Based on the principle of Pancharatnam-Berry phase, we propose an approach to construct dual-functional dielectric metasurface doublets. This type of doublet, which is composed of a substrate and two metasurface layers, performs two different functionalities at two different operating wavelengths. The simulated results of the examples show that the designed dual-functional doublet works well as expected. The proposed approach can be used to design dielectric meta-structures with more layers of meta-surface and thereby with more functionalities, and would be of interest for miniaturization and integration.

Background A body composition monitor (BCM) has a role not only in determining over-hydration (OH) but also as an aid to nutritional assessment. For dialysis patient-specific clinical applications of BCM, it is necessary to clarify the relationship between body composition parameters and OH in healthy Chinese individuals. Methods This cross-sectional study involved 314 healthy individuals with a mean age of 45.7±13.1 years. BCM measurements were performed while the subjects were fasting. Results The mean OH level was 0.379±0.81 L. Lean tissue index (LTI) and Lean tissue mass (LTM) were significantly higher in males (p<0.001), while fat tissue index (FTI) was significantly higher in females (p<0.001). In univariate correlation analysis, FTI, Fat, and ATM had a negative correlation with OH in females and all subjects (p<0.05), while LTM and BCM had a positive correlation in all subjects (p<0.05). There was a significant negative correlation between phase angle (PhA) and OH in males, females, and all subjects (r=-0.634, p<0.001; r=-0.666, p<0.001; r=-0.484, p<0.001, respectively). In multivariate linear regression analysis, PhA (b=-1.266, p<0.001), LTM (b=0.987, p<0.001), age (b=-0.307, p<0.001) were independent predictors of OH. Conclusions This study demonstrated that age, LTM and especially PhA, had important roles in predicting OH in healthy Chinese individuals. In the future, PhA may aid in clinical assessment by helping to titrate dry weight among hemodialysis patients with malnutrition.

Three-dimensional nanocomposite networks consisting of percolated Si nanowires in a SiO₂ matrix, Si:SiO₂, were studied. The structures were obtained by reactive ion beam sputter deposition of SiO_x (x ≈ 0.6) thin films at 450 °C and subsequent crystallization using conventional oven as well as millisecond line focus laser annealing. Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, cross-sectional and energy-filtered transmission electron microscopy were applied for sample characterization. While oven annealing resulted in a mean Si wire diameter of 10 nm and a crystallinity of 72 % within the Si volume, almost single-domain Si structures with 30 nm in diameter and almost free of amorphous Si were obtained by millisecond laser application. The structural differences are attributed to the different crystallization processes: Conventional oven tempering proceeds via solid state, millisecond laser application via liquid phase crystallization of Si. The 5 orders of magnitude larger diffusion constant in the liquid phase is responsible for the three times larger Si nanostructure diameter. In conclusion, laser annealing offers not only significantly shorter process times but moreover a superior structural order of nano-Si compared to conventional heating.

Recently, ice with the stacking disorder structure, consisting of random sequences of cubic ice (Ic) and hexagonal ice (Ih) layers, is reported to be more stable than pure Ih/Ic. While, due to a much lower free energy barrier of heterogeneous nucleation, in practice, the freezing process of water is usually controlled by heterogeneous nucleation which is triggered by an external medium. Herein, molecular dynamic simulations were carried out to explore the polymorph dependence of ice on the lattice structure of substrates. It turns out that, during the nucleation stage, the polymorph of ice nuclei can be severely altered by the graphene substrate, on which the Ih was found to occupy an absolute majority in new-formed ice. This can be attributed to the structure similarity between graphene and basal face of Ih. Besides the nucleation stage, our results suggest that the substrate can not affect the polymorph of ice which is far from the graphene surface. The polymorph selectivity of graphene to Ih will diminish with the growth of ice layer.

Manipulation of micro- and nano-sized objects with optical tweezers is a well established, albeit still evolving technique. While many objects can be trapped directly with focused laser beam(s), for some applications indirect manipulation with tweezers-operated tools is preferred. We introduce a simple, versatile micro-tool operated with holographic optical tweezers. The 40 µm long dumbbell-shaped tool, fabricated with two-photon laser 3D photolithography has two beads for efficient optical trapping and a probing spike on one end. We demonstrate fluids viscosity measurements and vibration detection as examples of possible applications.

Selection of appropriate friction factors is paramount for accurate prediction of key flow characteristics in gas–liquid two-phase flows. In this work, experimental investigation of vertical air and oil (with viscosities up to 200 mPa s) flow in a 0.060-m ID pipe is reported. Superficial air and oil velocity ranges utilized are from 22.37 to 59.06 m/s and 0.05 to 0.16 m/s respectively. The influence of estimation of interfacial friction factor on accurate determination of film thickness, void fraction and pressure gradient was investigated using a two-fluid model. The results indicated that the two-fluid model is capable of accurately predicting flow characteristics. Further, it reveals that the best performing correlations are the Belt et al. and Ambrosini et al. correlations.

Carbon nanotubes are hybridized with metal crystals to impart multifunctionality into the nanohybrids (NHs). Simple but effective synthesis techniques are desired to form both zero-valent and oxides of different metal species on carbon nanotube surfaces. Sol-gel technique brings in significant advantages and is a viable technique for such synthesis. This study probes the efficacy of sol-gel process and aims to identify underlying mechanisms of crystal formation. Standard electron potential (SEP) is used as a guiding parameter to choose the metal species; i.e., highly negative SEP (e.g., Zn) with oxide crystal tendency, highly positive SEP (e.g., Ag) with zero-valent crystal-tendency, and intermediate range SEP (e.g., Cu) to probe the oxidation tendency in crystal formation are chosen. Transmission electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction are used to evaluate the synthesized NHs. Results indicate that SEP can be a reliable guide for the resulting crystalline phase of a certain metal species, particularly when the magnitude of this parameter is relatively high. However, for intermediate range SEP-metals, mix phase crystals can be expected. For example, Cu will form Cu₂O and zero-valent Cu crystals, unless the synthesis is performed in a reducing environment.

The early diagnosis of mastitis represents an essential factor for a prompt detection of the animal for further actions. In fact, if not culled, infected cows must be segregated from the milking herd and milked last, or milked with separate milking units. Besides microbiological analysis, the somatic cell count (SCC) commonly used as predictor of intramammary infection, frequently lead to a misclassification of milk samples. To overcome these limitations, more specific biomarkers are continuously evaluated. Total amino acid content increases significantly in mastitic milk compared to normal one. Bovine mastitis can arise as a result of infection of the mammary gland by Staphylococcus aureus. Multiplication of this bacterium within the mammary gland is required for infection to persist. S. aureus requires branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs: isoleucine, leucine, valine) for protein synthesis, branched-chain fatty acids synthesis and environmental adaptation by responding to their availability via transcriptional regulators. The importance of BCAAs for S. aureus physiology necessitates that it either synthesize them or scavenge them from the environment. Increase of BCAAs in composite milk has been postulated to be linked to mammary infection by S. aureus. In the present work, we demonstrated, by a direct ion-pairing reversed-phase method based on the use of the evaporative light-scattering detector (IP-RP-HPLC-ELSD), applied to 65 composite cow milk samples, a correlation between the concentration of isoleucine and leucine and S. aureus load.

The objective of this study was to identify circulating miRNAs affected by disease duration in newly diagnosed children with type 1 diabetes. Forty children and adolescents from The Danish Remission Phase Cohort were followed with blood samples drawn at 1, 3, 6, 12 and 60 months after diagnosis. Pancreatic autoantibodies were measured at each visit. Cytokines were measured only the first year. miRNA expression profiling was performed by RT-qPCR and quantified for 179 human plasma miRNAs. The effect of disease duration was analyzed by mixed models for repeated measurements, adjusted for sex and age. Eight miRNAs (hsa-miR-10b-5p, hsa-miR-17-5p, hsa-miR-30e-5p, hsa-miR-93-5p, hsa-miR-99a-5p, hsa-miR-125b-5p, hsa-miR-423-3p and hsa-miR-497-5p) were found to significantly change expression (adjusted p-value < 0.05) with disease progression. Three pancreatic autoantibodies ICA, IA-2A, GADA65 and 4 cytokines IL-4, IL-10, IL-21, IL-22 were associated with the miRNAs at different time points. Pathway analysis revealed association with various immune-mediated signaling pathways. Eight miRNAs, involved in immunological pathways changed expression levels during the first five years after diagnosis in children with type 1 diabetes, and were associated with variations in cytokine and pancreatic antibodies, suggesting a possible effect on the immunological processes in the early phase of the disease.

