A Thermal Degradation Study of Insulation Materials Extruded Polystyrene

AbstractThis paper presents a research on the thermal degradation of typical polymer insulation materials extruded polystyrene (XPS) under both oxidizing gas air and non-oxidizing gas nitrogen. The Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose method was employed to calculate the activation energy values according to thermogravimetic analysis (TGA) results. Thermal degradation characteristics of XPS were studied by using thermogravimetry and differential scanning calorimetry (TG-DSC) hyphenated technique. XPS follows a two-stage and three-stage weight loss during the entire process under nitrogen and air, respectively. Evolved products of XPS and the degradation mechanism in helium were investigated with pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) method. The results reveal that styrene monomers are the dominate products of XPS degradation. Methylbenzene, α-methyl styrene, dimer and some other oligmers of styrene are also detected

The Behavioral Ecology of the Tibetan Macaque

This open access book summarizes the multi-disciplinary results of one of China’s main primatological research projects on the endemic Tibetan macaque (Macaca thibetana), which had continued for over 30 years, but which had never been reported on systematically. Dedicated to this exceptional Old World monkey, this book makes the work of Chinese primatologists on the social behavior, cooperation, culture, cognition, group dynamics, and emerging technologies in primate research accessible to the international scientific community

Localized States and Quantum Spin Hall Effect in Si-Doped InAs/GaSb Quantum Wells

We study localized in-gap states and quantum spin Hall effect in Si-doped InAs/GaSb quantum wells. We propose a model describing donor and/or acceptor impurities to describe Si dopants. This model shows in-gap bound states and wide conductance plateau with the quantized value $2e^2/h$ in light dopant concentration, consistent with recent experiments by Du et al. We predict a conductance dip structure due to backward scattering in the region where the localization length $\xi$ is comparable with the sample width $L_y$ but much smaller than the sample length $L_x$.Comment: 4+pages main text including 4 figures, supplementary materials with 3 figures are include

Seasonal Variation and Synchronization of Sexual Behaviors in Free-Ranging Male Tibetan Macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Huangshan, China

Although seasonal breeding has been documented in many non-human primates, it is not clear whether sexual behaviors show seasonal variation among male individuals. To test this hypothesis, the focal animal sampling method and continuous recording were used to investigate seasonal variation and synchronization of sexual behaviors in five male Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt. Huangshan from Oct 2005 to Sept 2006. Both copulatory and sexually motivated behaviors (i.e., sexual chase, grimace, and sexual-inspection), which were significantly higher in the mating season than non-mating season. Furthermore, seasonal variations of sexual behaviors, including copulatory and sexually motivated behaviors, were synchronized among males. The results shed light on sexual competition and tactics for reproductive success of male M. thibetana and other non-human primates with seasonal breeding