High-end Products Research Articles

Grinding effect of sodium silicate on muscovite and its mechanism analysis

Muscovite is widely used in many fields due to its good insulating and other physical and chemical properties. With the development of deep processing, high-end products put forward higher requirements on the particle size of muscovite. Improving the efficient preparation of muscovite powder has become an urgent technical problem to be solved. It is a good choice to add grinding aids in the grinding process. In this study, the effect of sodium silicate on the grinding effect of muscovite was investigated. The samples were characterized by FT-IR, SEM, Zeta potential and XPS, respectively. On this basis, the grinding mechanism sodium silicate on muscovite was discussed. The results indicate that adding sodium silicate in the grinding process of muscovite can significantly accelerate the refinement of muscovite particles, and the surface structure of muscovite is destroyed. The SiO(OH)3− hydrolyzed by sodium silicate adsorbs on the surface of muscovite, which leads to the dispersion of muscovite pulp, and thus improves the grinding effect. This study has some reference significance for improving the production efficiency of muscovite powder and the application of grinding aids.

Laser direct fabrication graphene on silver-based contact as high-end electrical product

Laser direct fabrication graphene on silver-based contact as high-end electrical product

Light-Writing & Projecting Multicolor Fluorescent Hydrogels for On-Demand Information Display.

Intelligent rewritable display systems have been long-expected to reduce the heavy consumption of single-use or transient devices in the age of Internet-of-Things. However, it remains challenging to construct such systems with integrated functionality of remote control, rapid activation, multicolor and multimode display. Herein, by learning from the unique multilayer arrangement of chromatophores in chameleon skins, we present a promising kind of rewritable hydrogel multicolor systems that can combine the merits of near-infrared (NIR) light-writing & projecting modes for on-demand information display. Specifically, the systems have typical multilayer layout consisting of PDMS-sealed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) film as photothermal control unit and embedded fluorescent hydrogels as multicolor display unit, in which thermo-responsive hydrogel is constrained within non-responsive hydrogel. Such rational structure design results in the establishment of one promising display mechanism via the cascading "light trigger-heat generation-fluorescence output" process. On this basis, rapid and reversible hand-written display of arbitrary information is achieved within 5 s. Also, sustainable light-projecting display of predesigned multicolor patterns is demonstrated due to the multilayer design that ensures easy patterning of photothermal control or hydrogel display layer. This study brings functional-integrated merits for novel rewritable display systems and open new possibility to construct high-end products for information display/transmission. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

The influence of industrial Synergy Agglomeration on economic resilience: Based on the comparison between Yangtze River Delta Urban Agglomeration and Central Yunnan Urban Agglomeration

Economic resilience is a balance between economic growth and risk, and an important guarantee for sustainable economic development. The more resilient an economy is, the more likely it is to recover as soon as possible and change its growth path in a timely manner after encountering external disturbances and shocks, so as to achieve high-quality economic transformation and development. The agglomeration of industries in a certain space can effectively reduce the production cost of enterprises. Deepening the industrial division of labor and the extension of the value chain; High-end production factors are promoted to concentrate in this region, and the knowledge spillover effect formed by the agglomeration can improve the level of innovation, which is conducive to the adjustment of industrial structure and the enhancement of regional innovation ability, so as to improve the resilience level of regional economy. In view of this, the panel data of prefecture-level cities of Yangtze River Delta city cluster and Central Yunnan City cluster in China from 2005 to 2020 are selected in this study to deeply explore the influence mechanism of industrial collaborative agglomeration on the economic resilience of city clusters. The results show that the level of industrial cooperation can improve the level of economic resilience of urban agglomerations.

