First-principles study of the effect of functional groups on polyaniline backbone

We present a first-principles density functional theory study focused on how the chemical and electronic properties of polyaniline are adjusted by introducing suitable substituents on a polymer backbone. Analyses of the obtained energy barriers, reaction energies and minimum energy paths indicate that the chemical reactivity of the polyaniline...

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Sintering Densification of Multi-Scale Silver Layer

Based on molecular dynamics (MD), in this study, a model was established to simulate the initial coating morphology of silver paste by using a random algorithm, and the effects of different sizes of particles on sintering porosity were also analyzed. The MD result reveals that compared with the sintering process using large-scale silver...

The reinforcement effects of PVA, PE, and steel fibers on AAS material

This paper employs PVA, PE, steel fibers, as well as the hybrids of two of the three fibers to reinforce alkali-activated slag (AAS) material, aiming to prepare strain-hardening and clinker-free composites. The flexural strength, compressive strength, uniaxial tensile performance of the composites and bond behavior between fibers and the...

Exploring the Utilization of PHC Pile Waste Concrete as Filler in Asphalt Mastics

Using solid waste to replace limestone filler in asphalt concrete can not only reduce the cost of road construction, but also improve the utilization rate of solid waste. In this study, PHC pile waste concrete (PPWC) was innovatively used to replace limestone filler in asphalt mixture and its effect on the physical and rheological properties...

Subtask-masked curriculum learning for reinforcement learning with application to UAV maneuver decision-making

Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) maneuver strategy learning remains a challenge when using Reinforcement Learning (RL) in this sparse reward task. In this paper, we propose Subtask-Masked curriculum learning for RL (SUBMAS-RL), an efficient RL paradigm that implements curriculum learning and knowledge transfer for UAV maneuver scenarios...

Distribution of porosity surrounding a microfiber in cement paste

This study investigates the microstructural changes of cement paste due to the inclusion of polymeric microfiber at different water-to-cement (w/c) ratios. A procedure to quantify the porosity of epoxy impregnated interfacial transition zone (ITZ) is also presented. Results show that the microstructures of the ITZ beneath and above a...

Keyword Search Shareable Encryption for Fast and Secure Data Replication

It has become a trend for clients to outsource their encrypted databases to remote servers and then leverage the Searchable Encryption technique to perform secure data retrieval. However, the method has yet to be considered a crucial need for replication on searchable encrypted data. It calls for challenging works on Dynamic Searchable...

Experimental and Theoretical Studies of the Site Occupancy and Luminescence of Ce³⁺in LiSr₄(BO₃)₃for Potential X-ray Detecting Applications

Ce3+-doped LiSr4(BO3)3 phosphors have been prepared by a high-temperature solid-state reaction method, and structural refinement of the host compound has been performed. The excitation and emission spectra in the vacuum ultraviolet-ultraviolet-visible range at cryogenic temperatures reveal that Ce3+ ions preferentially occupy eight...

VUV-UV-vis photoluminescence, X-ray radioluminescence and energy transfer dynamics of Ce³⁺ and Eu²⁺ in Sr₂MgSi₂O₇

Ce³⁺ and Eu²⁺ doped and Ce³⁺-Eu²⁺ co-doped Sr₂MgSi₂O₇ phosphors are prepared via a high-temperature solid-state reaction technique. The synchrotron radiation vacuum ultraviolet-ultraviolet (VUV-UV) excitation and ultraviolet-visible (UV-vis) emission spectra of...

Carbonation and related behaviors of hardened cement pastes under different hydration degrees

This paper develops a kind of molded disc samples to investigate the carbonation and related behaviors of hardened cement pastes under different previous hydration degrees. Weight and length changes of cement pastes over time are monitored during a multistep process including carbonation, drying, rewetting, and redrying. The combination of X...

Color Shift Modeling of Light-Emitting Diode Lamps in Step-Loaded Stress Testing

The color coordinate shift of light-emitting diode (LED) lamps is investigated by running three stress-loaded testing methods, namely step-up stress accelerated degradation testing, step-down stress accelerated degradation testing, and constant stress accelerated degradation testing. A power model is proposed as the statistical model of the...

Effect of CaO content in raw material on the mineral composition of ferric-rich sulfoaluminate clinker

Ferric-rich calcium sulfoaluminate (FR-CSA) cement is an eco-friendly cement. Fe₂O₃ exists in different minerals of FR-CSA clinker, e.g., Ca₄Al₂Fe₂O₁₀ (C₄AF), Ca₂Fe₂O₅ (C₂F), and Ca₄Al_6-2_xFe...

Effects of Thermal Reflowing Stress on Mechanical Properties of Novel SMT-SREKs

A novel silicone rubber elastic key (SREK) is proposed in this paper for surface mounting technology (SMT) applications. Effects of thermal reflowing stress on the mechanical properties of SMT-SREKs are investigated. The manufactured SMT-SREKs, which underwent various reflowing conditions in advance, are subjected to pressing force and...

Switched Control Design for Quadrotor in Target Tracking with Complex Intermittent Measurements

A Plant-inspired Light Transducer for High-performance Near-infrared Light Mediated Gas Sensing

Constructing near-infrared light (NIR) light-enhanced room temperature gas sensors is becoming more promising for practical application. In this study, learning from the structure and photosynthetic process of chlorophyll thylakoid membranes in plants, the first “Thylakoid membrane” structural formaldehyde (HCHO) sensor is constructed by...

Practical algorithm substitution attack on extractable signatures

An algorithm substitution attack (ASA) can undermine the security of cryptographic primitives by subverting the original implementation. An ASA succeeds when it extracts secrets without being detected. To launch an ASA on signature schemes, existing studies often needed to collect signatures with successive indices to extract the signing key....

Improved Wordpcfg for Passwords with Maximum Probability Segmentation

Modeling password distributions is a fundamental problem in password security, benefiting the research and applications on password guessing, password strength meters, honey password vaults, etc. As one of the best segment-based password models, WordPCFG has been proposed to capture individual semantic segments (called words) in passwords....

A New Method to Quantitatively Characterize the Porosity of Fiber/Matrix Interfacial Transition Zone (ITZ) via Longitudinal Cross-Sections

The properties of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between microfiber and cement-based matrix are of primary significance for the overall behavior of strain hardening cementitious composites (SHCCs). However, due to the relatively small diameter of polymeric microfibers (e.g., PVA fiber), it is technically difficult to obtain...