequently cured under UV light. The coated fabric showed excellent superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle as high as 163° and a sliding angle as low as 2°. The coating was durable enough to withstand 100 laundry cycles. It also had excellent stability against long immersion times in organic solvents, and acid and base solutions.

Lipid profiles, in vitro digestion and oxidative stability of mutton bird oil

The lipid profile, in vitro digestion and oxidative stability of mutton bird oil were investigated. Wax ester, triacylglycerol and sterol were the major lipids present as determined using capillary chromatography with flame ionisation detector (Iatroscan). Fatty acid analysis by gas chromatography (GC) showed that wax esters had a higher total omega-3 fatty acids content including EPA, DPA and DHA than TAGs (31 % and 24 %, respectively). In TAGs, 13C nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) data showed that EPA was statistically positioned at sn-1,3 and sn-2, while DHA was preferentially at sn-2. In vitro digestion using porcine pancreatic lipase resulted in 75 % of TAG and 10 % wax ester hydrolysis in 120 min. As reflected in the measured conjugated dienes (CD) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) values during accelerated oxidation at 60 °C for 5 days, the oil was relatively stable against oxidation considering its high omega-3 content.

Balanced-budget consumption taxes and aggregate stability in a small open economy

In a small open economy facing a perfect world capital market, this paper shows that if the government follows a balanced-budget fiscal policy based on endogenous consumption tax rates, then the steady state is saddle-path stable and hence beliefs-driven aggregate instability can be ruled out. This result is in contrast to those obtained in some closed economy models, and it suggests that unrestricted world capital mobility can help stabilize the economy under the balanced-budget fiscal policy based on consumption taxation.

Investigating effects of potential excursions and pH variations on cathodic protection using new electrochemical testing cells

Excursion from safe cathodic protection (CP) potentials occurs on buried steel pipelines due to various forms of electrical interferences such as stray currents. Variations in pH can also occur over some pipeline sections such as seashore and river crossing pipes. Currently, the exact effects of potential excursion and the pH on CP efficiency have not been sufficiently quantified preliminary due to difficulties in measuring these effects. In this work, these effects have been investigated using electrochemical cells designed to mimic the high resistivity and pH conditions observable over underground steel pipes, including a new electrochemical cell that has been designed to facilitate the effective simulation and control of pH, potential excursion and other CP testing parameters. The pH has been shown to be a key factor affecting the patterns of corrosion and CP efficiency. Localised corrosion has been found to be the dominating form of corrosion under potential excursions conditions.

Colour change on different body regions provides thermal and signalling advantages in bearded dragon lizards

Many terrestrial ectotherms are capable of rapid colour change, yet it is unclear how these animals accommodate the multiple functions of colour, particularly camouflage, communication and thermoregulation, especially when functions require very different colours. Thermal benefits of colour change depend on an animal's absorptance of solar energy in both UV–visible (300-700 nm) and near-infrared (NIR; 700-2600 nm) wavelengths, yet colour research has focused almost exclusively on the former. Here, we show that wild-caught bearded dragon lizards (Pogona vitticeps) exhibit substantial UV–visible and NIR skin reflectance change in response to temperature for dorsal but not ventral (throat and upper chest) body regions. By contrast, lizards showed the greatest temperature-independent colour change on the beard and upper chest during social interactions and as a result of circadian colour change. Biophysical simulations of heat transfer predicted that the maximum temperature-dependent change in dorsal reflectivity could reduce the time taken to reach active body temperature by an average of 22 min per active day, saving 85 h of basking time throughout the activity season. Our results confirm that colour change may serve a thermoregulatory function, and competing thermoregulation and signalling requirements may be met by partitioning colour change to different body regions in different circumstances.

Persistence and subtype stability of ADHD among substance use disorder treatment seekers

OBJECTIVE: To examine ADHD symptom persistence and subtype stability among substance use disorder (SUD) treatment seekers. METHOD: In all, 1,276 adult SUD treatment seekers were assessed for childhood and adult ADHD using Conners' Adult ADHD Diagnostic Interview for Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed.; DSM-IV; CAADID). A total of 290 (22.7%) participants met CAADID criteria for childhood ADHD and comprise the current study sample. RESULTS: Childhood ADHD persisted into adulthood in 72.8% (n = 211) of cases. ADHD persistence was significantly associated with a family history of ADHD, and the presence of conduct disorder and antisocial personality disorder. The combined subtype was the most stable into adulthood (78.6%) and this stability was significantly associated with conduct disorder and past treatment of ADHD. CONCLUSION: ADHD is highly prevalent and persistent among SUD treatment seekers and is associated with the more severe phenotype that is also less likely to remit. Routine screening and follow-up assessment for ADHD is indicated to enhance treatment management and outcomes.