Impaired pulp healing associated with underlying disorders in the dental pulp of rats with type 2 diabetes

Background/purposeType 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), characterized by hyperglycemia, is a systematic disease affecting structure and healing ability in various tissues. This study aimed to investigate whether T2DM could impair the dental pulp healing and cause underlying pathological changes in the dental pulp before an injury occurred. Materials and methodsGoto-Kakizaki rats were used as T2DM model animals and performed with direct pulp capping procedures on the first maxillary molars. The molars at 1, 2, 4 weeks after operation and non-injured molars were examined using hematoxylin and eosin staining, immunohistochemical staining, immunofluorescence staining, and Masson's trichrome staining. The fresh dental pulp of maxillary incisors was collected for transmission electron microscopy and glucose content evaluation. ResultsThe T2DM rats showed deficient reparative dentin formation compared with the healthy rats. Before the occurrence of an injury, underlying pathological changes of major components in the pulp tissue were observed in T2DM rats, including vasculopathy; collagen abnormalities; decreased proliferation, decreased odontogenetic differentiation and damaged ultrastructure of dental pulp cells. High glucose content and advanced glycation end products accumulation were further found in the pulp tissue in T2DM rats. ConclusionT2DM can impede pulp healing process in rats, which is associated with underlying pathological changes in the non-injured pulp caused by the advanced glycation end products accumulation under high-glucose conditions.

A review on solar energy intensified biomass valorization and value-added products production: Practicability, challenges, techno economic and lifecycle assessment

Solar technology is a viable alternative which can be used in place of conventional energy sources. Conversion of biomass to valuable high-end products have also been touted as potential sources of energy which can replace conventional fossil fuel sources. The integration of solar energy in aiding the conversion of biomass to products seeks to completely transform the process into using renewable energy only, without aid of fossil fuel-based electricity. This review discusses the various applications of solar thermal energy and solar photovoltaic energy in various thermochemical processes like solar pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction and gasification. The use of solar energy in production of biodiesel, bioethanol, biohydrogen and biomethane is elucidated on. The integration of all these process into a biorefinery aided by solar technology also has been briefly looked upon, with emphasis on the techno-economic analysis and life cycle analysis of the biorefineries. Finally, opportunities and challenges regarding solar technology has been elucidated with respect to the bioprocess industry.

EGAsubmitter: A software to automate submission of nucleic acid sequencing data to the European Genome-phenome Archive.

Making raw data available to the research community is one of the pillars of Findability, Accessibility, Interoperability, and Reuse (FAIR) research. However, the submission of raw data to public databases still involves many manually operated procedures that are intrinsically time-consuming and error-prone, which raises potential reliability issues for both the data themselves and the ensuing metadata. For example, submitting sequencing data to the European Genome-phenome Archive (EGA) is estimated to take 1month overall, and mainly relies on a web interface for metadata management that requires manual completion of forms and the upload of several comma separated values (CSV) files, which are not structured from a formal point of view. To tackle these limitations, here we present EGAsubmitter, a Snakemake-based pipeline that guides the user across all the submission steps, ranging from files encryption and upload, to metadata submission. EGASubmitter is expected to streamline the automated submission of sequencing data to EGA, minimizing user errors and ensuring higher end product fidelity.

Preparation of Ultrafine Nitroguanidine by One-Step Crystallization in an Impinging Stream-Rotating Packed Bed

To solve the problems of the traditional production process of ultrafine nitroguanidine (NQ), such as a long process and easy pollution caused by recrystallization, the ultrafine NQ (2–6 μm) was prepared by the one-step crystallization in an impinging stream-rotating packed bed (IS-RPB). The influence of operation parameters on the size of the NQ crystal was discussed through various particle size characterization methods. Results show that the size of ultrafine NQ prepared in the IS-RPB was 2.0–3.0 μm, which was smaller than that of market products and conformed to the military standard. Simultaneously, the crystal morphology tended to reduce the length, meeting the target requirement of “shorter and thicker” high-end products. The role of high dispersion and strong mixing in the IS-RPB was the key to continuous and one-step nucleation and crystallization of NQ. One-step crystallization in the IS-RPB is a push flow operation process, where abundant accumulation of the raw material will be avoided effectively, and the safety of energetic material processing will be enhanced greatly. Ultrafine NQ can be prepared without recrystallization, which greatly reduces the energy consumption and the pollution of organic impurities to the product and the environment, providing a new way for the continuous production of ultrafine NQ.

New Route to the Production of Almond Beverages Using Hydrodynamic Cavitation.