The modulation instability of surface capillary-gravity water waves is analysed in a shear flow model with a tangential discontinuity of velocity. It is assumed that air blows along the surface of the water with a uniform profile in the vertical direction. Such a model, despite its simplicity, plays an important role in hydrodynamics as the reference model for investigating basic physical phenomena of wave-current interactions and acquiring insights into a series of complex phenomena. In certain cases where the wavelength of interfacial perturbations is much bigger than the width of the shear fow profile, the model with the tangential discontinuity in the velocity is adequate for describing physical phenomena at least within limited spatial and temporal frameworks. A detailed analysis of the air-flow conditions under which modulation instability sets in is presented. It is also shown that the interfacial waves are subject to dissipative or radiative instability when negativeenergy waves appear at the interface.

This study deals with vibrational and crystallographic aspects of the thermally induced transformation of serpentine-like garnierite into quartz, forsterite, and enstatite occurring at about 620 °C. Powder specimens of garnierite have been annealed in static air between room temperature and 1000 °C. The resulting products from the transformations detected based on thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, have been extensively characterized via microRaman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Our study shows that serpentine-like garnierite consists of a mixture of different mineral species. Furthermore, these garnierites and their composition can provide details based on the mineralogy and the crystalline phases resulting from the thermal treatment.

Atoms in Molecules (AIM), Natural Bond Orbital (NBO), and normal coordinate analysis have been carried out at the global minimum structures of TH₅⁺ (T = C/Si/Ge). All these analyses lead to a consistent structure for these three protonated TH₄ molecules. The CH₅⁺ has a structure with three short and two long C-H covalent bonds and no H-H bond. Hence, the popular characterization of protonated methane as a weakly bound CH₃⁺ and H₂ is inconsistent with these results. However, SiH₅⁺ and GeH₅⁺ are both indeed a complex formed between TH₃⁺ and H₂ stabilized by a tetrel bond, with the H₂ being the tetrel bond acceptor. The three-center-two-electron bond (3c-2e) in CH₅⁺ has an open structure, which can be characterized as a V-type 3c-2e bond and that found in SiH₅⁺ and GeH₅⁺ is a T-type 3c-2e bond. This difference could be understood based on the typical C-H, Si-H, Ge-H and H-H bond energies. Moreover, this structural difference observed in TH₅⁺ can explain the trend in proton affinity of TH₄. Carbon is selective in forming a ‘tetrel bond’ and when it does, it might be worthwhile to highlight it as a ‘carbon bond’.

A novel polyphenol‑coated CoFe₂O₄ system was synthesized as a magnetic adsorbent by chemical oxidative polymerization process for magnetic solid-phase extraction of lawsone. The synthesized nanoadsorbent showed a spherical morphology with diameters under 50 nm by scanning electron microscopy images. The extraction efficiency of this adsorbent was studied towards the extraction of lawsone from saline aqueous solution in dispersion mode. Major parameters including the type and volume of desorption solvent, amount of sorbent, desorption time, extraction time, extraction temperature, ionic strength and pH were optimized. Under the optimum conditions the relative standard deviation in 0.005 µg mL^-1 (inter-day n = 6; intra-day: n = 6; and adsorbent to adsorbent n = 4) were obtained as 5.2, 8.07 and 11.7%, respectively. A linear calibration curve in the range of 0.003–0.5 µg mL^-1 with R² = 0.993 was obtained. The limit of detection and limit of quantification of the method were 0.001 µg mL^-1 and 0.003 µg mL^-1, respectively. The relative recovery percentages were in range of 90-96.4% for henna leaves, henna shampoo, and henna dermal lotion real samples.

Purpose: The accuracy of conventional visual function tests, which emit visible light, decreases in patients with corneal scars, cataracts, and vitreous hemorrhages. In contrast, infrared (IR) light exhibits greater tissue penetrance than visible light and is less susceptible to optical opacities. We therefore compared visual function results obtained using conventional visual function tests and infrared 2-photon microperimetry (2PM-IR) in a subject with a brunescent nuclear sclerotic and posterior subcapsular cataract before and after cataract surgery. Methods: Visual function testing using the cone contrast threshold (CCT) test, conventional microperimetry (cMP), visible light microperimetry from a novel device (2PM-Vis), and 2PM-IR were performed before and after cataract surgery. Results: Cone contrast threshold testing improved for the S-cone, M-cone, and L-cone by 111, 14, and 30. Retinal sensitivity assessed using cMP, 2PM-Vis, and 2PM-IR improved by 18 dB, 17.4 dB, and 3.4 dB, respectively. Conclusions and Importance: 2PM-IR, unlike conventional visual function tests, showed minimal variability in retinal sensitivity before and after surgery. Thus, IR visual stimulation introduces a paradigm shift for measuring visual function in the retina and posterior visual pathways by circumventing optical media opacities.

The paper interprets a comparison of two mostly used techniques of a field-oriented control for 6-phase electric drives, with their pros and cons, as well as their differences in construction and behaviour. Both of these approaches have been realized. Frequency and step responses analysis have been demonstrated with a 6-phase permanent magnet synchronous machine. Experimental results have been compared with simulations based on a mathematical model.

Cyclin dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) has been primarily identified as a key cell cycle regulator in both mitosis and meiosis. Recently, an extramitotic function of CDK1 emerged when evidence was found that CDK1 is involved in many cellular events that are essential for cell proliferation and survival. In this review we summarize the involvement of active CDK1 in the initiation and elongation steps of protein synthesis in eukaryotes. During its activation CDK1 influences the initiation of protein synthesis, promotes the activity of specific translational initiation factors and affects the functioning of a subset of elongation factors. Our review provides insights into gene expression regulation during the transcriptionally silent cell cycle/M-phase and describes quantitative and qualitative translational changes based on the extramitotic role of the cell cycle master regulator CDK1, to optimize temporal synthesis of proteins to sustain division-related processes: mitosis and cytokinesis.

We experimentally demonstrate enhanced spectral broadening of femtosecond optical pulses after propagation through silicon-on-insulator (SOI) nanowire waveguides integrated with two-dimensional (2D) graphene oxide (GO) films. Owing to the strong mode overlap between the SOI nanowires and the GO films with a high Kerr nonlinearity, the self-phase modulation (SPM) process in the hybrid waveguides is significantly enhanced, resulting in greatly improved spectral broadening of the femtosecond optical pulses. A solution-based, transfer-free coating method is used to integrate GO films onto the SOI nanowires with precise control of the film thickness. Detailed SPM measurements using femtosecond optical pulses are carried out, achieving a broadening factor of up to ~4.3 for a device with 0.4-mm-long, 2 layers of GO. By fitting the experimental results with theory, we obtain an improvement in the waveguide nonlinear parameter by a factor of ~3.5 and the effective nonlinear figure of merit (FOM) by a factor of ~3.8, relative to the uncoated waveguide. Finally, we discuss the influence of GO film length on the spectral broadening and compare the nonlinear optical performance of different integrated waveguides coated with GO films. These results confirm the improved nonlinear optical performance for silicon devices integrated with 2D GO films.

