Development Of Management Technologies Research Articles

Space Traffic Safety Management and Control

With the sustained launch activities and the growth of space debris population, the space traffic safety problems become more and more serious. The current approaches for space surveillance and safety control cannot satisfy the practical requirement any longer. Based on the analysis of the development of space traffic management and control technology, the risk of avalanche effect due to unordered development of space traffic was discussed. A modeling method for space traffic from the aspect of overall parameter was proposed, as well as the scheme of self-organized control.

Application of big medical data in cancer diagnosis and treatment

With the extensive use of information technology and the development of big data techno-logy, the traditional methods for cancer are not meeting our needs. The application of medical large data has now changed our tumor model profoundly, but also brings a deeply cognition to the nature of malignant tumor. Development of medical big data analysis and management technologies are driving malignancy model from individual treatment era into the precision medicine era, which allows us to change the prediction, diagnosis, and monitor of malignancy. There are also a variety of challenges to resolve. Key words: Neoplasms; Genomics; Therapeutic uses; Big data; Targeted therapy

Intranasal vaccination of mannan-decorated mucoadhesive HPMCP microspheres containing ApxIIA toxin effectively protected Actinobacillus pleuropneumoiaeinfection in mice

Event Abstract Back to Event Intranasal vaccination of mannan-decorated mucoadhesive HPMCP microspheres containing ApxIIA toxin effectively protected Actinobacillus pleuropneumoiaeinfection in mice Hui-Shan Li1, Min-Kyoung Shin2*, Bijay Singh1*, Han-Sang Yoo2*, Sushila Marharjan1*, Tae-Eun Park1*, Sang-Kee Kang3*, Zhong-Shan Hong4*, Yun-Jaie Choi1, 4* and Chong-Su Cho1 1 Seoul National University, Department of Agricultural Biotechnology & Research Institute for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Korea 2 Seoul National University, Department of Infectious Disease, College of Veterinary Medicine, Korea 3 Seoul National University, Institute of Green-Bio Science & Technology, Korea 4 Tianjin Agricultural University, Department of Animal Science, China Introduction: The nasal route for vaccine delivery by microparticles has attracted considerable interest, although challenges such as the rapid mucociliary clearance in the respiratory mucosa and the low immunogenicity of subunit vaccine still remain[1]. Recently, a new generation of synthetic polymers known as thiolated polymers, such as thiolated hydroxypropylmethyl cellulose phthalate (HPMCP),have been shown to have strong mucoadhesive properties due to their binding with the cysteine-rich subdomains of mucus glycoprotein in the mucosal site[2]. Here, we applied thiolated HPMCP (TH) to make microspheres as a nasal vaccine carrier for prolonging the residence time in the respiratory mucosa to make interaction time of vaccine molecules and antigen presenting cells (APCs) longer. Moreover, another major hurdle in the development of intranasal vaccines is poor immunogenicity of vaccine subunits due to the lack of “danger signals” that can activate APCs[3]. To this end, we aimed to develop mannan-decorated mucoadhesive THM (Man-THM) as an adjuvant system for nasal vaccine. Mannan is one of the natural PAMPs (pathogen associated molecular patterns) of APCs and is a ligand of the mannose receptor (MR) widely expressed on APCs[4],[5]. Mannan can induce the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and up-regulate the expression of co-stimulatory molecules in these cells, thereby activating both innate and adaptive immunity[6],[7]. The aim of this work was to explore the potential of a novel Man-THM vehicle for the intranasal administration of ApxIIA as a vaccine against A. pleuropneumoniae which is known to cause contagious porcine pleuropneumoniae. Materials and Methods: ApxIIa-loaded Man-THM was prepared by the double emulsion solvent evaporation method and using the mixture of 0.25wt.-% PVA and 0.5wt.-% mannan (W2 phase) to decorate the surface of microspheres with mannan.After optimization of the preparation method and characterization of the obtained ApxIIA-loaded Man-THM, the physiochemical properties of the Man-THM as a nasal delivery carrier were evaluated by in vitro and in vivo assays. Results and Discussion: The surface of the Man-THM was homogeneously coated with mannan due to the mannan’s amphiphilic property, which functions as a stabilizer during the formation of microspheres through W1/O/W2 double emulsion. In a mechanistic study using APCs in vitro, it was found that Man-THM enhanced receptor-mediated endocytosis by stimulating the MR of APCs. In vivo, the nasal vaccination of ApxIIA-loaded Man-THM in mice resulted in higher levels of mucosal sIgA and serum IgG than mice in the ApxIIA and ApxIIA-loaded THM groups due to the specific recognition of the mannan in the Man-THM by the MRs of the APCs. Moreover, ApxIIA-containing Man-THM protected immunized mice when challenged with strains of A. pleuropneumoniae serotype 5.The number of bacteria measured in the lung tissue homogenates prepared from mice in the ApxIIA-loaded Man-THM group was approximately 100-fold lower than those from the ApxIIA and ApxIIA-loaded THM groups. Conclusion: We concluded that ApxIIA-loaded Man-THM enhanced the systemic and mucosal immune responses against ApxIIA, which enhanced the bacterial clearance ability of the mice challenged with A. pleuropneumoniae, thus improving survival. Our results strongly support the efficacy of Man-THM as an adjuvant carrier system for the effective induction of systemic and mucosal immune responses. This research was supported by the Animal Disease Management Technology Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Republic of Korea. (Project code 313014-03); We also acknowledge the National Instrumental Centre for Environmental Management (NICEM) and the National Center for Inter-University Research Facilities (NCIRF).; H.S. Li and S. Marharjan were supported by BK21 plus program.