Perceived as a healthy food, almond beverages are gaining ever-increasing consumer preference across nonalcoholic vegetable beverages, ranking in first place among oilseed-based drinks. However, costly raw material; time and energy consuming pre- and posttreatments such as soaking, blanching and peeling; and thermal sterilization hinder their sustainability, affordability and spread. Hydrodynamic cavitation processes were applied, for the first time, as a single-unit operation with straightforward scalability, to the extraction in water of almond skinless kernels in the form of flour and fine grains, and of whole almond seeds in the form of coarse grains, up to high concentrations. The nutritional profile of the extracts matched that of a high-end commercial product, as well as showing nearly complete extraction of the raw materials. The availability of bioactive micronutrients and the microbiological stability exceeded the commercial product. The concentrated extract of whole almond seeds showed comparatively higher antiradical activity, likely due to the properties of the almond kernel skin. Hydrodynamic cavitation-based processing might represent a convenient route to the production of conventional as well as integral and potentially healthier almond beverages, avoiding multiple technological steps, while affording fast production cycles and consuming less than 50 Wh of electricity per liter before bottling.

Model-based design for water-soluble crystals with anti-caking function by the feedback between caking prediction and crystallization control

Water-soluble crystals with anti-caking function have become high-end products, whereas they are prepared by trial and error due to the lack of quantitative correlation between particle size and caking tendency, as well as the absence of the models for global consideration between caking and crystallization. This work presents a coupled Caking-Size-Crystallization (CSC) model, which connects the front-end crystallization process and the post-end caking process to achieve the closed-loop design of the anti-caking function for the first time. The CSC model can directly generate the optimal cooling trajectory to crystallize the product free of caking. The introduction of the caking constant term, the mean particle size and the Mullin-Nyvlt’s theory improve the design efficiency by an order of magnitude with the precision guaranteed. This model-based approach presents an opportunity to find optimal crystallization operating profiles with diverse crystal seed loading strategies that meet both product function and manufacturability demands.

Evaluation of the infill design on the tensile properties of metal parts produced by fused filament fabrication

Additive Manufacturing (AM) applications have expanded significantly from rapid prototyping to high-end products such as complex spare parts. AM has enabled advantages of reduced material usage, geometric freedom, and production automation, shaping the future of the manufacturing industries. With the rapid expansion of AM applications, feedstock materials have developed noticeably, from polymers and ceramics to metals and composites. The progress in metal feedstock material discoveries has empowered the exploration of implementing new AM technologies. Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) is one of the most common and cost-effective material extrusion AM technologies. This study explores the effect of the infill pattern on the tensile mechanical properties of metal parts produced via FFF, using two feedstock materials, 17-PH stainless steel and copper. Two approaches are designed to investigate the results: experimental tensile test, and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) with digital twin reconstruction method. Results show that 17-4 PH Stainless Steel samples with a triangular infill exhibited a 42% drop in ultimate tensile strength compared to solid infill. However, it also revealed a 34% reduction in mass, cost saving of 36%, and a faster fabrication with a 25% reduction in lead time. At the same time, copper samples with triangular infill exhibited a 22% drop in ultimate tensile strength and a 12% mass reduction. However, it revealed a similar lead time with only a 3% reduction. A Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) was used to investigate the parts’ internal structure and average pore size, to understand the failure mode of the test specimens.

Potential Application of High Hydrostatic Pressure on the Production of Hydrolyzed Proteins with Antioxidant and Antihypertensive Properties and Low Allergenicity: A Review.