Boron nitride nanosheets improve sensitivity and reusability of surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a useful multidisciplinary analytic technique. However, it is still a challenge to produce SERS substrates that are highly sensitive, reproducible, stable, reusable, and scalable. Herein, we demonstrate that atomically thin boron nitride (BN) nanosheets have many unique and desirable properties to help solve this challenge. The synergic effect of the atomic thickness, high flexibility, stronger surface adsorption capability, electrical insulation, impermeability, high thermal and chemical stability of BN nanosheets can increase the Raman sensitivity by up to two orders, and in the meantime attain long-term stability and extraordinary reusability not achievable by other materials. These advances will greatly facilitate the wider use of SERS in many fields.

Survival and fermentation activity of probiotic bacteria and oxidative stability of omega-3 oil in co-microcapsules during storage

Tuna oil (O) and probiotic bacteria Lactobacillus casei (P) were co-microencapsulated in whey protein isolate (WPI)-gum Arabic (GA) complex coacervate. The co-microcapsules (WPI-P-O-GA), L. casei microcapsules (WPI-P-GA) and tuna oil microcapsules (WPI-O-GA) were converted into powder using spray and freeze drying. The interaction between probiotic bacteria and omega-3 oil in co-microcapsules, particularly in terms of oxidative stability of omega-3 oil and vitality/viability of probiotic bacteria and any synergistic outcome, was studied. The effect of storage temperature (5 and 25 °C) and time (90 days) on the survival and fermentation activity of L. casei and oxidative stability of tuna oil in the microcapsules/co-microcapsules was determined. A synergism between oxidative stability of omega-3 oil and vitality of probiotic bacteria was observed, when they were co-microencapsulated and spray dried. These co-microcapsules will likely have utility in functional food formulations due to simple and cost effective stabilisation and delivery of two important functional ingredients.

Electrochemiluminescent monomers for solid support syntheses of Ru(II)-PNA bioconjugates : multimodal biosensing tools with enhanced duplex stability

The feasibility of devising a solid support mediated approach to multimodal Ru(II)-peptide nucleic acid (PNA) oligomers is explored. Three Ru(II)-PNA-like monomers, [Ru(bpy)2(Cpp-L-PNA-OH)]2+ (M1), [Ru(phen)2(Cpp-L-PNA-OH)]2+ (M2), and [Ru(dppz)2(Cpp-L-PNA-OH)]2+ (M3) (bpy = 2,2′-bipyridine, phen = 1,10-phenanthroline, dppz = dipyrido[3,2-a:2′,3′-c]phenazine, Cpp-L-PNA-OH = [2-(N-9-fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl)aminoethyl]-N-[6-(2-(pyridin-2yl)pyrimidine-4-carboxamido)hexanoyl]-glycine), have been synthesized as building blocks for Ru(II)-PNA oligomers and characterized by IR and 1H NMR spectroscopy, mass spectrometry, electrochemistry and elemental analysis. As a proof of principle, M1 was incorporated on the solid phase within the PNA sequences H-g-c-a-a-t-a-a-a-a-Lys-NH2 (PNA1) and H-P-K-K-K-R-K-V-g-c-a-a-t-a-a-a-a-lys-NH2 (PNA4) to give PNA2 (H-g-c-a-a-t-a-a-a-a-M1-lys-NH2) and PNA3 (H-P-K-K-K-R-K-V-g-c-a-a-t-a-a-a-a-M1-lys-NH2), respectively. The two Ru(II)-PNA oligomers, PNA2 and PNA3, displayed a metal to ligand charge transfer (MLCT) transition band centered around 445 nm and an emission maximum at about 680 nm following 450 nm excitation in aqueous solutions (10 mM PBS, pH 7.4). The absorption and emission response of the duplexes formed with the cDNA strand (DNA: 5′-T-T-T-T-T-T-T-A-T-T-G-C-T-T-T-3′) showed no major variations, suggesting that the electronic properties of the Ru(II) complexes are largely unaffected by hybridization. The thermal stability of the PNA·DNA duplexes, as evaluated from UV melting experiments, is enhanced compared to the corresponding nonmetalated duplexes. The melting temperature (Tm) was almost 8 °C higher for PNA2·DNA duplex, and 4 °C for PNA3·DNA duplex, with the stabilization attributed to the electrostatic interaction between the cationic residues (Ru(II) unit and positively charged lysine/arginine) and the polyanionic DNA backbone. In presence of tripropylamine (TPA) as co-reactant, PNA2, PNA3, PNA2·DNA and PNA3·DNA displayed strong electrochemiluminescence (ECL) signals even at submicromolar concentrations. Importantly, the combination of spectrochemical, thermal and ECL properties possessed by the Ru(II)-PNA sequences offer an elegant approach for the design of highly sensitive multimodal biosensing tools.