The Ni-Co-Cr-W-Mo system is critical for the design of nickel-based super-alloys. This system stabilizes different topologically close packed (TCP) phases in many of the commercially super-alloys with high W and Mo contents. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and thermodynamic calculations are applied to investigate the thermodynamics of the precipitates in two different W content Ni-Co-Cr-W-Mo super-alloys. Computational thermodynamics verified experimental observation of the f u phase formation as a function of temperature and alloy chemistry, but the kinetics for the precipitation of M6C phase do not agree with the experimental findings. The major precipitates of alloy 1 at temperatures 700 and 750 °C during long time exposure are M23C6, γ′ phase, and MC, and alloy 2 are M23C6, γ′ phase, MC, M6C and u phase. The W addition is found to promote the precipitation of M6C and u phase during exposure. The M6C has higher W and lower Ni content than that of u phase, meanwhile, M6C is an unstable phase would transform into M12C after 5000 h exposure at 750 °C. A great quantity of needle-like u phases precipitated after exposure at 750 °C for 5000h, which have no effect on the impact property of alloy 2.

Solidification microstructure is formed under high cooling rates and temperature gradients in powder-based additive manufacturing. In this study, a non-equilibrium multi-phase field method (MPFM), which was based on a finite interface dissipation model proposed by Steinbach et. al., coupled with a CALPHAD database was developed for a multicomponent Ni alloy. A qua-si-equilibrium MPFM was also developed for comparison. Two-dimensional equiaxed micro-structural evolution for the Ni (Bal.)–Al–Co–Cr–Mo–Ta–Ti–W–C alloy was performed at various cooling rates. The temperature–γ fraction profiles obtained under 10^5 K/s using non- and qua-si-equilibrium MPFMs were in good agreement with each other. Over 10^6 K/s, the differences between non- and quasi-equilibrium methods grew as the cooling rate increased. The non-equilibrium solidification was strengthened over a cooling rate of 10^6 K/s. Colum-nar-solidification microstructural evolution was performed under cooling rates from 5×10^5 K/s to 1×10^7 K/s at various temperature gradient values under the constant interface velocity (0.1 m/s). The results showed that as the cooling rate increased, the cell space decreased in both methods, and the non-equilibrium MPFM agreed well with experimental measurements. Our results show that the non-equilibrium MPFM can simulate solidification microstructure in powder bed fusion additive manufacturing.

The stability of twenty seven composts and organic substrates (including raw, less stable and stable materials) was assessed using two different liquid phase tests were carried out. One of the tests was introduced in 1998 and was based on the calculation of a Specific Oxygen Uptake Rate (SOUR). The newly introduced liquid phase test presented here is simpler to set-up and to perform that the older liquid phase test. It is based on the quantification of oxygen consumption in the headspace of a BOD bottle that contains the liquid-solid solution. The results indicate that a marginal correlation does exist between the main indices calculated from both tests. The correlation was stronger for the indices calculated for stable-processed organics than for the raw (unprocessed materials). The SOUR ranged from 1520 to 3650mg O₂/kg VS-h for the raw materials and from 110 to 1150 mg O₂/kg VS-h for the processed materials, respectively. The corresponding stability rate related index (LSRI₂₄) of the new liquid phase test introduced here ranged from 240 to 1180 mg O₂/dry kg-h for the raw materials and from 64 to 792 mg O₂/dry kg-h for the processed ones.

In the context of all-digital radar systems, phase-modulated continuous wave (PMCW) based on pseudorandom binary sequences (PRBSs) appears a prominent candidate modulation scheme for applications such as autonomous driving. Among the reasons for that are its simplified transmitter architecture and lower linearity requirements, e.g., compared to orthogonal-frequency division multiplexing radars, as well as its high velocity unambiguity and multiple-input multiple-output operation capability that are characteristic of digital radars. For appropriate operation of a PMCW radar, choosing a PRBS whose periodic autocorrelation function (PACF) has low sidelobes and high robustness to Doppler shifts is paramount. In this sense, this article performs an analysis of Doppler shift tolerance of the PACFs of typically adopted PRBSs in PMCW radar systems supported by simulation and measurement results. To accurately measure the Doppler-shift-induced degradation of PACFs, peak power loss ratio (PPLR), peak sidelobe level ratio (PSLR), and integrated-sidelobe level ratio (ISLR) were used as metrics. Furthermore, to account for effects on targets whose ranges are not multiples of the range resolution, oversampled PACFs are analyzed.

In this study, the use of recycled diatomaceous earth as the extraction phase in a the solid phase microextraction (SPME) technique for the determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in river water samples, with separation/detection performed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), is proposed. The optimized extraction conditions are extraction time 70 min at 80 ºC with no addition of salt. The limits of quantification were close to 0.5 μg L-1 with RSD values lower than 25% (n = 3). The linear working range was 0.5 μg L-1 to 25 μg L-1 for all analytes. The method was applied to samples collected from the Itajaí River (Santa Catarina, Brazil) and the RSD values for repeatability and reproducibility were lower than 15% and 17%, respectively. The efficiency of the recycled diatomaceous earth fiber was compared with that of commercial fibers and good results were obtained, confirming that this is a promising option for use as the extraction phase in SPME.

Two-dimensional mass spectrometry (2D MS) is a method for tandem mass spectrometry that relies on manipulating ion motions to correlate precursor and fragment ion signals. 2D mass spectra are obtained by performing a Fourier transform in both the precursor ion mass-to-charge ratio (m/z) dimension and the fragment ion m/z dimension. The phase of the ion signals evolves linearly in the precursor m/z dimension and quadratically in the fragment m/z dimension. This study demonstrates that phase-corrected absorption mode 2D mass spectrometry improves signal-to-noise ratios by a factor of 2 and resolving power by a factor of 2 in each dimension compared to magnitude mode. Furthermore, phase correction leads to an easier differentiation between ion signals and artefacts, and therefore easier data interpretation.

The interlaminar shear behavior of a [±45°] laminated carbon fiber reinforced plastic (CFRP) specimen was investigated utilizing microscale strain mapping in a wide field of view. A three-point bending device was developed under a laser scanning microscope, and the full-field strain distributions including normal, shear and principal strains of CFRP in a three-point bending test were measured using a developed sampling Moire technique. The microscale shear strain concentrations at interfaces between each two adjacent layers were successfully detected and found to be positive-negative alternately distributed before damage occurrence. The 45° layers slipped to the right relative to the -45° layers, visualized from the revised Moire phases and shear strain distributions of the angle-ply CFRP under different loads. The absolute values of the shear strain at interfaces gradually rose with the increase of the bending load, and the sudden decrease of the shear strain peak value implied the occurrence of interlaminar damage. The evolution of the shear strain concentrations is useful in the quantitative evaluation of the potential interlaminar shear failure.

Phenol is added to acetophenone (methyl phenyl ketone) and to six of its halogenated derivatives in a supersonic jet expansion to determine the hydrogen bonding preference of the cold and isolated 1:1 complexes by linear infrared spectroscopy. Halogenation is found to have a pronounced effect on the docking site in this intermolecular ketone balance experiment. The spectra unambiguously decide between competing variants of phenyl group stacking due to their differences in hydrogen bond strength. Structures where the phenyl group interaction strongly distorts the hydrogen bond are more difficult to quantify in the experiment. For unsubstituted acetophenone, phenol clearly prefers the methyl side despite a predicted sub-kJ/mol advantage which is nearly independent of zero point vibrational energy, turning this complex into a challenging benchmark system for electronic structure methods which include long range dispersion interactions in some way.

