High-performance mullite-based composite ceramics were prepared successfully using natural kaolin and alumina as raw materials and ZrO2 as an additive. The influence of sintering temperature and ZrO2 content on the sintering behaviour and mechanical properties of zirconia-toughened mullite ceramics was studied systematically. With increasing sintering temperature from 1450°C to 1560°C, the primary phases of as-sintered composite ceramics were mullite and corundum with a small amount of ZrO2, and the bulk density of the composite ceramics increased from 2.29 to 2.72 g cm–3. Furthermore, the ZrO2 phase transition promoted transgranular fracture, and ZrO2 grains were pinned at the grain boundaries, thereby enhancing the mechanical strength of the composite ceramics. Moreover, the AZS12 sample, with 12 wt.% ZrO2 and sintered at 1560°C, had the greatest flexural strength and fracture toughness of 91.6 MPa and 2.47 MPa m–1/2, respectively. Adding ZrO2 to the composite ceramics increased their flexural strength by ~37.6%.

The subduction model of the Neo-Tethys during the Early Cretaceous has always been a controversial topic, and the scarcity of Early Cretaceous magmatic rocks in the southern part of the Gangdese batholith is the main cause of this debate. To address this issue, this article presents new zircon U–Pb chronology, zircon Hf isotope, whole-rock geochemistry and Sr–Nd isotope data for the Early Cretaceous quartz diorite dykes with adakite affinity in Liuqiong, Gongga. Zircon U–Pb dating of three samples yielded ages of c. 141–137 Ma, indicating that the Liuqiong quartz diorite was emplaced in the Early Cretaceous. The whole-rock geochemical analysis shows that the Liuqiong quartz diorite is enriched in large-ion lithophile elements (LILEs) and light rare-earth elements (LREEs) and is depleted in high-field-strength elements (HFSEs), which are related to slab subduction. Additionally, the Liuqiong quartz diorite has high SiO2, Al2O3 and Sr contents, high Sr/Y ratios and low heavy rare-earth element (HREE) and Y contents, which are compatible with typical adakite signatures. The initial 87Sr/86Sr values of the Liuqiong adakite range from 0.705617 to 0.705853, and the whole-rock ϵNd(t) values vary between +5.78 and +6.24. The zircon ϵHf(t) values vary from +11.5 to +16.4. Our results show that the Liuqiong adakite magma was derived from partial melting of the Neo-Tethyan oceanic plate (mid-ocean ridge basalt (MORB) + sediment + fluid), with some degree of subsequent peridotite interaction within the overlying mantle wedge. Combining regional data, we favour the interpretation that the Neo-Tethyan oceanic crust was subducted at a low angle beneath the Gangdese during the Early Cretaceous.

Emergency search and rescue on the sea is an important part of national emergency response for marine perils. Optimal route planning for maritime search and rescue is the key capability to reduce the searching time, improve the rescue efficiency, as well as guarantee the rescue target’s safety of life and property. The main scope of the searching route planning is to optimise the searching time and voyage within the constraints of missing search rate and duplicate search rate. This paper proposes an optimal algorithm for searching routes of large amphibious aircraft corresponding to its flight characteristics and sea rescue capability. This algorithm transforms the search route planning problem into a discrete programming problem and applies the route traceback indexes to satisfy the duplicate search rate and missing search rate.

In order to solve joint-angle drift problem of dual redundant manipulators at acceleration-level, an acceleration-level tri-criteria optimization motion planning (ALTC-OMP) scheme is proposed, which combines the minimum acceleration norm, repetitive motion planning, and infinity-norm acceleration minimization solutions via weighting factor. This scheme can resolve the joint-angle drift problem of dual redundant manipulators which will arise in single criteria or bi-criteria scheme. In addition, the proposed scheme considers joint-velocity joint-acceleration physical limits. The proposed scheme can not only guarantee joint-velocity and joint-acceleration within their physical limits, but also ensure that final joint-velocity and joint-acceleration are near to zero. This scheme is realized by dual redundant manipulators which consist of left and right manipulators. In order to ensure the coordinated operation of manipulators, two motion planning problems are reformulated as two general quadratic program (QP) problems and further unified into one standard QP problem, which is solved by a simplified linear-variational-inequalities-based primal-dual neural network at the acceleration-level. Computer-simulation results based on dual PUMA560 redundant manipulators further demonstrate the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed ALTC-OMP scheme to resolve joint-angle drift problem arising in the dual redundant manipulators.

It has been demonstrated that the introduction of NaCl can significantly improve the quality of monolayer WS2 at the growth temperatures ranging from 700°C to 850°C by atmospheric pressure chemical vapor deposition (APCVD) without the assistant of hydrogen. Here, the influence of NaCl on the nucleation and growth of WS2 has been thoroughly investigated. The morphology and quality of WS2 grown with different temperatures are discussed by optical microscope, Raman and Photoluminescence (PL) spectra. It was found that amount of NaCl can efficiently influence the morphology and quality of WS2 crystals. PL intensity of WS2 crystal increases around three times from the center region to the edge of an individual domain, which may be attributed to the appearance of small triangle hollows formed during the growth at the edge of single crystal WS2.

Transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDC), such as MoS2, WS2 have attracted attention due to their mechanical and electronic properties in their two dimensional (2D) structures. Here, we report a facile growth of monolayer TMDC using oxide source materials with the assistant of NaCl. The addition of NaCl can enhance the lateral growth and widen the growth window of TMDC. Through carefully controlling the growth parameters, large area growth of TMDC can be achieved. Two steps E-beam lithography was utilized to fabricate electrodes of TMDC. The phototransistors made from the CVD grown TMDC show strong persistent photoconductivity (PPC). It was finally shown that TMDC device capping with h-BN could have suppressed PPC effects.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the costs and effectiveness associated with no screening, Helicobacter pylori serology screening, and the 13C-urea breath test (UBT) for gastric cancer in the Chinese population.

Methods: A Markov model simulation was carried out in Singaporean Chinese at 40 years of age (n = 478,500) from the perspective of public healthcare providers. The main outcome measures were costs, number of gastric cancer cases prevented, life-years saved, quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained from the screening age to death, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs), which were compared among the three strategies. The uncertainty surrounding ICERs was addressed by scenario analyses and probabilistic sensitivity analysis using Monte Carlo simulation.

Results: The ICER of serology screening versus no screening was $25,881 per QALY gained (95 percent confidence interval (95 percent CI), $5,700 to $120,000). The ICER of UBT versus no screening was $53,602 per QALY gained (95 percent CI, $16,000 to $230,000). ICER of UBT versus serology screening was $470,000 per QALY gained, for which almost all random samples of the ICERs distributed above $50,000 per QALY.

Conclusions: It cannot be confidently concluded that either H pylori screening was a cost-effective strategy compared with no screening in all Chinese at the age of 40 years. Nevertheless, serology screening has demonstrated much more potential to be a cost-effective strategy, especially in the population with higher gastric cancer prevalence.

We are constructing a collector for capturing Interplanetary Dust Particles (IDPs) and space debris on space shuttle. The unit consists of three pieces of thin polyester film, equally spaced 7 cm apart, and an aerogel disk of 3 cm thickness. For each particle captured in the aerogel disk, we determine its direction of impact and its speed, from which we can trace its trajectory. The purpose of the experiment is to study the compositions of IDPs from different origins.