The high hydrostatic pressure (HHP) process has been studied for several applications in food technology and has been commercially implemented in several countries, mainly for non-thermal pasteurization and shelf-life extension of food products. HHP processing has been demonstrated to accelerate proteolytic hydrolysis at a specific combination of pressure and pressure-holding time for a given protein source and enzyme. The enzymatic hydrolysis of proteins is a well-known alternative to producing biologically active peptides, with antioxidant and antihypertensive capacity, from different food protein sources. However, some of these protein sources contain allergenic epitopes which are often not degraded by traditional hydrolysis. Moreover, the peptide profile and related biological activity of a hydrolysate depend on the protein source, the enzymes used, the parameters of the proteolysis process (pH, temperature, time of hydrolysis), and the use of other technologies such as HHP. The present review aims to provide an update on the use of HHP for improving enzymatic hydrolysis, with a particular focus on studies which evaluated hydrolysate antihypertensive and antioxidant capacity, as well as residual allergenicity. Overall, HHP has been shown to improve the biological properties of hydrolysates. While protein allergenicity can be reduced with traditional hydrolysis, HHP can further reduce the allergenicity. Compared with traditional hydrolysis methods, HHP-assisted protein hydrolysis offers a greater opportunity to add value to protein-rich products through conversion into high-end hydrolysate products with enhanced nutritional and functional properties.

Macroscopic and microscopic study on floral biology and pollination of Cinnamomum verum Blume (Sri Lankan).

Cinnamomum verum Blume (syn Cinnamomum zeylanicum) commonly known as Ceylon cinnamon, has gained worldwide attention due to its health benefits and its unique quality. Therefore, maintaining the yield quality and quantity is essential, especially for high-end value-added products. Knowledge on floral behaviour and reproductive biology is essential for breeding superior varieties and is critical for commercial cultivation efforts. However, limited literature is available on the floral biology of C. verum. Here in this study, we assessed the seasonal flowering, floral development and pollination of two cultivars of C. verum. Both macroscopic and microscopic data were collected on floral biology, pollination, and male and female floral organs before and after pollination. Cinnamomum verum is morpho-anatomically, structurally, and physiologically adapted for cross-pollination, possible between the two cultivars; type A (Sri Gemunu) and type B (Sri Wijaya) flowers; naturally evolved with Protogynous Dichogamy. However, due to changes in environmental conditions, female and male stages in the same tree overlap for about 45-60 min suggesting possible close-pollination within the same plant. During this event some of the pollens were observed hydrated even during self-pollination. In mean time, 4-8% of the flowers formed fruits after natural close and hand pollination which is between male and female phases of the same tree. Although C. verum is adapted for cross-pollination, natural close-pollination is also possible. The data suggest the complex nature of the sexual reproduction of C. verum. Well-managed breeding attempts with controlled factors like temperature and humidity will help to develop superior C. verum varieties.

A novel sequential leaching process for titanium slag to increase TiO2 grade to prepare boiling chlorinated charges

The efficient removal of calcium and magnesium impurities from titanium slag to prepare a boiling chlorinated charge is one of the technical bottlenecks in producing high-end titanium products from titanium resources in Panxi. This work proposes a novel process to prepare boiling chlorinated charges from the modified titanium slag, which includes sulfuric acid leaching, hydrochloric acid leaching, and removing silica from the hydrochloric acid leach residue. The transformation of phases, change in microstructure and the leaching efficiency of elements during the combined process were systematically investigated. The mixture of MxTi3-xO5 and diopside (CaMgSi2O6) can be decomposed by sulfuric acid into water-soluble sulfates (titanyl sulfate TiOSO4 and iron sulfates). The leaching efficiencies of Fe, Ca, Mg, V, and Si, respectively, were 85.9%, 48.6%, 93.0%, 95.9%, and 69.2% at the process parameters used: 250 °C, liquid/solid ratio of 1.7:1, leaching time of 2 h, and the particle size 74 μm. The sulfuric acid leach residue was washed and leached in hydrochloric acid. The hydrochloric acid leaching efficiencies of Fe, Ca, Mg, V and Si reached 72.0%, 75.4%, 70.4%, 67.9%, and 58.7%, respectively, in a 15% HClsolution at a liquid/solid ratio of 8, and leaching time of 2 h at 140 °C. The NH4HF2 leaching step is necessary to remove silica for the preparation of boiling chlorinated charges. The product obtained in this combined process contains TiO2 (98.8%), SiO2 (0.17%), and CaO and MgO (0.47%), which meets the requirements of the chemical compositions for boiling chlorinated charge.