The article presents the results of tests of minor head losses through PVC and PP elbows for a flow of water and mixtures of water and sand with grain sizes of up to 0.5 mm and concentrations of 5.6 g∙L-1, 10.84 g∙L-1, and 15.73 g∙L-1. The tests were carried out at variable flow velocities for three elbow diameters of 63, 75, and 90 mm. The flow rate, pressure difference in the tested cross-sections, and temperature of the fluids were measured and automatically recorded. The results of the measurements were used to develop mathematical models for determining the minor head loss coefficient as a function of elbow diameter, sand concentration in the liquid, and Reynolds number. The mathematical model was developed by cross validation. It was shown that when the concentration of sand in the liquid was increased by 1.0 g∙L-1, the coefficient of minor head loss through the elbows increased, in the Reynolds number range of 4.6∙104 − 2.1∙105, by 0.3−0.01% for PP63, 0.6−0.03 % for PP75, 1.1−0.06 % for PP90, 0.8−0.01 % for PVC63, 0.8−0.02 % for PVC75, and 0.9−0.04 % for PVC90. An increase in Re from 5∙104 to 2∙106 for elbows with diameters of 63, 75 and 90 mm caused a 7.3 %, 6.8 %, and 6.0 % decrease in the minor head loss coefficient, respectively.

The influence of the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) post-processing step on structural and phase changes, porosity healing and mechanical strength in a powder metallurgy Ti35Nb2Sn alloy was studied. Powders were pressed at room temperature at 750 MPa, and then sintered at 1,350°C in a vacuum for 3 h. The standard HIP process at 1,200°C and 150 MPa for 3 h was performed to study its effect on a Ti35Nb2Sn powder metallurgy alloy. The influence of the HIP process and cold rate on density, microstructure, the quantity of interstitial elements, mechanical strength and Young's modulus was investigated. HIP post-processing for 2 h at 1,200°C and 150 MPa led to greater porosity reduction and a marked retention of the β phase at room temperature. The slow cooling rate during the HIP process affected phase stability, with a large amount of α”-phase precipitate, which decreased the titanium alloy’s yield strength.

Three kinds of hydrophobic groups grafted starches of maleic anhydride grafted starch (MAH-g-starch), lactic acid grafted starch (LA-g-starch), and methyl acrylate grafted starch (MA-g-starch) were prepared by in-situ solid phase polymerization. The results of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) were confirmed successful grafting. The grafting ratios of MAH-g-starch, LA-g-starch and MA-g-starch were 6.50%, 12.45%, and 0.57%, respectively. Influenced by the grafting ratio, LA-g-starch had the best hydrophobic properties and the largest molecular weight, and those for MA-g-starch was the worst. The surfaces of grafted starches were covered with graft polymer, with obvious surface roughness and bond degree of MAH-g-starch and LA-g-starch. The crystalline structure of grafted starches showed some damage, with LA-g-starch exhibiting the greatest decrease in crystallinity, and less of a change for MA-g-starch. Overall, the grafting reaction improved thermoplasticity, with LA-g-starch the most improved, followed by MAH-g-starch, and then MA-g-starch.

The development of a stationary phase material for high performance liquid chromatography based on a surface of silica hydride as opposed to silanols on ordinary silica is discussed including synthetic approaches, characterization and applications. There are several synthetic approaches available to create a silica hydride surface. Modification of the Si-H moiety on the silica surface can be accomplished through use of a hydrosilation reaction. Both the intermediate silica hydride and the material modified with an organic moiety can be characterized by a number of spectroscopic as well as a variety of other methods. Further insights into the retention mechanism are provide through chromatographic measurements. The ultimate utility of any chromatographic stationary phase material is determined by its success for solving challenging analytical problems. A broad range of applications are reviewed to illustrate the versatility and usefulness of silica hydride-based stationary phases.

We know that the classical Mittag-Leffler function play an important role as solution of fractional order differential and integral equations. We introduce the j-generalized p - k Mittag-Leffler function. We evaluate the second order differential recurrence relation and four different integral representations and introduce a homogeneous linear differential equation whose one of the solution is the j-generalized p-k Mittag-Leffler function. Also we evaluate the certain relations that exist between j-generalized p - k Mittag-Leffler function and Riemann-Liouville fractional integrals and derivatives. We evaluate Mellin-Barnes integral representation of j-generalized p-k Mittag-Le er Function. The relationship of j-generalized p-k Mittag-Leffler Function with Fox H-Function and Wright hypergeometric function is also establish. we obtained its Euler transform, Laplace Transform and Mellin transform. Finally we derive some particular cases.

It was demonstrated during the past decade that ultra-short intense laser pulse tightly focused deep inside a transparent dielectric generates the energy density in excess of several MJ/cm$^3$. Such energy concentration with extremely high heating and quenching rates leads to unusual solid-plasma-solid transformation paths overcoming kinetic barriers to formation of previously unknown high-pressure material phases, which are preserved in the surrounding pristine crystal. These results were obtained with the pulse of Gaussian shape in space and in time. Recently it was shown that the Bessel-shaped pulse could transform much larger amount of a material and allegedly create even higher energy density than that was achieved with the Gaussian (GB) pulses. Here we present a succinct review of previous results and discuss the possible routes for achieving higher energy density employing the Bessel beams (BB) and take advantage of its unique properties.

The out-of-equilibrium dynamics of many body systems has recently received a burst of interest, also due to experimental implementations. The dynamics of both observables, such as magnetization and susceptibilities, and quantum information related quantities, such as concurrence and entanglement entropy, have been investigated under different protocols bringing the system out of equilibrium. In this paper we focus on the entanglement entropy dynamics under a sinusoidal drive of the tranverse magnetic field in the 1D quantum Ising model. We find that the area and the volume law of the entanglement entropy coexist under periodic drive for an initial non-critical ground state. Furthermore, starting from a critical ground state, the entanglement entropy exhibits finite size scaling even under such a periodic drive. This critical-like behaviour of the out-of-equilibrium driven state can persist for arbitrarily long time, provided that the entanglement entropy is evaluated on increasingly subsytem sizes, whereas for smaller sizes a volume law holds. Finally, we give an interpretation of the simultaneous occurrence of critical and non-critical behaviour in terms of the propagation of Floquet quasi-particles.

The purpose of this work is to study quasi-stationary wave structure in the mid-latitude stratosphere and mesosphere (40–50°N) and its role in the formation of the annual ozone cycle. Geopotential height and ozone from Aura MLS data are used and winter climatology for January–February 2011–2020 is considered. More closely examined is the 10-degree longitude segment centered on Longfengshan Brewer station, China, and located in the region of the Aleutian Low influence associated with the quasi-stationary zonal maximum of total ozone. Annual and semi-annual oscillations in ozone were compared using units of ozone volume mixing ratio and concentration, as well as changes in ozone peak altitude and in time series of ozone at individual pressure levels between 316 hPa (9 km) and 0.001 hPa (96 km). The ozone maximum in the vertical profile is higher in volume mixing ratio (VMR) values than in concentration by about 15 km (5 km) in the stratosphere (mesosphere), in consistency with some previous studies. We found that the properties of the annual cycle are better resolved in the altitude range of the main ozone maximum: middle–upper stratosphere in VMR and lower stratosphere in concentration. Both approaches reveal SAO/AO-related changes in the of ozone peak altitudes in a range of 4–6 km during the year. In the lower-stratospheric ozone of the Longfengshan domain, an earlier development of the annual cycle takes place with a maximum in February and a minimum in August compared to spring and autumn, respectively, in zonal means. This is presumably due to the higher rate of dynamical ozone accumulation in the region of the quasi-stationary zonal ozone maximum. The “no-annual-cycle” transition layers are found in the stratosphere and mesosphere. These layers with undisturbed ozone volume mixing ratio throughout the year are of interest for more detailed future study.

A review of influence of drag-reducing agents on curved pipe flows is presented in this work. In addition, this review outlined proposed mechanism, friction factor and fluid flux models for drag-reducing agents in curved pipe flows. Our finding reveals that drag reduction by additives in curved pipes is quite significant but generally lower than the corresponding drag reduction in straight pipes. It decreases with increase in curvature ratio and more pronounced in the transition and turbulent flow regimes. Drag reduction strongly depends on the polymers and surfactants’ concentrations as well as the bubble fraction of micro-bubbles. It is also reported that drag reduction in curved pipes depends on temperature and existence of dissolved salts in the fluids. Maximum drag reduction asymptote differed between straight and curved pipes and between polymer and surfactant. No definite conclusion could be drawn as regards drag reduction for two-phase flow in curved pipes due to the limited studies in this area. Many questions such as the mechanism of drag reduction in curved pipes and how drag-reducing agents interact with secondary flows still remained unanswered. Hence, some research gaps have been identified with recommendations for areas of future researches.