A Study on Prioritization of HNS Management in Korean Waters

The types of hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) being transported by sea in Korea are at about 6,000, HNS transport volume accounts for 19% of total tonnage shipped in Korea, and the increase rate of seaborne HNS trade in Korea is 2.5 times higher than the average increase rate of the world seaborne HNS trade. Reflecting this trend, HNS spill incidents have been frequently reported in Korean waters, and there are increasing social demands to develop HNS management technology for the preparedness, response, post-treatment and restoration in relation to HNS spill incidents at sea. In this study, a risk-based HNS prioritization system was developed and an HNS risk database was built with evaluation indices such as sea transport volume, physicochemical properties, toxicities, persistency, and bioaccumulation. Risk scores for human health and marine environments were calculated by multiplying scores for toxicity and exposure. The top-20 substances in the list of HNS were tabulated, and Aniline was ranked first place, but it needs to be managed not by individuals but by HNS groups with similar score levels. Limitations were identified in obtaining data of chronic toxicity and marine ecotoxicity due to lack of testing data. It is necessary to study on marine ecotoxicological test in the near future. Moreover, the priority list of HNS is expected to be utilized in the development of HNS management technology and the relevant technologies, after the expert's review process and making up for the lack of test data in the current research results.

Etiologic agents of horses respiratory diseases and development of management technologies

Respiratory diseases among horses cause economic losses in foals and productivity decreases in horses being raised and in adult horses. In South Korea, fundamental studies of horses’ respiratory diseases and those related to disease occurrence are insufficient. Therefore, the aim if the current study was to use diverse hematological indicators, obtained through hematological tests and measurment of blood antibody level in horses suffering form respiratory diseases, to monitor disease occurrence and prognosis evaluation. Investigations of infection states by horses’ bacterial respiratory diseases, susceptible drugs, and resisted drugs according to pathogens showed differences between farms. Among the β-lactam-based antibiotics, cephalosporin-based antibiotics showed some efficacy against Streptococcus spp. To review age-based changes in erythrocytometer hemograms in hematological tests of riding horses, red blood cell (RBC) tended to gradually decrease with increasing age this tendency was statistically significant. In addition, leukocytometer hemograms analyzed by age showed that total white blood cell counts tended to decrease with increasing age. These results of drug susceptibility tests and hematological tests, which have not been presented thus far, will be useful as standardized data in future breeding management and disease tests of Jeju riding horses.

Models and Technologies to Manage the Institutionalization of Sustainable Innovative Development of Meso-Systems

The relevance of the study is reasoned by the lack of manifestation in the Russian context of innovative factors of sustainable economic development and by the need for institutionalization and the development of management technologies for formation of prospective trajectories of development, creating incentives for innovation at enterprises, industries and in the national economy as a whole. The aim of the study is the search for and development of models and management technologies of institutionalization of meso-systems’ innovative development. The leading method is the process modeling method of sustainable innovative development’s management of economic systems on the basis of systematization of factors and trends in terms of types of economic activity. The article summarizes the ideas about model dependencies within the innovative development of economic systems, a typology of institutions for innovation development is proposed, a number of model solutions to the problems of institutional gaps is offered in order to supply the chain of innovative products and approaches to the effectiveness’ evaluation of the institutionalization of sustainable innovative development are discussed. The materials of the articles – managerial and methodological solutions are of practical value for the following fields and sectors of innovation development: regulation and monitoring of innovation activities of enterprises, objects of regional innovation infrastructure and technology transfer for innovation-active enterprises in the field of manufacturing and other Materials articles – managerial and methodological solutions are of practical value for the following fields and sectors of innovation development: regulation and monitoring authorities of enterprises’ innovation activities, agencies of regional innovation infrastructure and transfer technologies, for innovation-active enterprises in the field of refining manufacturing, etc. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n6s2p504

Prognostics and Health Management of an Electro-Hydraulic Servo Actuator


 
 