Call option contract in a supply chain with random yield and random demand using downconversion approach

PurposeThis study aims to examine the value of the call option contract in hedging the risks in the supply chain. The decentralized supply chain without call option contract is first studied as the criterion model for evaluations. This paper addresses several questions: What will be the optimal manufacturer’s production quantity, retailer’s ordering and pricing policies in the presence of random demand and random yield by applying the downconversion approach? How will the call option contract influence the optimal decisions for the members of the supply chain? Can the risk from randomness be divided among the members in the supply chain through the call option contract?Design/methodology/approachThis paper considers a two-level decentralized supply chain under random yield and random demand in which the manufacturer takes advantage of the downconversion approach with two scenarios, with and without option contract. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no article or study uses the downconversion approach in a supply chain regarding random yield and random demand. Furthermore, the paper considers pricing with option contract in the supply chain, which makes this article stands out significantly from other articles in the literature.FindingsThis study shows that the downconversion approach would reduce the risk caused by the random yield, which appears to be the appropriate method for the environmental goal of the supply chains. Moreover, adopting a call option contract can increase flexibility and mitigate risks, resulting in more expected members’ profits.Research limitations/implicationsTo simplify the model, the authors assume one manufacturer and one retailer, so extending the model to consider multiple retailers instead of one retailer and inventory sharing between them would be interesting. Considering the option and exercise prices as decision variables would be important future research topics. Put option and bidirectional option contracts could be investigated in the future. Another extension is modeling asymmetry of information in supply chain.Originality/valueThis paper provides managerial insights on dealing with both demand and yield risks in a manufacturer–retailer supply chain. The manufacturer has a random yield production and produces two types of vertical products: low-end and high-end. To reduce waste caused by the random yield, the manufacturer uses a downconversion approach in which low-end products are made by converting the defective high-end products. The manufacturer purchased a shortage of high-end products from the secondary market (i.e. emergency sourcing). High-end products are sold through the retailer, and low-end products are sold directly by the manufacturer. The customer demand for high-end products in the end market is random and depends on the selling price, and the customer demand for the low-end products in the secondary market is independent and random. The retailer contracts the manufacturer with the call option to obtain high-end products to meet a random demand; in fact, by using the call option contract, the authors try to balance the risks between two members. Two scenarios of with and without call option contract are proposed. After the high-end product demand is observed, the retailer would exercise the option order quantity in the call option contract scenario and then place an instant order with the manufacturer if necessary. In each scenario, the manufacturer and the retailer make their decisions simultaneously (static game) to determine the retailer’s optimal ordering and pricing policies and the optimal production quantity of the manufacturer (Nash equilibrium) by maximizing their expected profits. Finally, the impact of the model parameters on the supply chain is expressed through numerical examples. The numerical analysis shows that the call option contract provides greater profit than the wholesale price contract.

6-Gingerol contents of several ginger varieties of Northeast India and correlation of their antioxidant activity in respect to phenolics and flavonoids contents.

Ginger constitutes the rhizome part of the plant Zingiber officinale from the Zingiberaceae family. A large number of ginger varieties with high sensorial and functional quality are found in Northeast India. Hence, phytopharmacological screening of different ginger varieties is essential that will serve as a guideline in applied research to develop high-end products and improve economical margins. To determine the variation in total phenolics content (TPC), total flavonoids content (TFC), and antioxidant activities and correlate that with 6-gingerol contents of different ginger varieties collected from Northeast India using Pearson's correlation analysis. The TPC and TFC values were determined using standard methods. Antioxidant activities were measured using the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and hydroxyl radical scavenging assays, while reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) analysis was utilised for quantitative determination of 6-gingerol content. The result revealed that ginger variety 6 (GV6) contains the highest 6-gingerol content and TPC value showing maximum antioxidant activity, followed by GV5, GV4, GV9, GV3, GV2, GV8, GV1, and GV7. The findings also suggested that the antioxidant activity has much better correlations with TPC as compared with TFC values. Pearson's correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between 6-gingerol contents and TPC values. This work underlines the importance of ginger varieties from Northeast India as a source of natural antioxidants with health benefits.

