[en] Since China has not decided its long-term roadmap of spent fuel management, the results or consequences of failure and delay in back-end nuclear fuel cycle program are significant for an informed national decision on future spent fuel management. This model can simulate the future deployment of installed nuclear power capacity by different reactors based on combination of multiple potential fuel cycle options in a nuclear fuel cycle system. PWRs will still be the main reactor type by 2050 even if we consider the failure or delay of back-end cycle programs. Based on this reactor deployment prediction, the more detailed analysis on spent fuel accumulation, plutonium inventory, natural uranium demand and waste generation, cost analysis could be carried out in the future study

[en] Neonatal Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into normal control, mild hypoxia-ischemia (HI), and severe HI groups (N = 10 in each group at each time) on postnatal day 7 (P7) to study the effect of mild and severe HI on anxiety-like behavior and the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in the substantia nigra (SN). The mild and severe HI groups were exposed to hypoxia (8% O_2/92% N_2) for 90 and 150 min, respectively. The elevated plus-maze (EPM) test was performed to assess anxiety-like behavior by measuring time spent in the open arms (OAT) and OAT%, and immunohistochemistry was used to determine the expression of TH in the SN at P14, P21, and P28. OAT and OAT% in the EPM were significantly increased in both the mild (1.88-, 1.99-, and 2.04-fold, and 1.94-, 1.51-, and 1.46-fold) and severe HI groups (1.69-, 1.68-, and 1.87-fold, and 1.83-, 1.43-, and 1.39-fold, respectively; P < 0.05). The percent of TH-positive cells occupying the SN area was significantly and similarly decreased in both the mild (17.7, 40.2, and 47.2%) and severe HI groups (16.3, 32.2, and 43.8%, respectively; P < 0.05). The decrease in the number of TH-positive cells in the SN and the level of protein expression were closely associated (Pearson correlation analysis: r = 0.991, P = 0.000 in the mild HI group and r = 0.974, P = 0.000 in the severe HI group) with the impaired anxiety-like behaviors. We conclude that neonatal HI results in decreased anxiety-like behavior during the juvenile period of Sprague-Dawley rats, which is associated with the decreased activity of TH in the SN. The impairment of anxiety and the expression of TH are not likely to be dependent on the severity of HI

[en] We build a sandwiched structure model in which the intergranular phase (IP) is homogeneously distributed between soft and hard magnetic grains, and gives a continuously anisotropic expression of the coupling part under the assumption that the IP weakens the intergrain exchange-coupling interaction. Based on the idea that the hardening mechanism is of the pinning type, we calculate the effect of the IP's thickness d and its anisotropy constant K₁(0) on the intrinsic coercivity of a nanocomposite permanent material. The calculated results indicate that the domain wall goes twice through irreversible domain wall displacement during the process of moving from soft to hard magnetic grains, and the intrinsic coercivity increases with increasing d, but decreases with increasing K₁(0). When d and K₁(0) take 2 nm and 0.7K_h, respectively, with K_h being the anisotropy constant in the inner part of the hard magnetic grain, the calculated intrinsic coercivity is in good agreement with the experimental data. (condensed matter: electronic structure, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties)

[en] A novel method that utilizes 1-(2-formamidoethyl)-3-phenylurea-modified activated carbon (AC-1-(2-formamidoethyl)-3-phenylurea) as a solid-phase extractant has been developed for simultaneous preconcentration of trace Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Pb(II) prior to the measurement by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES). Experimental conditions for effective adsorption of trace levels of Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Pb(II) were optimized using batch and column procedures in detail. The optimum pH value for the separation of metal ions simultaneously on the new sorbent was 4. And the adsorbed metal ions could be completely eluted by using 2.0 mL 2.0 mol L^-1 HCl solution. Common coexisting ions did not interfere with the separation and determination of target metal ions. The maximum static adsorption capacity of the sorbent at optimum conditions was found to be 39.8, 39.9, 77.8 and 17.3 mg g^-1 for Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Pb(II), respectively. The detection limits of the method were found to be 0.15, 0.41, 0.27 and 0.36 ng mL^-1 for Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Pb(II), respectively. The relative standard deviation (RSD) of the method was lower than 4.0% (n = 8). The method was successfully applied for the preconcentration of trace Cr(III), Cu(II), Fe(III) and Pb(II) in natural and certified samples with satisfactory results.

[en] Diatomite-based porous ceramics were adopted as carriers to immobilize nano-TiO₂ via a hydrolysis-deposition technique. The thermal degradation of as-prepared composites was investigated using thermogravimetric–differential thermal analysis, and the phase and microstructure were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicated that the carriers were encapsulated by nano-TiO₂ with a thickness of 300–450 nm. The main crystalline phase of TiO₂ calcined at 650°C was anatase, and the average grain size was 8.3 nm. The FT-IR absorption bands at 955.38 cm⁻¹ suggested that new chemical bonds among Ti, O, and Si had formed in the composites. The photocatalytic (PC) activity of the composites was investigated under UV irradiation. Furthermore, the photodegradation kinetics of formaldehyde was investigated using the composites as the cores of an air cleaner. A kinetics study showed that the reaction rate constants of the gas-phase PC reaction of formaldehyde were κ = 0.576 mg·m^–3·min^–1 and K = 0.048 m³/mg.