 Electro-Hydraulic Servo Actuators (EHSA) is the principal technology used for primary flight control in new aircrafts and legacy platforms. The development of Prognostic and Health Management technologies and their application to EHSA systems is of great interest in both the aerospace industry and the air fleet operators.
 This paper presents the results of an ongoing research activity focused on the development of a PHM system for fly-by-wire primary flight EHSA. One of the key features of the research is the implementation of a PHM system without the addition of new sensors, taking advantage of sensing and information already available. This choice allows extending the PHM capability to the EHSAs of legacy platforms and not only to new aircrafts. The enabling technologies borrow from the area of Bayesian estimation theory and specifically particle filtering and the information acquired from EHSA during pre-flight check is processed by appropriate algorithms in order to obtain relevant features, detect the degradation and estimate the Remaining Useful Life (RUL). The results are evaluated through appropriate metrics in order to assess the performance and effectiveness of the implemented PHM system
 
 

풍력발전단지 관리·분석 시스템의 Real-Time Simulator 도입을 위한 계통모델 연동방안 연구

Owing to the variability of large-scaled wind power system, the development of wind farm management technologies and related compensation methods have been receiving attention. To provide an accurate and reliable output power, certain wind farm adopts a specified management system including a wind prediction model and grid expectation solutions for considering grid condition. Those technologies are focused on improving the reliability and stability issues of wind farms, which can affect not only nearby system devices but also a voltage condition of utility grid. Therefore, to adapt the develop management system, an expectation process about voltage condition of Point of Common Coupling should be integrated in operating system for responding system requirements in real-time basis. This paper introduce a grid imposing method for a real-time based wind farm management system. The expected power can be transferred to the power flow section and the required quantity about reactive power can be calculated through the proposed system. For the verification process, the gauss-seidel method is introduced in the Matlab/Simulink for analysing power flow condition. The entire simulation process was designed to interwork with PSCAD for verifying real power system condition.

Mechanism and Kinetics of Carbon Corrosion in Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cells during Drive Cycles

Corrosion of catalyst support-carbon during unprotected start-up and shut-down of H2-air polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFC) is a serious concern. Many studies have investigated the underlying mechanisms of current reversals that occur as H2 sweeps the air in the anode compartment during start-up and, conversely, as air sweeps the H2 in anode during shut-down. Carbon corrodes during these transients as high interfacial potentials exceeding 1.5 V develop in the air/air portion of the cell. Protective measures have been proposed to limit these high interfacial potentials and to limit the exposure time to high potentials. Material-based mitigation strategies have also been proposed that include suppressing the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) on anode and promoting the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) on cathode. Catalyst support-carbon can also corrode below the open-circuit potentials typical of normal operation of automotive fuel cells. Figure 1a is a typical trace of the measured carbon corrosion rate during a simulated drive cycle in which the potential was varied between 0.4 V and 0.95 V. The hold times were 0.5 min at the low potential and 5 min at the high potential. The data are for an Ion Power supplied MEA with 0.15 mg/cm2 Pt loading in cathode, 0.23 Pt/C ratio, and high surface area Ketzenblack (E-type) carbon support. The data are for H2-air at fixed flow rates, 80oC cell temperature, and 100% relative humidity (RH). The corrosion trace in Fig. 1a has a few particularly interesting features. The larger spike in corrosion rate occurs as the cell potential is raised from 0.4 V to 0.95 V. However, the corrosion rate declines rapidly and approaches zero as the cell is held at the high potential for a long time. The smaller spike in corrosion rate occurs as the cell potential is reduced from 0.95 V to 0.4 V. The corrosion rate also declines as the cell is held at the low potential but does not approach zero. Similar features in carbon corrosion rates were observed in other MEAs with Vulcan XC-72 (V-type) and graphitized Ketzenblack (EA-type) carbons as catalyst supports. We have formulated a simple carbon corrosion model to quantitatively capture the essential features of the data. As indicated in Fig. 1a, the surface carbon sites are represented as vacant (C#), active carbon oxides (C#OH), and passive carbon oxides (C#Ox). The active carbon oxides are formed at low potentials. The spike in carbon corrosion after a step increase in potential is associated with the direct oxidation of C#OH to CO2 through its reaction with H2O. Holding the cell at a high potential leads to the formation of C#Ox and displacement of C#OH. The corrosion rate goes down as C#Ox passivates the carbon surface. Also, at potentials higher than 0.4 V, Pt sites begin to convert to PtOH, and at still higher potentials, PtOH converts to PtO. In the model shown in Fig. 1a, a step decrease in potential results in the sites occupied by passive C#Ox being vacated. The vacated sites are available to be occupied by active C#OH which reacts with the OH-like species on adjacent catalyst surface to produce a spike in carbon corrosion. With time, PtOH gradually reduces to Pt, and the carbon corrosion rate decreases to a lower, non-zero value. As partial validation, Fig. 1b shows the modeled steady-state corrosion rate and compares it with the asymptotic rates measured in the experiments when the cell with E-type carbon is held at high potentials for 5 min. Both the model and the data exhibit peak steady-state corrosion rates for E-type carbon at about 0.6 V. As seen in Fig. 1a, the transient corrosion rates can be much higher under potential cycling. Acknowledgments: This work is supported by DOE-EERE-FCTO with Dr. Nancy Garland as the Technology Development Manager. Figure 1

