Important Applications Research Articles

A close look at the H-C phase Diagram and Hydrocarbon Reservoir Classification and Behavior

H-C phase diagram of reservoir fluids is an important tool used in explaining reservoir fluids behavior during the life period of any reservoir. In this paper, detailed analysis of certain terms of the Pressure–Temperature Diagram (P-T diagram) are presented and discussed. Some of these terms are redefined since the already existing definitions does not fit all cases and conditions of reservoir pressure and temperature, and hence, new definitions are given to such terms so as to make them fit all possible conditions that might exist in the reservoir. Special attention was given to explain and analyze the phase behavior inside the phase envelope (two phase region) of the P-T diagram. Among such terms for example, new definitions and analysis are given to the quality lines to give them much more interest and importance in the P-T diagram as they should be given than just representing the percentages of both liquid and gas phases. The new given definition will open new interpretations and add more interesting and valuable importance to the quality lines. Another new definition is given herein to the Cricondenbar Pressure to make it fit all possible conditions on the P-T diagram since the existing definition does not fit all pressure and temperature conditions. This paper also include some explanations regarding the retrograde gas condensation process and region on the P-T diagram. Finally, the herein mentioned factors and definitions will add more important and wider interpretations and applications for the P-T Diagram for a better understanding of H-C reservoirs. Such interpretations might be applied, also to the fluid flow control inside the reservoir and in the choosing of the best EOR method to apply whenever and wherever it is necessary.

On Barenblatt's pseudoparabolic equation with forcing on the half‐line via the Fokas method

AbstractA novel technique is presented for explicitly solving inhomogeneous initial‐boundary‐value problems (IBVPs) (Dirichlet, Neumann and Robin) on the half‐line, for a well‐known pseudo‐parabolic partial differential equation. This so‐called Barenblatt's equation arises in a plethora of important applications, ranging from heat‐mass transfer, solid‐fluid‐gas dynamics and materials science, to mechanical, chemical and petroleum engineering, as well as electron physics, radiation and diffusive processes. Our approach is based on the extension of the Fokas method, so that it can be applied to problems with mixed derivatives. First, we derive formally effective solution representations and then justify a posteriori their validity rigorously. This includes the reconstruction of the prescribed initial and boundary conditions, which requires careful analysis of the various integral terms appearing in the formulae, proving that they converge in a strictly defined sense. In each type of IBVP, the novel formulae are utilized to rigorously deduce the solution's regularity properties near the boundaries of the spatiotemporal domain and the problem's well‐posedness. Furthermore, importantly, our solutions’ numerical advantages are demonstrated and highlighted by way of a concrete and illustrative example. Our rigorous approach can be extended to IBVPs for other significant models.

Global vision object detection using an improved Gaussian Mixture model based on contour.

Object detection plays an important role in the field of computer vision. The purpose of object detection is to identify the objects of interest in the image and determine their categories and positions. Object detection has many important applications in various fields. This article addresses the problems of unclear foreground contour in moving object detection and excessive noise points in the global vision, proposing an improved Gaussian mixture model for feature fusion. First, the RGB image was converted into the HSV space, and a mixed Gaussian background model was established. Next, the object area was obtained through background subtraction, residual interference in the foreground was removed using the median filtering method, and morphological processing was performed. Then, an improved Canny algorithm using an automatic threshold from the Otsu method was used to extract the overall object contour. Finally, feature fusion of edge contours and the foreground area was performed to obtain the final object contour. The experimental results show that this method improves the accuracy of the object contour and reduces noise in the object.

Multimodal brain tumor image segmentation based on DenseNet.

A brain tumor magnetic resonance image processing algorithm can help doctors to diagnose and treat the patient's condition, which has important application significance in clinical medicine. This paper proposes a network model based on the combination of U-net and DenseNet to solve the problems of class imbalance in multi-modal brain tumor image segmentation and the loss of effective information features caused by the integration of features in the traditional U-net network. The standard convolution blocks of the coding path and decoding path on the original network are improved to dense blocks, which enhances the transmission of features. The mixed loss function composed of the Binary Cross Entropy Loss function and the Tversky coefficient is used to replace the original single cross-entropy loss, which restrains the influence of irrelevant features on segmentation accuracy. Compared with U-Net, U-Net++, and PA-Net the algorithm in this paper has significantly improved the segmentation accuracy, reaching 0.846, 0.861, and 0.782 respectively in the Dice coefficient index of WT, TC, and ET. The PPV coefficient index has reached 0.849, 0.883, and 0.786 respectively. Compared with the traditional U-net network, the Dice coefficient index of the proposed algorithm exceeds 0.8%, 4.0%, and 1.4%, respectively, and the PPV coefficient index in the tumor core area and tumor enhancement area increases by 3% and 1.2% respectively. The proposed algorithm has the best performance in tumor core area segmentation, and its Sensitivity index has reached 0.924, which has good research significance and application value.