Analysis on the influence of retailer's introduction of store brand under manufacturer's product line strategy

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>As the introduction of store brand (SB) by retailers becomes more common, national brand manufacturers (NBM) in the market often respond with a product line strategy. Then how should retailers decide their product lines under the situation that NBM adopt product line strategy? Under the manufacturer's product line strategy, this paper compares and analyzes three competitive strategies for retailers to introduce high-end SB, low-end SB and SB product line. The results show that: First, no matter what kind of competition strategy the retailer adopts, (1) the introduction of SB occupies the market share of NB; (2) the retailer gains the highest unit income from the high-end products of NB manufacturers. Second, the relationship between production cost and encroachment effects directly affects the retailer's choice of optimal competitive strategy and the manufacturer's preference for its competitive strategy choice. Finally, from the perspective of profit maximization, the optimal choice for retailers is the product line competition strategy, but this strategy is not obvious compared with the high-end competition strategy. Therefore, when retailers introduce product lines, if they are effectively threatened by national brand manufacturers (for example, NBM refuses to provide national brands to retailers), retailers may choose the suboptimal strategy, that is, to introduce store brand high-end products. When the high-end products of store brands are better than the low-end products of national brands and the production cost of products is relatively high, this strategy just meets the expectations of national brand manufacturers for retailers to introduce strategies.</p>

A Translation Report on the Process Control and Design Basis of Ethylene

With the rapid development of society and the gradual improvement of era, the first productive force of science and technology is increasingly playing a significant role which is irreplaceable. A great number of advanced devices and numerous high-end products emerges at the right moment. As a consequence, researching on the translation of scientific and technological texts begins to become a kind of need on one hand, and on the other hand, it also presents a fashion. This translation project selects three parts from a series of translation materials, originated from Qinghai Salt Lake Magnesium Industry Ltd., which are mainly related to the process control and design basis of ethylene. The source text belongs to the category of the chemical sphere with its due practical value and the industrial meaning, well worthy of translating. The whole translating process will be presented in the form of report. This report mainly consists of four parts. The first part gives a brief description of the task, including the research content, research objectives and significance and the key problems to resolve, etc. The second part has a careful introduction to the process of translating, such as, preparation before translating, text analysis and translation practice. The third part discusses the specific cases from the lexical, syntactic and textual levels. In the fourth part, the author draws a conclusion from this translation project and proposes some unresolved issues.

Strategic family winery brand launch in the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity) market: Three case studies from Serbian market

The purpose of this study is to extend previous research on brand innovation by uncovering the process of family winery branding in relation to the new product launch in the VUCA market on the case of three Serbian wineries. The study deploys qualitative oriented and empirical approach in presenting a multi-case study. Three semi-structured telephone interviews were conducted with owners and/or managers in these three wineries. The results demonstrate that all three family wineries are offering high-end product for the domestic market with smaller one still experimenting with strategic direction of innovating for high-end market while the two larger ones putting focus either on autochthonous grape varieties with eye-cathicng labels or authentic brand identity with strong storytelling. Another important aspect identified is the frugal nature of product launch in the family wineries due to limited resources. The paper presents is among only few studies on new product development in wine business literature.

Analysis on the Development of Wanhua Chemical

With the development of the chemical industry, the traditional chemical enterprise model of relying on high energy consumption and high input has not adapted to the requirements of high-quality development. At present, chemical enterprises have problems such as low product performance, single product and excessive energy consumption. Wanhua Chemical Co., Ltd. is a technology-intensive high-end chemical enterprise, and its high-end chemical products (e.g., MDI) occupy an important position in the world. However, while investigating and analyzing Wanhua Chemical, it is found that the current enterprise also has a large gap compared with the world's top chemical enterprises. This paper uses SWOT strategic analysis and financial analysis compared with BASF to find that Wanhua Chemical has a single product structure, high repayment pressure, and low research expenditure. On this basis, this study provides a suitable development strategy for Wanhua Chemical, aiming to provide a reference implementation path for Chinese chemical companies to go international.