Carbon Corrosion in PEM Fuel Cells during Drive Cycle Operation

PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs) show great promise to increase the fuel efficiency for transportation applications; however, for this application, they must show performance and durability with the requirements for transportation. For transportation applications, the fuel cell will be subjected to frequent power cycling. For example, the DOE/Fuel Cell Tech Team (FCTT) protocol for durability includes load cycling from 0.02 A/cm2 to 1.2 A/cm2 every 0.5 min. The cathode catalyst and catalyst layer have been shown as susceptible to degradation causing loss of performance due to both loss of kinetics for the oxygen reduction reaction and loss of mass transport. Catalyst support-carbon corrosion can result in thinning of the catalyst layer contributing to degradation in performance. To examine the effect of power cycling in situ on carbon corrosion and electrode degradation, we directly measured the catalyst support degradation by measuring CO2 in the cathode outlet by NDIR (Non-Dispersive Infra-Red) while operating a single-cell fuel cell. CO2 present in air was removed by a lime bed prior to introduction to the fuel cell. We operated with a modified DOE/FCTT durability protocol using controlled voltage, and varied the potential limits to explore the effects of the upper potential limit, lower potential limit, the potential step size and time at potential. The upper potential limit was varied from 0.95 to 0.55V; the lower potential limit from 0.40V to 0.80V, with times ranging from 0.5 min to 5 min. The corrosion of three different types of carbon were explored, high surface area (E), vulcan (V), and graphitized (EA). The catalyst support carbon corrosion occurs under normal fuel cell operating conditions and is exacerbated by the voltage cycling inherent in these steps in potential. A series of carbon corrosion spikes during potential cycling is shown in Figure 1 for E-type carbon, varying the upper potential from 0.95 V to 0.60V while keeping the lower potential constant at 0.40V. Sharp spikes in the carbon corrosion rate are observed during a step increase in cell potential with the magnitude of the spikes decreasing as the high cell potential is reduced from 0.95 V to 0.6 V. The carbon corrosion rate at high cell potential (0.95V) decreases with time at potential, indicating formation of passivating carbon surface oxides. Carbon corrosion was measured during the drive cycle measurements for all three types of carbon, with the relative carbon corrosion rates of E>V>EA. The series of step potential carbon corrosion spikes where the potential was varied for the lower potential from 0.40 V to 0.60V while keeping the upper potential constant at 0.95V shows similar results in terms of the carbon corrosion. The magnitude of the spikes decrease as the lower cell potential is raised. These results indicate that the size of the step in potential has a more significant impact on the carbon corrosion rate than does the absolute value of the potential for normal cathode operating potentials. The peak in CO2 evolution occurs when the cell potential increases from high power operation to low power near open circuit. This correlates with when CO2 evolution is observed during cyclic voltammograms, which occurs during the positive sweep at ~ 0.55 to 0.60 V. The evolution of this CO2 peak suggests that oxygen is adsorbed onto the carbon and/or CO is formed on the Pt surface. During long-term operation, a reduction in catalyst layer thickness is observed during drive cycle operation, which can be due to the loss of carbon through carbon corrosion or possibly due to compaction; both effects likely lead to a loss of void volume. This reduction in thickness includes a sharp decrease in catalyst layer thickness within the first 100 hours of operation (30%), eventually reaching ~50% of its thickness after 1000 hours. Most of this reduction in electrode thickness does not appear to be directly due to carbon corrosion as there is little evidence for carbon corrosion from microscopic analysis, especially during the early stages of operation, where the thickness reduction is substantially more than what should be due to carbon corrosion. These results show that carbon corrosion occurs during normal potential operation, and is exacerbated by potential variations during operation. To minimize the carbon corrosion, the size of the steps in potential should be minimized. For a more stable catalyst, another requirement is for the Pt particles to be stabilized on graphitized carbon supports. Acknowledgments Funding for this work is from DOE EERE FCTO, Technology Development Manager Nancy Garland Figure 1