Novel (La0.2Eu0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Pr0.2)(Al0.6Co0.4)O3-δ and (La0.2Eu0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Ca0.2)(Al0.6Co0.4)O3-δ high-entropy ceramics with high emissivity and low degradation

Novel (La0.2Eu0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Pr0.2)(Al0.6Co0.4)O3-δ (HE-1) and (La0.2Eu0.2Nd0.2Sm0.2Ca0.2)(Al0.6Co0.4)O3-δ (HE-2) high-entropy ceramics were synthesized via solid-phase reaction technology. These two ceramics simultaneously own excellent infrared radiation performance and low degradation. The mechanism of emissivity enhancement was investigated, and emissivity decay of ceramics heated at 1500 °C for various holding time was studied. The results verify that the synthesized ceramics have perovskite crystal structure. The emissivity values of HE-1 and HE-2 are 0.78/0.66 and 0.82/0.83 in the near/mid-infrared band, respectively. These IR emissivity values are much higher than that of pure LaAlO3, which is attributed to enhanced impurity absorption, free carrier absorption and lattice vibration absorption. Moreover, after heating at 1500 °C for 10 h, HE-1 and HE-2 ceramics appear extremely slower emissivity decay rate (1.2–4.5 %), in comparison with fast decay rate (25.5–36.8 %) of pure LaAlO3. This phenomenon can be attributed to the hysteresis diffusion effect of high-entropy ceramics, which can inhibit grain growth and emissivity decay. The novel ceramics have important application prospect in long-term energy-saving for high-temperature industry.

Terminal-Enhanced Polymerization in the Biosynthesis of Polysialic Acid

Plasmids are commonly used tools in microbiology and molecular biology and have important and wide-ranging applications in the study of gene function, protein expression, and compound synthesis. The complex relationship between necessary antibiotic addition, compatibility between multiple plasmids, and the growth burden of host bacteria has plagued the wider use of compatibility plasmids. In this study, we constructed the terminal polymerization pathway of PSA by exogenously expressing the neuA, neuD, and neuS genes after the knockdown of Eschesrichia coli BL21 (DE3). Duet series vectors were utilized to regulate the expression level of neuA, neuD, and neuS genes to study the gene expression level, plasmid copy number growth burden, pressure of antibiotic addition, stability of compatible plasmids, and the level of expression stability of exogenous genes, as well as the effect on the biological reaction process. The results showed that the three genes, neuA, neuD, and neuS, were enhanced in the recombinant strain E. coli NA-05, with low copy, medium copy, and high copy, respectively. The effect of PSA synthesis under standard antibiotic pressure was remarkable. The results of this thesis suggest the use of a Duet series of compatible expression vectors to achieve the stable existence and co-expression of multiple genes in recombinant bacteria, which is a good reason for further research.

Fabrication of SnS (NF)/Ag (NW) composite and investigation of its photothermal properties in destroying HeLa cell line

The photothermal effect is a special type of photoactivation based on the non-radiative conversion of absorbed electromagnetic energy, increases the body's temperature. One of the important applications of photothermal is photothermal therapy (PTT) to destroy cancer cells. In this article, SnS nanoflowers (NF) and Ag nanowires (NW) were synthesized by solvothermal method. They were composited together with different mass ratios and characterized by XRD, SEM, and EDS analysis. The optical band gap was calculated 2.62 eV using UV–vis spectrum. The photothermal properties of these nanoparticles were investigated using an 808 nm laser at different concentrations and different laser powers. SnS/Ag composites with different mass ratios were tested and the highest temperature increase of 42.8 °C was observed for a ratio of 17:1 under 1 W/cm2 laser radiation. The photothermal conversion efficiency of SnS (NF) and its composite with Ag (NW) was calculated as 56.32 % and 67.7 %, respectively. The toxicity effect of nanoparticles and laser on HeLa cancer cells was investigated by MTT method. It was observed that during 5 and 10 min of laser irradiation, with the presence of SnS (NF), 94.7 % and 95.7 %, and for its composite with Ag(NW), respectively, 95 % and 95.8 % of HeLa cancer cells were destroyed.