This study provides a novel method to prepare metal-ceramic composites from magnetically selected iron ore using microwave heating. By introducing three different microwave susceptors (Activated Carbon, SiC, and a mixture of Activated Carbon and SiC) during the microwave process, effective control of the ratio of metallic and ceramic phases has been achieved easily. The effects of the three susceptors on the microstructure of the metal-ceramics and the related reaction mechanisms were also investigated in detail. The results show that the metal phase (Fe) and ceramic phase (Fe2SiO4, FeAl2O4) can be maintained, but the metal phase to ceramic phase changed significantly. In particular, the microstructures appeared as well-distributed nanosheet structures with diameters of ~400 nm and thicknesses of ~20 nm when SiC was used as the microwave susceptor.

Using a theorem of Ulam and Hyers, we will prove the Hyers-Ulam stability of two-dimensional Lagrange's mean value points $(\eta, \xi)$ which satisfy the equation, $f(u, v) - f(p, q) = (u-p) f_x(\eta, \xi) + (v-q) f_y(\eta, \xi)$, where $(p, q)$ and $(u, v)$ are distinct points in the plane. Moreover, we introduce an efficient algorithm for applying our main result in practical use.

Compressive sensing (CS) is a technique that allows a signal vector to be reconstructed with a number of linear measurements far fewer than its size. In this study, optical hybrid cryptography with simultaneous compressive sensing based on orthogonal matching pursuit (OMP) is proposed as an alternative solution to the two important problems in communications, namely, effective / efficient / signal processing and secure encryption/decrypton. The whole system is able to both compress and encrypt data with attack immunity.

This theoretical article provides a brief description of the model of living systems' functioning by defining them as resource flows patterns. It reviews the living systems growth limitation between their development cycles by the Fibonacci sequence. Besides, there are presented systems resource base criteria, necessary for accumulating the resources and their investment. The article also considers the conditions for the formation of various systems strategies. Then we reviewed the principles of elemental analysis of information by a person as a living system according to the considered model. The study also shows the possibility of forming priorities in analyzing information for 16 combinations as maximum. At that, it remains crucial to divide a human's information analysis between the two hemispheres of the brain. The described combinations of priorities in a person's information analysis are compared with the existing differential personality models, such as the big five personality traits, the Myers-Briggs type indicator, temperaments model and Honey and Mumford Learning styles.

Cloth wearing seems so natural that everyone is self-deemed knowledgeable and has some expert opinions about it. However to clearly explain the physics involved, and hence to make predictions for clothing design or selection, turns out as demonstrated below to be quite challenging even for experts. Cloth is a multiphased, porous and anisotropic material system and usually in multilayers. Unlike ordinary engineering heat transfer problems, the human body acts as an internal heat source in a clothing situation, thus forming a temperature gradient between body and ambient, and the sign of this gradient often changes as the ambient temperature varies. Our body also perspires and the sweat evaporates, an effective body cooling process via phase change. To bring all the variables into analysis quickly escalates into a formidable task. This work attempts to unravel the problem from a physics perspective, focusing on several rarely noticed yet critically important mechanisms involved so as to offer a clear and accurate depiction of the principles in clothing thermal comfort.

Pharmaceuticals contain biologically active components that can pollute water courses as a result of the excretions from individuals and/or uncontrolled release of residues from chemical plants, and they can pose a hazard to health. Pharmaceutical residues can persist at low concentrations in the environment, and thus may be potentially harmful to aquatic animals and to humans. Controlling and monitoring such residues are therefore a prime interest, for example, a solid-phase extraction uses solid sorbents to purify and preconcentrate the residues prior to their chemical analysis. In the present study, poly (acrylonitrile-co-divinylbenzene-80) sorbents are synthesised by varying the comonomer feed ratios under precipitation polymerisation conditions to deliver a family of porous polymer microspheres. Acrylonitrile confers polar characters onto the sorbents, and the acrylonitrile-derived nitrile groups can be chemically transformed via polymer-analogous reactions into thioamide and sulfonated residues which make the sorbents even more suitable for the capture of polar analytes, including selected pharmaceuticals. The utility of the porous thioamide-sulfonated containing sorbents is demonstrated via the dispersion-solid phase extraction of mefenamic acid from aqueous media; mefenamic acid is an anthranilic acid derivative which is a potent, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which is found in environmental waters at low concentrations.

We present the results on photothermal (PT) and heat conductive properties of nanogranular silicon (Si) films synthesized by evaporation of colloidal droplets (drop-casting) of 100 ± 50 nm sized crystalline Si nanoparticles (NP) deposited on glass substrates. Finite difference time domain (FDTD) and finite element mesh (FEM) modeling of absorbed light intensity and photo-induced spatial temperature distribution across the Si NP films were well correlated with the local temperatures measured by micro-Raman spectroscopy and used for determination of heat conductivities in the films of various thicknesses. Cubic-to-hexagonal phase transition in these films caused by laser heating was found to be heavily influenced by the film thickness and heat conductive properties of glass substrate, on which the films were deposited. Heat conductivities across the drop-casted Si nanogranular films were found to be in the range of lowest heat conductivities of other types of nanostructurely voided Si films due to enhanced phonon scattering across inherently voided topology, weak NP-NP and NP-substrate interface bonding within nanogranular Si films.

The contact materials in high-voltage vacuum interrupter require properties such as high conductivity, high density, and high hardness to minimize arc heat damage. In this study, copper–molybdenum-chromium alloys contact materials are examined for a high voltage contact material. Ball milling process was carried out after analyzing the raw materials of copper, chromium, and molybdenum powders. A green compact was produced using a high press with the mixed powder. Afterwards, composite was produced by sintering method according to temperature and infiltration method according to Cu content in green compact. The composite of sintering method showed a density of 8.55 g/cm3 (relative density 93%) a hardness of 217 HV, and an electrical conductivity of 40.7 IACS% at 1200 °C. The composite of 10 wt.% Cu produced by the Cu infiltration method showed a density of 8.7 g/cm3 (relative density 94%), Hardness of 274HV and electrical conductivity of 39 IACS% at 1300 °C. The measurements of physical properties showed the new possibility of using the Cu–Cr–Mo alloy as a contact material for high-voltage vacuum interrupters.

To ensure the security of spatial-temporal Top-k query in two-tiered wireless sensor networks, many schemes have been proposed in the literature in the past decade. However, most of them only consider the scenario where sensor nodes are static, and cannot achieve the security goal for spatial-temporal Top-k query in mobile sensor networks, because the mobility of the sensor nodes will affect the spatial-temporal relationships of the sensory data items generated by the sensor nodes. Although we have proposed some schemes for two-tiered mobile wireless sensor networks (TMWSNs) in our previous work, there is still large room to improve their performances. In this paper, we proposed a novel scheme named STQ-TMWSN for secure fine-grained spatial-temporal Top-k query in TMWSNs based on the virtual-grid construction and the size-order encryption binding. Theoretic analysis shows that STQ-TMWSN can achieve low computation complexity and high security performance. Simulation results indicate that STQ-TMWSN brings much lower communication cost than the state-of-the-art schemes on securing Top-k query in TMWSNs.