Cerium Migration during PEM Fuel Cell Assembly and Operation

Cerium ions enhance the chemical stability and lifetime of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell components by rapidly and reversibly scavenging degrading radical species which are generated during operation [1]. However, during cell fabrication and discharge, these ions readily migrate between the membrane and catalyst layers (CLs) of the membrane electrode assembly (MEA) [2]. Complete washout of cerium from the MEA has also been observed [3]. It is necessary to understand the mechanisms and magnitude of cerium migration during fuel cell operation, since cerium ions are ineffective outside of the catalyzed area of the MEA. These results can be applied to improve cerium stability in the active area of the MEA and localize it to areas of high radical generation, which can further extend the lifetime of PEM fuel cells. Table 1: AST conditions and flow fields Test Time (h) RH (%) Flow field I 500 30 50 cm2 single serpentine II 2,000 100 25 cm2 tri-serpentine III 2,000 100 25 cm2 single serpentine Membrane chemical stability accelerated stress tests (ASTs) [4] were performed on cerium-containing MEAs at 90°C in single-cell hardware (Fuel Cell Technologies), compressed with 8 x bolts at 50 in-lb of torque, using the conditions and hardware shown in Table 1. Nafion XL (DuPont) membranes were used, which contain a nominal cerium loading of 6 μg Ce/cm2. Carbon-supported platinum electrodes (TKK, 48% Pt, 0.1-0.2 mg Pt/cm2loading) and Sigracet 25BC GDLs (SGL) were also used. X-ray fluorescence (XRF) was performed on MEA components before and after the ASTs in order to measure in-plane cerium content in the membrane and CLs. After 500 hours of OCV operation at 30% RH, cerium moved uniformly from the membrane of MEA I into the CLs (not shown). Here, migration is attributed cell component hot pressing and interactions with the CLs [2]. Membrane cerium was reduced to 3.7± 0.68 μg Ce/cm2, while anode and cathode CL concentrations were increased to 2.3 ± 0.06 and 3.4 ± 0.22 μg Ce/cm2, respectively. At 100% RH, cerium also remained in the active area, however, membrane concentration increased from inlet to outlet (Figure 1a). This gradient may arise due to the increased presence and flow of liquid water during 100% RH operation. Only trace amounts of cerium remained in the CLs, except near the outlet, which suggests that under humidified conditions, the effects of CL interactions on cerium migration are reduced. After 2,000 hours of operation at 100% RH, flow field compression was observed to have implications on cerium migration out of the active area. The cerium profile of MEA III (Figure 1b) shows that it migrated from areas of high compression in the active area (shown in red) into low compression regions outside of the active area. In contrast, compression was higher around the active area of MEA II (Figure 1a), which prevents cerium from leaching from it. However, concentration was non-uniform, as discussed above. These preliminary results indicate that cerium migration and leaching out of the active area are affected by membrane water content and cell clamping pressure. It is believed that other factors such as electrical potential and temperature influence migration, as well. The authors wish to acknowledge the financial support of the Fuel Cell Technologies Program and the Technology Development Manager Nancy Garland.

K-plus-nearest neighbor method development for credit scoring machine learning tasks

The pace of development of modern risk management and data mining technologies causes the relevance of searching for new or improved effective methods for statistical and non-statistical forecasting, as well as forming the problems of deep study of existing methods and characteristics of their application conditions. Machine learning, namely memory-based learning is one of the most practically useful, broad and insufficiently studied areas. Also, the development of modern information technologies and ways to improve readability and simplicity of code causes the relevance of the study support with the implementation of the fourth-generation programming language. The research deals with developing basic and advanced k-plus-nearest neighbor method as significantly improved classical k-nearest neighbor method with eliminated shortcomings and inaccuracies of practical realization: the problem of selecting a metric space and the metrics itself, problem of using categorical (including sampled) variables on the set, the issue of probabilistic classification, problem of taking into account equally spaced groups of elements relative to the element to be classified, the model optimality criterion based on the method and the method of its use for selecting the optimal parameter, ways to accelerate application. The main work is focused on using the methodology and indicators of credit scoring in machine learning problems. The full code for the basic proposed method in the SQL language - MS SQL (T-SQL) dialect was given. As a result of the study, efficiency was determined at the stage of applying the basic proposed method in terms of the optimality criterion - Gini index relative to probabilistic forecasts compared to logistic regression in terms of two factors: the quality of forecasts and number of parameters to be optimized. The practical value of the results obtained on the example of simulation using mass consumer credit data lies in the simplicity and effectiveness of the proposed method by means only of the server part of the DBMS.

(Energy Technology Division Research Award) PEM Fuel Cell Electrode Layer Degradation