Real-Time Co-Simulation for the Analysis of Cyber Attacks Impact on Distance Relay Backup Protection

Smart Grid is a cyber-physical system that incorporates Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) into the physical power system, which introduces vulnerabilities to the grid and opens the door to cyber attacks. Wide area protection is one of the most important smart grid applications that aims at protecting the power system against faults and disturbances, which makes it an attractive target to cyber attacks, aiming at compromising the reliability of the power system. Understanding the interaction between the cyber and physical components of the smart grid and analyzing the damage that cyber-attacks can do to wide area protection is very important as it helps in developing effective mitigation approaches. This paper evaluates the impact of cyber attacks on a wide area distance relay backup protection scheme in real-time, through the development of a co-simulation platform based on Real Time Digital Simulator (RTDS) and network simulator 3 (NS3) and using the IEEE-14 bus power system model.

Optimizing drug combination and mechanism analysis based on risk pathway crosstalk in pan cancer

Combination therapy can greatly improve the efficacy of cancer treatment, so identifying the most effective drug combination and interaction can accelerate the development of combination therapy. Here we developed a computational network biological approach to identify the effective drug which inhibition risk pathway crosstalk of cancer, and then filtrated and optimized the drug combination for cancer treatment. We integrated high-throughput data concerning pan-cancer and drugs to construct miRNA-mediated crosstalk networks among cancer pathways and further construct networks for therapeutic drug. Screening by drug combination method, we obtained 687 optimized drug combinations of 83 first-line anticancer drugs in pan-cancer. Next, we analyzed drug combination mechanism, and confirmed that the targets of cancer-specific crosstalk network in drug combination were closely related to cancer prognosis by survival analysis. Finally, we save all the results to a webpage for query (http://bio-bigdata.hrbmu.edu.cn/oDrugCP/). In conclusion, our study provided an effective method for screening precise drug combinations for various cancer treatments, which may have important scientific significance and clinical application value for tumor treatment.

Enantioselective Hydrophosphination of Terminal Alkenyl Aza‐Heteroarenes

AbstractThis paper presents a Mn(I)‐catalysed methodology for the enantioselective hydrophosphination of terminal alkenyl aza‐heteroarenes. The catalyst operates through H−P bond activation, enabling successful hydrophosphination of a diverse range of alkenyl‐heteroarenes with high enantioselectivity. The presented protocol addresses the inherently low reactivity and the commonly encountered suboptimal enantioselectivities of these challenging substrates. As an important application we show that this method facilitates the synthesis of a non‐symmetric tridentate P,N,P‐containing ligand like structure in just two synthetic steps using a single catalytic system.

Research on micro/nano scale 3D reconstruction based on scanning electron microscope

Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has an important application in the petroleum field, which is often used to analyze the microstructure of reservoir rocks, etc. Most of these analyses are based on two-dimensional images. In fact, SEM can carry out micro-nano scale three-dimensional measurement, and three-dimensional models can provide more accurate information than two-dimensional images. Among the commonly used SEM 3D reconstruction methods, parallax depth mapping is the most commonly used method. Multiple SEM images can be obtained by continuously tilting the sample table at a certain Angle, and multiple point clouds can be generated according to the parallax depth mapping method, and a more complete point clouds recovery can be achieved by combining the point clouds registration. However, the root mean square error of the point clouds generated by this method is relatively large and unstable after participating in point clouds registration. Therefore, this paper proposes a new method for generating point clouds. Firstly, the sample stage is rotated by a certain angle to obtain two SEM images. This operation makes the rotation matrix a known quantity. Then, based on the imaging model, an equation system is constructed to estimate the unknown translation parameters, and finally, triangulation is used to obtain the point clouds. The method proposed in this paper was tested on a publicly available 3D SEM image set, and the results showed that compared to the disparity depth mapping method, the point clouds generated by our method showed a significant reduction in root mean square error and relative rotation error in point clouds registration.

Enantioselective Hydrophosphination of Terminal Alkenyl Aza-Heteroarenes.

This paper presents a Mn(I)-catalysed methodology for the enantioselective hydrophosphination of terminal alkenyl aza-heteroarenes. The catalyst operates through H-P bond activation, enabling successful hydrophosphination of a diverse range of alkenyl-heteroarenes with high enantioselectivity. The presented protocol addresses the inherently low reactivity and the commonly encountered suboptimal enantioselectivities of these challenging substrates. As an important application we show that this method facilitates the synthesis of a non-symmetric tridentate P,N,P-containing ligand like structure in just two synthetic steps using a single catalytic system.