In the application of classical nucleation theory (CNT) and all other theoretical models of crystallization of liquids and glasses it is always assumed that nucleation proceeds only after the supercooled liquid or the glass have completed structural relaxation processes towards the metastable equilibrium state. Only employing such assumption, the thermodynamic driving force of crystallization and the surface tension can be determined in the way it is commonly performed. The present paper is devoted to the theoretical treatment of a different situation when nucleation proceeds concomitantly with structural relaxation. To treat the nucleation kinetics theoretically for such cases, we need adequate expressions for the thermodynamic driving force and the surface tension accounting for the contributions caused by the deviation of the supercooled liquid from metastable equilibrium. In the present paper, such relations are derived. They are expressed via deviations of structural order parameters from their equilibrium values. Relaxation processes result in changes of the structural order parameters with time. As a consequence, the thermodynamic driving force and surface tension, and basic characteristics of crystal nucleation, such as the work of critical cluster formation and the steady-state nucleation rate, also become time-dependent. We show that this scenario may be realized in the vicinity and below the glass transition temperature, and it may occur only if diffusion (controlling nucleation) and viscosity (controlling the alpha-relaxation process) in the liquid decouple. Analytical estimates are illustrated and confirmed by numerical computations for a model system. The theory is successfully applied to the interpretation of experimental data. Several further consequences of this newly developed theoretical treatment are discussed in detail. In line with our previous investigations, we reconfirm that only when the characteristic times of structural relaxation are of similar order of magnitude or longer than the characteristic times of crystal nucleation, elastic stresses evolving in nucleation may significantly affect this process. Completing the analysis of elastic stress effects, for the first time expressions are derived for the dependence of the surface tension of critical crystallites on elastic stresses. As the result, a comprehensive theoretical description of crystal nucleation accounting appropriately for the effects of deviations of the liquid from the metastable states and of relaxation on crystal nucleation of glass-forming liquids, including the effect of simultaneous stress evolution and stress relaxation on nucleation, is now available. As one if its applications, this theoretical treatment provides a new tool for the explanation of the low-temperature anomaly in nucleation in silicate and polymer glasses (the so-called \breakdown" of CNT at temperatures below the temperature of the maximum steady-state nucleation rate). We show that this anomaly results from much more complex features of crystal nucleation in glasses caused by deviations from metastable equilibrium (resulting in changes of the thermodynamic driving force, the surface tension, and the work of critical cluster formation, in the necessity to account of structural relaxation and stress effects) than assumed so far.

From the wide range of engineering materials traditional Stellite 6 alloy exhibits excellent cavitation erosion (CE) resistance. In this work, the effect of nitrogen ion implantation of HIPed Stellite 6 on the improvement of CE resistance and both cobalt-rich matrix phase transformation due to nitrogen implantation and CE were stated. The CE resistance of stellites ion-implanted by 120 keV N+ ions two fluences: 5x1016 cm-2 and 1x1017 cm-2 were comparatively analysed with the unimplanted stellite and AISI 304 stainless steel. CE tests were conducted according to ASTM G32 with stationary specimen method. Erosion rate curves and mean depth of erosion confirm that the nitrogen implanted HIPed Stellite 6 two times exceeds the resistance to CE than unimplanted stellite, and has almost 10 times higher CE reference than stainless steel. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) confirms that HIPed Stellite 6 nitrogen ion implantation favours transformation of the ɛ(hcp) to γ(fcc) structure. Unimplanted stellite ɛ-rich matirx is less prone to plastic deformation than γ and consequently, increase of γ phase effectively holds carbides in cobalt matrix and prevents Cr7C3 debonding. This phenomenon elongates three times the CE incubation stage, slows erosion rate and mitigates the material loss. Metastable γ structure formed by ion implantation consumes the cavitation load for work-hardening and γ → ɛ martensitic transformation. In further CE stages, phases transform as for unimplanted alloy namely, the cavitation-inducted recovery process, removal of strain, dislocations resulting in increase of fcc phase. The CE mechanism was investigated using a surface profilometer, atomic force microscopy, SEM-EDS and XRD. HIPed Stellite 6 wear behaviour relies on the plastic deformation of cobalt matrix, starting at Cr7C3/matrix interfaces. Once the Cr7C3 losing their restrain, are debonding and removed. Carbides detachment creates cavitation pits which initiate cracks propagation through cobalt matrix, the loss of matrix phase and CE proceeds with a detachment of massive chunk of materials.

Complex dynamical fluctuations, from molecular noise within cells, collective intelligence, brain dynamics or computer traffic have been shown to display noisy behaviour consistent with a critical state between order and disorder. Living close to the critical point can have a number of adaptive advantages and it has been conjectured that evolution could select (and even tend to) these critical states. One way of approaching such state is by means of so-called self-organized criticality (SOC) where the system poises itself close to the critical point. Is this the case of living cells? It is difficult to test this idea given the enormous dimensionality associated with gene and metabolic webs. In this paper, we present an alternative approach: to engineer synthetic gene networks displaying SOC behaviour. This is achieved by exploiting the presence of a saturation (congestion) phenomenon of the ClpXP protein degradation machinery in E. coli cells. Using a feedback design that detects and then reduces ClpXP congestion, a {\em critical motif} is built from a two-gene network system, where SOC can be successfully implemented. Both deterministic and stochastic models are used, consistently supporting the presence of criticality in intracellular traffic. The potential implications for both cellular dynamics and designed intracellular noise are discussed.

The compound, C27H23N3 (1), crystallizes in the triclinic system of the P-1 space group. The unit cell comprises a dimer of 1, in which the monomers are linked by two complementary hydrogen bonds between N1 and H1-C1 of another molecule. The dimers form chains along the a-axis through intermolecular interactions between the N2 acceptor atoms and C17 donors from molecules in the nearest neighbouring dimer. These interactions form extended sheets of the dimers of 1, along the ab plane. The quinolinylmeth-2-yl groups of 1 lie in almost orthogonal planes and their N1/2(q) donor atoms being away from the apical amino N3 atom.

An overview of the chemical compounds forming the rare smectic T phases is cited with references to the historical context. Thermodynamics (transition temperatures, enthalpies) along with the factors (stereochemical constraints, electrostatic interactions, aliphatic chain stacking, intermolecular forces) contributing to the adoption of tetragonal scaffolds are also discussed. Characteristic optical microscopy textures and x-rays diffraction patterns are presented. In parallel, a comparison of the geometrical parameters such as distances between atoms, molecular areas, volumes, and lattice parameters with the closest two-dimensional and three-dimensional organizations, is performed.

We start with the discussion on misapplication of classical probability theory by Feynman in his analysis of the two slit experiment (by following the critical argumentation of Koopman, Ballentine, and the author of this paper). The seed of Feynman's conclusion on the impossibility to apply the classical probabilistic description for the two slit experiment is treatment of conditional probabilities corresponding to different experimental contexts as unconditional ones. Then we move to the Bell type inequalities. Bell applied classical probability theory in the same manner as Feynman and, as can be expected, he also obtained the impossibility statement. In contrast to Feynman, he formulated his no-go statement not in the probabilistic terms, but by appealing to nonlocality. This note can be considered as a part of the author's attempts for getting rid off nonlocality from quantum physics.

Starting with unitary quantum dynamics, we investigate how to add quantum measurements. Quantum measurements have four essential components: the furcation, the witness production, an alignment projection, and the actual choice decision. The first two components still lie in the domain of unitary quantum dynamics. The decoherence concept explains the third contribution. It can be based on the requirement that witnesses reaching the end of time on the wave function side and the conjugate one have to be identical. In this way, it also stays within the quantum dynamics domain. The surjection hypothesis explains the actual choice decision. It is based on a two boundary interpretation applied to the complete quantum universe. It offers a simple way to reduce these seemingly random projections to purely deterministic unitary quantum dynamics, eliminating the measurement problem.