PEM fuel cells (PEMFCs) show great promise to increase the fuel efficiency for transportation applications; however, for this increase in efficiency to be implemented in a wide-spread manner, these systems need to be competitive with current technologies. As PEMFCs have evolved for transportation applications from prior applications (space and stationary), materials changes have been made to increase the power density and decrease the cost (including thinner, higher conductivity membranes and higher surface area/lower Pt loadings) that have negatively affected the durability. In addition, as these systems were developed for transportation, the operating conditions changed, including frequent start-up/shut-downs, power cycling, and higher temperature/lower relative humidity operation. While there has been significant progress in improving durability with lower cost materials, further improvements are needed to meet the commercialization targets. Past improvements have largely been made possible because of the fundamental understanding of the underlying degradation mechanisms. By investigating component and cell degradation modes and defining the fundamental degradation mechanisms of individual components and component interactions, new materials can be designed to improve durability. The primary degradation modes involve materials in the the electrode layer. The high cost of the noble metal(s) used as the catalyst makes this a crucial area requiring durability improvement. Other degradation modes include decreases in electrode kinetics and increases in resistance of both transport and conductivity. Although the electrode structure and durability thereof has been studied extensively, perfect solutions for commercialization do not yet exist. The primary degradation mechanisms within the cathode catalyst layer include catalyst nanoparticle stability, catalyst support degradation, porosity losses, and ionomer degradation. Catalyst support carbon corrosion occurs under normal fuel cell operating conditions and is exacerbated by the voltage cycling inherent in transportation drive cycles. An example of how the drive cycle potential cycling affects carbon corrosion, as measured by CO2 evolution, is shown in Figure 1. The peak in CO2 evolution occurs when the cell potential increases from high power operation to low power near open circuit. This correlates with when CO2 evolution is observed during cyclic voltammograms, which occurs during the positive sweep at ~ 0.55 to 0.60 V. The evolution of this CO2 peak suggests that oxygen is adsorbed onto the carbon and/or CO is formed on the Pt surface. Many materials and operating variables affect the amount of carbon corrosion, including the type of carbon support used, the Pt loading and dispersion, and operating conditions, such as relative humidity (RH) and temperature. Not surprisingly, high surface area carbons with a low extent of graphitization, exhibit the greatest amount of corrosion, followed by Vulcan carbon, which has some meso-graphitic structure, and the least amount of carbon corrosion occurs with graphitized, low surface area carbon (LSAC). Higher Pt loadings and poor Pt dispersions lead to higher rates of carbon corrosion, which in turn leads to loss of Pt surface area, thinning of the electrode layer, and increases in mass transport losses. However, as Figure 2 demonstrates, carbon corrosion is only a portion of the issues in play. Figure 3 shows the initial and final Pt particle sizes for the same carbon support materials. In this case, the Pt size (measured by XRD) is inversely correlated to the amount of carbon corrosion, with the greatest Pt size observed after shut-down/start-up ageing for graphitized LSAC carbon. Together with the other degradation mechanisms, a reduction in catalyst layer thickness is observed during drive cycle operation, which can be due to the loss of carbon through carbon corrosion or due to compaction; both effects likely lead to a loss of void volume. This reduction in thickness includes a sharp decrease in catalyst layer thickness within the first 100 hours of operation (30%), eventually reaching ~50% of its thickness after 1000 hours. Most of this reduction in electrode thickness does not appear to be directly due to carbon corrosion as there is little evidence for carbon corrosion from microscopic analysis, especially during the early stages of operation, where the thickness reduction is substantially more than what should be due to carbon corrosion. Acknowledgments Funding for this work is from DOE EERE FCTO, Technology Development Manager Nancy Garland I gratefully acknowledge all of my collaborators from Los Alamos, Ion Power, University of Nancy, Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, Argonne National Lab and Oak Ridge National Lab. Figure 1

RFID/USN 기반 농업분야 u-IT 적용을 위한 u-Farm 정보 아키텍처 및 정보 관리기술 개발

RFID/USN 기반 농업분야 u-IT 적용을 위한 u-Farm 정보 아키텍처 및 정보 관리기술 개발

Relationship between Phosphorus Accumulation and Dry Matter Production in Soybeans

Six cultivars of soybean were cultivated under various phosphorus (P) application levels, in pots and in fields to clarify the relationship between P accumulation and dry matter production, and that of varietal differences in soybeans. Dry matter production and yield components increased with the increase of P application, especially under P-deficient conditions, and there were varietal differences in dry matter production, yield components, and amount of P accumulation. However, there were significant relationships between dry matter production and P accumulation, and the relationships could be represented by the same regression line regardless of cultivar. There were varietal differences in dry matter production efficiency of accumulated P under a P-deficient condition. These results suggest that either high ability to accumulate P or efficient dry matter production of P is required for stable production under P-deficient conditions. Therefore, selection of cultivars that have high dry matter production efficiency or large root systems, or the development of agricultural management technology that increases the rate of P fertilizer absorption is required for stable production under P-deficient conditions.

Prognostics and Health Management of an Automated Machining Process

Machine failure modes are presenting a major burden to the operator, the plant, and the enterprise causing significant downtime, labor cost, and reduced revenue. New technologies are emerging over the past years to monitor the machine’s performance, detect and isolate incipient failures or faults, and take appropriate actions to mitigate such detrimental events. This paper addresses the development and application of novel Prognostics and Health Management (PHM) technologies to a prototype machining process (a screw-tightening machine). The enabling technologies are built upon a series of tasks starting with failure analysis, testing, and data processing aimed to extract useful features or condition indicators from raw data, a symbolic regression modeling framework, and a Bayesian estimation method called particle filtering to predict the feature state estimate accurately. The detection scheme declares the fault of a machine critical component with user specified accuracy or confidence and given false alarm rate while the prediction algorithm estimates accurately the remaining useful life of the failing component. Simulation results support the efficacy of the approach and match well the experimental data.