Unconventionally fast transport through sliding dynamics of rodlike particles in macromolecular networks

Transport of rodlike particles in confinement environments of macromolecular networks plays crucial roles in many important biological processes and technological applications. The relevant understanding has been limited to thin rods with diameter much smaller than network mesh size, although the opposite case, of which the dynamical behaviors and underlying physical mechanisms remain unclear, is ubiquitous. Here, we solve this issue by combining experiments, simulations and theory. We find a nonmonotonic dependence of translational diffusion on rod length, characterized by length commensuration-governed unconventionally fast dynamics which is in striking contrast to the monotonic dependence for thin rods. Our results clarify that such a fast diffusion of thick rods with length of integral multiple of mesh size follows sliding dynamics and demonstrate it to be anomalous yet Brownian. Moreover, good agreement between theoretical analysis and simulations corroborates that the sliding dynamics is an intermediate regime between hopping and Brownian dynamics, and provides a mechanistic interpretation based on the rod-length dependent entropic free energy barrier. The findings yield a principle, that is, length commensuration, for optimal design of rodlike particles with highly efficient transport in confined environments of macromolecular networks, and might enrich the physics of the diffusion dynamics in heterogeneous media.

Energy Consumption Analysis for Continuous Phase Modulation in Smart-Grid Internet of Things of beyond 5G.

Wireless sensor network (WSN) underpinning the smart-grid Internet of Things (SG-IoT) has been a popular research topic in recent years due to its great potential for enabling a wide range of important applications. However, the energy consumption (EC) characteristic of sensor nodes is a key factor that affects the operational performance (e.g., lifetime of sensors) and the total cost of ownership of WSNs. In this paper, to find the modulation techniques suitable for WSNs, we investigate the EC characteristic of continuous phase modulation (CPM), which is an attractive modulation scheme candidate for WSNs because of its constant envelope property. We first develop an EC model for the sensor nodes of WSNs by considering the circuits and a typical communication protocol that relies on automatic repeat request (ARQ)-based retransmissions to ensure successful data delivery. Then, we use this model to analyze the EC characteristic of CPM under various configurations of modulation parameters. Furthermore, we compare the EC characteristic of CPM with that of other representative modulation schemes, such as offset quadrature phase-shift keying (OQPSK) and quadrature amplitude modulation (QAM), which are commonly used in communication protocols of WSNs. Our analysis and simulation results provide insights into the EC characteristics of multiple modulation schemes in the context of WSNs; thus, they are beneficial for designing energy-efficient SG-IoT in the beyond-5G (B5G) and the 6G era.

Natural halloysite nanotubes decorated with organophosphorous for highly flame‐resistant epoxy composites

AbstractHighly flame‐resistant epoxy composites have important application value in many industrial fields. Unfortunately, epoxy resins (EPs) are inherently flammable materials and exhibit great fire hazard. In this study, the commercially available 9,10‐dihydro‐9‐oxa‐10‐phosphaphenanthrene‐10‐oxide (DOPO) was chemically immobilized on the surface of natural halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) via the linkage of vinyltrimethoxysilane to obtain a novel flame‐retardant VD@HNTs containing P/Si/Al elements. It was found that the flame‐retardant VD@HNTs can effectively improve the thermal stability and flame resistance of epoxy composites. Typically, when 10% of VD@HNTs is added in EP, the limiting oxygen index of as‐prepared VD@HNTs/EP composites reaches 30.3%, and it also successfully reaches V‐0 classification in the UL‐94 test. Besides, the ignition time of VD@HNTs/EP composites was enhanced from 42 s for pure EP to 60 s, and the maximum heat release rate was reduced from 1221 to 758 kW∙m−2. These great findings promise an innovative and efficient strategy for improving the fire safety of EP products and may also offer valuable insight toward fabricating various novel organic–inorganic flame retardants as well as highly flame‐resistant polymer composites.Highlights A novel flame‐retardant VD@HNTs containing P/Si/Al elements was prepared by the chemical decoration of HNTs with organophosphorous. The VD@HNT can effectively improve the thermal stability and flame resistance of epoxy composites. Synergistic flame‐retardant mechanism of phosphorus‐based flame retardants and natural HNTs was classified.

Highly-efficient gas sensing using dielectric-based narrow-band thermal emitters operating in the mid-infrared

Thermal emissions from nonlocal metasurface structures by harnessing the extended modes of bound states in the continuum (BIC) or quasi guided modes have the advantage of ultra-narrow bandwidth, which outperform their metallic metamaterial-based counterparts and enable many important applications in various fields. In this work, we present the results of gas sensing application by employing a narrow-band mid-infrared thermal emitter which is composed of a zigzag array of Ge elliptical disks separated from a gold substrate by an Al2O3 buffer layer. The well-known quasi-BIC response from the zigzag array of Ge disks allows the generation of the thermal emission with an experimentally demonstrated bandwidth of 53 nm. By designing the metasurface geometry to provide thermal emissions spectrally matching the absorption resonance of CO2 at 4.23 μm, our results based on the direct absorption measurement and Beer-Lambert law show that a CO2 detection with the concentration down to 40 ppm in the atmospheric environment can be achieved. This research provides a direct proof of high-performance gas sensing applications in the mid-infrared with narrow-band thermal emitters based on dielectric resonators.