Bamboo plastic composites have become a hot research topic and a key focus of research. However, the many strong, polar, hydrophilic hydroxyl groups in bamboo flour (BF) results in poor interfacial compatibility between BF and hydrophobic polymers. Maleic anhydride-esterified (MAH-e-BF) and lactic acid-esterified bamboo flour (LA-e-BF) were prepared using an in situ solid-phase esterification method with BF as the raw material and maleic anhydride or lactic acid as the esterifying agent. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy results confirmed that BF esterification with maleic anhydride and lactic acid was successful, with the esterification degrees of MAH-e-BF and LA-e-BF at 21.04 and 14.36%%, respectively. Esterified BF was characterized by scanning electron microscopy, contact angle testing, X-ray diffractometry, and thermogravimetric analysis. The results demonstrated that esterified BF surfaces were covered with graft polymer and the surface roughness and bonding degree of MAH-e-BF clearly larger than those of LA-e-BF. The hydrophobicity of esterified BF was significantly higher than BF and the hydrophobicity of MAH-e-BF better than LA-e-BF. The crystalline structure of esterified BF showed some damage, with MAH-e-BF exhibiting a greater decrease in crystallinity than LA-e-BF. Overall, the esterification reaction improved BF thermoplasticity, with the thermoplasticity of MAH-e-BF appearing better than LA-e-BF.

Short chain quinones (SCQs) have been identified as potential drug candidates against mitochondrial dysfunction, which is largely dependent on their reversible redox characteristics of the active quinone core. We recently synthesized a SCQ library of > 148 naphthoquinone derivatives and identified 16 compounds with enhanced cytoprotection compared to the clinically used benzoquinone idebenone. One of the major drawbacks of idebenone is its high metabolic conversion in the liver, which significantly restricts is therapeutic activity. Therefore, this study assessed the metabolic stability of the 16 identified naphthoquinone derivatives 1-16 using hepatocarcinoma cells in combination with an optimized reverse-phase liquid chromatography (RP-LC) method. Most of the derivatives showed significantly better stability than idebenone over 6 hours (p < 0.001). By extending the side-chain of SCQs, increased stability for some compounds was observed. Metabolic conversion from the derivative 3 to 5 and reduced idebenone metabolism in the presence of 5 were also observed. These results highlight the therapeutic potential of naphthoquinone-based SCQs and provide essential insights for future drug design, prodrug therapy and polytherapy, respectively.

This contribution is an attempt to reconstruct the favorable atmosphere that prevailed in Lau-sanne in 1986-87 and provided the backdrop of our invention of two-dimensional ion cyclotron resonance mass spectroscopy (2D ICR-MS). To avoid a self-centered histoire d’ancien combattant, we shall try to emphasize the context, the contributions of key players within our nascent research group at UNIL and the established group of Tino Gäumann at EPFL, the role of external speakers, and the open atmosphere that was not yet polluted by bibliometrics, obsessive concern with im-pact factors, and top-down management of research. We shall also explain why the idea of 2D ICR-MS has been ignored for many years and still has a limited impact: different scientific cul-tures in the ICR and NMR communities, different concerns with fundamental vs. applied research, different status of theory and numerical simulations, different levels of commitment of instrument manufacturers, not to mention many theoretical problems that appear to be at least as challenging in ICR as in NMR.

In this paper, we present the extension of the pressure-based solver designed for the simulation of compressible and/or incompressible two-phase flows of viscous fluids. The core of the numerical scheme is based on the hybrid Kurganov— Noele — Petrova/PIMPLE algorithm. The governing equations are discretized in the conservative form and solved for velocity and pressure, with the density evaluated by an equation of state. The acoustic-conservative interface discretization technique helps to prevent the unphysical instabilities on the interface. The solver was validated on various cases in wide range of Mach number, both for single-phase and two-phase flows. The numerical algorithm was implemented on the basis of the well-known open-source Computational Fluid Dynamics library OpenFOAM in the solver called interTwoPhaseCentralFoam. The source code and the pack of test cases are available on GitHub: https://github.com/unicfdlab/hybridCentralSolvers

We report on the application of time-resolved inline digital holography to study the nonlinear optical properties of quantum dots deposited onto the sample glass. Fresnel diffraction patterns of the probe pulse due to noncollinear degenerate phase modulation induced by the femtosecond pump pulse were extracted from the set of inline digital holograms and analyzed. Absolute values of the nonlinear refractive index of both sample glass substrate and the deposited layer of quantum dots were evaluated using the proposed technique. To characterize the inhomogeneous distribution of samples’ nonlinear optical properties we proposed to plot an optical nonlinearity map calculated as a local standard deviation of diffraction patterns intensity induced by noncollinear degenerate phase modulation.

The bHLH-PAS proteins are a family of transcription factors regulating expression of a wide range of genes involved in different functions, from differentiation and development control, by oxygen and toxins sensing to circadian clock setting. In addition to the well-preserved DNA-binding bHLH and PAS domains, bHLH-PAS proteins contain long intrinsically disordered C-terminal regions, responsible for their activity regulation. Our aim was to analyse the potential connection between disordered regions of the bHLH-PAS transcription factors with posttranscriptional modifications and liquid-liquid phase separation in the context of the disease-associated missense mutations. Highly flexible disordered regions, enriched in short more ordered motives, are responsible for wide spectrum of interactions with transcriptional co-regulators. Based on our in silico analysis and taking into account fact that transcription factors functions can be modulated by posttranslational modifications and spontaneous phase separation, we assume that the location of missense mutations inducing disease states, is clearly related to sequences directly undergoing these processes or to sequences responsible for their activity regulation.

The article presents results of research consisting in an attempt to assess the influence of temperature, heating time and cooling method on microstructure and residual strength properties of steel previously tempered during the production process. Simulated environmental conditions to which high-strength bolts, commonly used in steel construction, were subjected, were intended to reflect conditions of a natural fire that may occur in public facilities where the obligation to ensure safety of users and rescue teams is of key importance, also required by law. Furthermore, the tests carried out also comprised a simulated effect of a rescue and firefighting operation using shock, rapid cooling of some of the heated bolts. Samples cut out from the tested bolts, after they were properly prepared, were subjected to microstructural tests using light microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), phase analysis with the use of an X-ray diffractometer (XRD) and quantitative analysis of the microstructure involving, inter alia, measuring the surface area of grains, their equivalent diameter and mean diameter. As a result of the tests, considerable microstructure changes were identified occurring in the bolt material as a result of exposing it to fire conditions, leading to a change in key, from the point of view of structural safety, mechanical properties. The results of the microstructure tests were compared with the results of previous strength tests, including hardness of the material after the heat treatment and the residual tensile strength of the material Rm. A conducted comparative analysis showed a significant effect of all such factors as the temperature level of the simulated fire, its duration and the fire-fighting method on the mechanical properties of bolts. Results obtained were provided with required comments and the concept of using the microstructure for the post-fire assessment of steel structures was referred to.

With the development of designing and manufacturing level for micro-electromechanical system (MEMS) gyroscopes, the control circuit system becomes a key point to determine their internal performances. Nevertheless, phase delay of electron components may result in some serious hazards. This paper describes a real-time circuit phase delay correction system for MEMS vibratory gyroscopes. A detailed theoretical analysis is provided to clarify the influences of circuit phase delay on the in-phase and quadrature (IQ) coupling characteristics and zero rate output (ZRO) utilizing force-to-rebalance (FTR) closed-loop detection and quadrature correction system. By deducing the relationship between amplitude-frequency, phase-frequency of MEMS gyroscope and the phase relationship of the whole control loop, a real-time correction system is proposed to automatically adjust the phase reference value of phase-locked loop (PLL) and thus compensate for the real-time circuit phase delay. The experimental results show that the correction system can accurately measure and compensate the circuit phase delay in real time. Furthermore, the unwanted IQ coupling can be eliminated and the ZRO is decreased by 755% to 0.095°/s. This correction system realizes a small angle random walk of 0.978°/√h, and a low bias instability of 9.458°/h together with a scale factor nonlinearity of 255 ppm at room temperature. Besides, the thermal drift of ZRO is reduced to 0.0034°/s/°C at a temperature range from -20°C to 70°C.