Recent Trends in Standards Related to the Internet of Things and Machine-to-Machine Communications

One of major purposes of these standard technologies is to ensure interoperability between entities from different vendors and enable interworking between various technologies. As interoperability and interworking are essential for machine-to-machine communications (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) for them to achieve their ultimate goal, i.e., things to be connected each other, multiple standards organizations are now working on development M2M/IoT related specifications. This paper reviews the current activities of some of the most relevant standardization bodies in the area of M2M and IoT: third-generation partnership project (3GPP) core and radio network aspects, broadband forum, and oneM2M. The major features and issues being focused upon in these standards bodies are summarized. Finally, some key common trends among the different bodies are identified: a common service layer platform, new technologies mitigating an explosive growth of network traffic, and considerations and efforts related to the development of device management technologies.

Performance of Advanced Pt-Ni Alloy Catalysts in Polymer-Electrolyte Fuel Cells

The cost of a Polymer-Electrolyte Fuel Cells (PEFC) system is still the primary barrier to commercialization, although it has decreased significantly over the past decade. Platinum electrocatalysts are required due to the slow kinetics of the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). To reduce electrocatalyst cost, platinum alloys with higher ORR mass activity are being developed.1,2 ORR activities exceeding DOE’s 2015 targets were reported by various research groups for carbon-supported Pt alloys and core-shell nanoparticles in rotating-disk electrode (RDE) tests.3,4 However, it can be challenging to achieve similarly high mass activities for these electrocatalysts in membrane-electrode assemblies (MEAs), as evidenced by in-cell performance at low current densities (kinetically-controlled) region, and it is even more challenging to achieve improved cell performance at higher current densities with these advanced alloy catalysts.5 United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) is a part of an on-going DOE-supported research project, led by Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), focused on improving the understanding, performance, and durability of advanced Pt-alloy catalysts operating in complete PEFCs. In the current study, advanced MEAs with high ORR activity Pt-Ni alloy catalysts are prepared by Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells (JMFC) and tested by UTRC in small PEFCs (12.5-cm2 active area). A variety of parameters, including: Pt-Ni catalyst composition and structure, catalyst-ink formulation, and MEA-fabrication procedures are being explored in order to develop MEAs with superior performance over the entire PEFC operating range relative to Pt-only MEAs. A comparison of Pt-only and Pt-Ni MEAs, which have similar catalyst particle size and the same carbon support and electrode composition, are shown in Figure 1. Results obtained from in-cell diagnostics will be used to explain the differences in the polarization curves, as well as project paths to future performance improvements. The impact of Pt:Ni ratio on ORR activity and cell performance will also be reported. Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fuel Cell Technologies Office (Nancy Garland, Technology Development Manager) under contract number DE-AC02-06CH11357. The authors would also like to thank their DOE project colleagues at ANL and at JMFC for both their support of this work and for helpful discussions. References S. C. Ball, S. L. Hudson, B. R. C. Theobald, and D. Thompsett, ECS Transactions, 11 (1), 1267-1278 (2007).H. R. Colón-Mercado, and B. N. Popov, Journal of Power Sources, 155 (2), 253–263 (2006).N. Markovic and V. Stamenkovic, DOE Hydrogen Program 2010 Annual Report (2010).M. Shao, A. Peles, and K. Shoemaker, Nano Letters, 11 (9), 3714-3719 (2011).K.C. Neyerlin, R. Srivastava, C.F. Yu, and P. Strasser, Journal of Power Sources, 186 (2), 261-267 (2009).

A Study of Pt and Pt-Alloy Fuel Cell Catalyst Degradation in Aqueous and Membrane Electrode Assembly Environments Using In Situ Anomalous Small-Angle X-Ray Scattering

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are an attractive energy conversion technology due to their high energy efficiency resulting from direct conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy. However, their cost effective implementation, especially for automotive power, has been hindered by degradation of the electrochemically-active surface area (ECA) of the Pt nanoparticle electrocatalysts. While numerous studies using ex-situ post-mortem techniques have provided insight into the effect of operating conditions on ECA loss, the governing mechanisms and underlying processes are not fully understood. Toward the goal of elucidating the electrocatalyst degradation mechanisms, we have successfully followed Pt nanoparticle growth during potential cycling of the electrocatalyst in an aqueous acidic environment and in a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) environment using in-situ anomalous small-angle X-ray scattering (ASAXS).1 Several catalysts were utilized in this study with varying mean particles sizes; a commercial carbon-supported platinum (20 wt% Pt on XC-72 Vulcan carbon, E-Tek) with a mean particles size of ~2 nm, along with 40 wt% Pt and Pt3Co nano-particles supported on Akzo Nobel Ketjen EC300J carbon black (provided by Johnson Matthey) with a mean particle size of ~3 nm and ~6 nm, respectively. Various potential cycling protocols (triangle, square, and trapezoidal) were applied to aqueous and MEA environments with anodic potential limits in the range of 1.0 to 1.1 V.As an example of the results that will be discussed, ASAXS patterns were analyzed and found that the dominant Pt surface area loss mechanism was found to be preferential dissolution or loss of the smallest particles with varying extents of re-precipitation of the dissolved species onto existing particles in both environments. Correlation of ASAXS-determined particle growth and dissolved Pt measurements in the aqueous environment with both calculated and voltammetrically-determined oxide coverages.2This demonstrates that the oxide coverage is playing a key role in the dissolution process and in the corresponding growth of the mean Pt nanoparticle size and loss of ECA.After extended cycling, the MEA environment showed accelerated degradation as compared to the aqueous stagnant environment (23% to 10% geometric surface area loss after 1,000 potential cycles). Introduction of electrolyte flow to the aqueous cell helped accelerate the Pt growth process to become similar to that observed in the MEA (24% geometric surface area loss after 1,000 potential cycles).These results along with others including those with the Pt3Co catalyst will be discussed in order to shed light on the Pt degradation mechanisms in all environments.Acknowledgements: The authors would like to acknowledge Sarah Ball, Jonathan Sharman, Brian Theobald, and Graham Hards from Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells for supplying the catalysts and catalyst coated membranes. The authors also acknowledge funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Fuel Cell Technologies Program (Nancy Garland, Technology Development Manager) and the U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Basic Energy Sciences for support of the Advanced Photon Source.ReferencesT. Narayanan, Soft Matter: Scattering, Imaging, and Manipulation. 1st ed.; Springer: Berlin, 2007. J. Gilbert, N. Kariuki, R. Subbaraman, A.J. Kropf, M. Smith, E. Holby, D. Morgan, D. Myers, 2012, J Amer Chem Soc, 134, 36.