Bioactive Components, Applications, Extractions, and Health Benefits of Winery By-Products from a Circular Bioeconomy Perspective: A Review.

Significant waste streams produced during winemaking include winery by-products such as pomace, skins, leaves, stems, lees, and seeds. These waste by-products were frequently disposed of in the past, causing resource waste and environmental issues. However, interest has risen in valorizing vineyard by-products to tap into their latent potential and turn them into high-value products. Wine industry by-products serve as a potential economic interest, given that they are typically significant natural bioactive sources that may exhibit significant biological properties related to human wellness and health. This review emphasizes the significance of winery by-product valorization as a sustainable management resource and waste management method. The novelty of this review lies in its comprehensive analysis of the potential of winery by-products as a source of bioactive compounds, extraction techniques, health benefits, and applications in various sectors. Chemical components in winery by-products include bioactive substances, antioxidants, dietary fibers, organic acids, and proteins, all of which have important industrial and therapeutic applications. The bioactives from winery by-products act as antioxidant, antidiabetic, and anticancer agents that have proven potential health-promoting effects. Wineries can switch from a linear waste management pattern to a more sustainable and practical method by adopting a circular bioeconomy strategy. Consequently, the recovery of bioactive compounds that function as antioxidants and health-promoting agents could promote various industries concomitant within the circular economy.

Polar Aerosol Atmospheric Rivers: Detection, Characteristics, and Potential Applications

AbstractAerosols play a key role in polar climate, and are affected by long‐range transport from the mid‐latitudes, both in the Arctic and Antarctic. This work investigates poleward extreme transport events of aerosols, referred to as polar aerosol atmospheric rivers (p‐AAR), leveraging the concept of atmospheric rivers (AR) which signal extreme transport of moisture. Using reanalysis data, we build a detection catalog of p‐AARs for black carbon, dust, sea salt and organic carbon aerosols, for the period 1980–2022. First, we describe the detection algorithm, discuss its sensitivity, and evaluate its validity. Then, we present several extreme transport case studies, in the Arctic and in the Antarctic, illustrating the complementarity between ARs and p‐AARs. Despite similarities in transport pathways during co‐occurring AR/p‐AAR events, vertical profiles differ depending on the species, and large‐scale transport patterns show that moisture and aerosols do not necessarily originate from the same areas. The complementarity between AR and p‐AAR is also evidenced by their long‐term characteristics in terms of spatial distribution, seasonality and trends. p‐AAR detection, as a complement to AR, can have several important applications for better understanding polar climate and its connections to the mid‐latitudes.

Recent advances in hydrophobic nanocellulose aerogels for oil spill applications: A review

In a rapidly growing world, petroleum is used extensively in various industries, and the extraction, processing, and transportation of petroleum generates large amounts of petroleum-containing wastewater. Conventional oil/water separation methodologies are often ineffective and costly. Nanocellulose-based aerogels (NA) have emerged as a possible solution to this problem. However, hydrophobic modification is required for effective use in oil/water separation. This review on materials commonly used in these processes and outlines the requirements for adsorbent materials and methods for creating unique lipophilic surfaces. New trends in hydrophobization methods for NA are also discussed. Additionally, it includes the development of composite nanocellulose aerogels (CNAs) and cellulose based membrane specially developed for oil/water (o/w) separation considering different separation requirements. This analysis also examines how CNAs have evolved by introducing special properties that facilitate oil collection or make the adsorbent recyclable. We also discuss the difficulties in creating effective NAs for these important applications in a changing society, as well as the difficulties in creating oil recovery equipment for oil spill cleanup.

Towards Industrially Important Applications of Enhanced Organic Reactions by Microfluidic Systems.

This review presents a comprehensive evaluation for the manufacture of organic molecules via efficient microfluidic synthesis. Microfluidic systems provide considerably higher control over the growth, nucleation, and reaction conditions compared with traditional large-scale synthetic methods. Microfluidic synthesis has become a crucial technique for the quick, affordable, and efficient manufacture of organic and organometallic compounds with complicated characteristics and functions. Therefore, a unique, straightforward flow synthetic methodology can be developed to conduct organic syntheses and improve their efficiency.