Perfluorinated Ionomers for Alkaline Membrane Fuel Cells

Perfluorinated ionomers have significant advantages over hydrocarbon-based ionomers due to the higher oxygen permeability, hydrophobicity, less catalyst poisoning, ideal three-phase interface and ability to create a porous electrode structure. There have been a few attempts to prepare perfluorinated polymers for the use of alkaline applications mostly in the late 1980s; however, none have been stable and all rapidly hydrolyzed under high pH conditions.2 We have synthesized stable hydroxide conducting perfluorinated ionomers through resonance structure formation upon functionalization of perfluorinated polymer.3 The synthesis of phenyl pentamethyl guanidinium functionalized perfluorinated ionomer was accomplished with a three-step procedure, i) attachment of a 4-fluoroaniline spacer to carboxylic acid Nafion precursor ii) functionalization of tetramethyl gunanidinium4 and iii) methylation with dimethyl sulfate. The alkaline membrane fuel cells (AMFCs) using the perfluorinated copolymer in the catalyst layers exhibited the peak power density of 577 mW/cm2, which was more than 2x greater than a state-of-the-art polyaromatic polymer electrolyte5 (335 mW/cm2). The performance decay rate of the perfluorinated polymer cell was 225 mV/dec/h at 80°C, comparable to the state-of-the-art polyaromatic alkaline polymer cell (183 mV/dec/h at 60°C).The interfacial dynamics of the perfluorinated ionomers using Pt disk microelectrodes indicate that the perfluorinated ionomers have two major benefits over the conventional hydrocarbon-based alkaline ionomers: i) cation desorption capability at an intermediate electrode potential range, ca. 0.2 to 0.6 V and ii) much faster oxygen permeability.6 The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) of the platinum microelectrodes between liquid and polymer electrolytes are compared using 0.1 M guanidinium aqueous solution and the guanidinium functionalized perfluorinated ionomer. The ORR behavior of platinum micro-electrodes with the guanidinium solution exhibited an “electrostatic-defying” adsorption which limited the access of O2reactants into the Pt surface while the ORR behavior of platinum with guanidinium functionalized ionomer did not show the cation adsorption probably due to the conformation change of the cation by the polymer-cation linkage. Due to the absence of guanidinium adsorption at high potential, the ORR activity of platinum at the ionomer interface substantially improved. Acknowledgment U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cell Technologies Program (Technology Development Manager: Dr. Nancy Garland) funded this research. We thank the Korea Institute of Energy Research for supporting the Visiting Scholar Program. References Golling, F. E.; Schuster, T.; Geidel, C.; Mamen, L.; Vollmer, D.; Mullen, K.; Klapper, M. ACS Symposium Series, Vol. 1106, Chapter 8, pp 111-126, 2012.Matsui, K.; Tobita, E.; Sugimoto, K.; Kondo, K.; Seita, T.; Akimoto A.; J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 1986, 32, 4137-4143.Kim, D.S.; Fujimoto, C.Y.; Hibbs, M.R.; Labouriau, A.; Choe, Y.-K.; Kim, Y.S. Macromolecules 2013, 46, 7826-7833.Kim, D.S.; Labouriau, A.; Guiver, M.D.; Kim, Y. S. Chem. Mater. 2011, 23, 3795-3797.Fujimoto, C.; Kim, D. S.; Hibbs, M. Wrobleski, D.; Kim, Y. S. J. Memb. Sci. 2012, 423, 438-449Yim, S.D.; Chlistunoff, J.; Chung, H.; Choe, Y.-K.; Yang, T.-H.; Kim, Y.S. Manuscript in preparation (2014).