The phase composition design principle is introduced to obtain balanced properties of ionic conductivity and thermo-tolerant for zirconia solid electrolytes used in solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The zirconia ceramic solid electrolytes are fabricated by two-step free sintering. With increasing Y/Mg ionic ratio from 1.78:1 to 1.88:1, the content of monoclinic phase fluctuates little (±3%). The ionic conductivity, including the total electrical resistance; grain electrical resistance and grain boundary electrical resistance at 1223K, are all gradually declining with the increasing of Y/Mg ionic ratio. Furthermore, the enrichment of Mg ion in grain boundary acts as a disincentive to grain boundary ionic conductivity. In addition, the maximum total equivalent conductivity at 1223K in this study reaches to 0.143 Scm-1 which can compare with that of certain YSZ. It will be beneficial to SOFCs application profited from increasing ionic conductivity of ceramic solid electrolytes.

To enhance the mechanical properties (i.e. strength and elongation) of the face-centered cubic (fcc) α-phase in the Au-Cu-Al system, this study focused on the introduction of the martensite phase (doubled B19 (DB19) crystal structure of Au2CuAl) via the manipulation of alloy compositions. Fundamental evaluations, such as microstructure observations, phase identifications, thermal analysis, tensile behavior examinations, and reflectance analysis have been conducted. The presence of fcc annealing twins was both observed in the optical microscope (OM) and the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images. Both the strength and elongation of the alloys were greatly promoted while the DB19 martensite phase was introduced into the alloys. Amongst all the prepared specimens, the 47Au41Cu12Al and the 44Au44Cu12Al alloys performed the optimized mechanical properties. The enhancement of strength and ductility in these 2 alloys was achieved while the stress plateau was observed during the tensile deformation. A plot of the ultimate tensile strength (UTS) against fracture strain was constructed to illustrate the effects of the introduction of the DB19 martensite phase on the mechanical properties of the alloys. Regardless of the manipulation of the alloy compositions and the introduction of the DB19 martensite phase, the reflectance stayed almost identical to pure Au.

The classical approach to non-linear regression in physics, is to take a mathematical model describing the functional dependence of the dependent variable from a set of independent variables, and then, using non-linear fitting algorithms, extract the parameters used in the modeling. Particularly challenging are real systems, characterised by several additional influencing factors related to specific components, like electronics or optical parts. In such cases, to make the model reproduce the data, empirically determined terms are built-in the models to compensate for the impossibility of modeling things that are, by construction, impossible to model. A new approach to solve this issue is to use neural networks, particularly feed-forward architectures with a sufficient number of hidden layers and an appropriate number of output neurons, each responsible for predicting the desired variables. Unfortunately, feed-forward neural networks (FFNNs) usually perform less efficiently when applied to multi-dimensional regression problems, that is when they are required to predict simultaneously multiple variables that depend from the input dataset in fundamentally different ways. To address this problem, we propose multi-task learning (MTL) architectures. These are characterized by multiple branches of task-specific layers, which have as input the output of a common set of layers. To demonstrate the power of this approach for multi-dimensional regression, the method is applied to luminescence sensing. Here the MTL architecture allows predicting multiple parameters, the oxygen concentration and the temperature, from a single set of measurements.

Organic-organic interactions play important roles in the secondary organic aerosol formation, but the interactions are complex and poorly understood. Here we use environmental molecular beam experiments combined with molecular dynamics simulations to investigate the interactions between methanol and nopinone, as atmospheric organic proxies. In the experiments, methanol monomers and clusters are sent to collide with three types of surfaces, i.e., graphite, thin nopinone coating on graphite and multilayer surfaces, at temperatures between 140 K and 230 K. Methanol monomers are efficiently scattered from the graphite surface, whereas the scattering is substantially suppressed from nopinone surfaces. The desorption from the three surfaces is similar, suggesting that all the surfaces have weak or similar influences on the methanol desorption. The molecular dynamics results show that upon collisions the methanol clusters shatter, and the shattered fragments quickly diffuse and recombine to clusters. The desorption involves a series of processes, including detaching from clusters and desorbing as monomers. The experimental results also show that all trapped methanol molecules completely desorb within a short experimental time scale at temperatures of 180 K and above. At lower temperatures, the desorption rate decreases, and a long experimental time scale is used to resolve the desorption, where three desorption components are identified. The fast component is beyond the experimental detection limit. The intermediate component exhibits multi-step desorption character and has an activation energy of E_a = 0.18 ± 0.03 eV, in good agreement with simulation results. The slow desorption component is related to diffusion processes due to the weak temperature dependence.

Light-gated ion channel and ion pump rhodopsins are widely used as optogenetic tools and these can control the electrically excitable cells as: (1) they are a single-component system i.e., their sensor and effector functions are encoded by the 7-transmembrane domains and (2) they show fast kinetics with small dark-thermal recovery time. In cellular signaling, a signal receptor, modulator and effector components are involved for attaining synchronous multicomponent regulation. Optical modulation of this network requires either receptor to effector encoded in a single ORF or direct modulation of the effector domain through bypassing all upstream players. Recently discovered modular rhodopsins like rhodopsin guanine cyclase (RhoGC) and rhodopsin phosphodiesterase (RhoPDE) paves the way to establish proof of concept. Light sensor coupled modular system could be expressed in a precise cell type and which holds great potential in the advancement of optogenetics 2.0. It would enable manipulating entire relevant cell signaling system. Here, we had identified 50 novels modular rhodopsins with variant rhodopsins domain and its diverse cognate signaling cascades encoded in a single ORF, which are associated with specialized functions in the cells. These novel modular algal rhodopsins have been characterized functionality based on their sequence and structural homology with previously characterized rhodopsins. Presented novel modular rhodopsins with various effector domains hold potential to expand optogenetics tool kit to regulate various cellular signaling pathways across the diverse biological model systems.

The three-phase separator was perforated after four years’ service. The perforation position is at the bottom of the vessel under the baffle plate in an oil transfer station. The cause of perforation was investigated by chemical analysis using a direct-reading spectrometer, microstructure examined by optical microscope(OM), and lab simulated corrosion experiments by electrochemical workstation, and the corrosion products examined with scanning electron microscopy(SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer(EDS) in this paper. The analyses indicated that the coating at the base of the pressure vessel failed and this led to the direct exposure of the carbon steel plate to the corrosive medium. The electrical contact between the carbon steel and the stainless steel, sets up a galvanic cell that accelerated the corrosion of the pressure vessel which eventually led leads to the perforation.

The effects of heating rate before solution treatment and cooling rate after solution treatment on the morphological distribution and evolution of precipitation phase of nickel-based single crystal superalloy were studied. The dissolution, precipitation and growth of precipitation phase and matrix phase during heat treatment were analyzed by means of high power scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the morphology of precipitated phase has nothing to do with the distribution of precipitated phase and the heating rate in the heating process, but the cooling rate in the cooling process affects the shape, size and distribution of precipitated phase. The faster the cooling rate, the smaller the precipitated phase is, the more irregular the shape is, the smaller the equivalent edge length is, and the smaller the channel width of matrix phase is.

Knowledge about the formation energies of compounds is essential to derive phase diagrams of multi-component phases with respect to elemental reservoirs. The determination of formation energies using common (semi-)local exchange-correlation approximations of density functional theory (DFT) exhibits well-known systematic errors if applied to oxide compounds containing transition metal elements. In this work, we generalize, reevaluate and discuss a set of approaches proposed and widely applied in the literature to correct for errors arising from the over-binding of the O2 molecule and from correlation effects of electrons in localized transition-metal orbitals. The DFT+U method is exemplarily applied to iron oxide compounds, and a procedure is presented to obtain U values, which lead to formation energies and electronic band gaps comparable to experimental values. Using such corrected formation energies, we derive the phase diagrams for LaFeO3, Li5FeO4 and NaFeO2, which are promising materials for energy conversion and storage devices. A scheme is presented to transform the variables of the phase diagrams from the chemical potentials of elemental phases to those of precursor compounds of a solid-state reaction, which represents the experimental synthesis process more appropriately. The discussed workflow of methods can directly be applied to other transition metal oxides.

The TanDEM-X mission is acquiring a new dataset to provide a temporally independent DEM, called "TanDEM-X Change DEM". This set of acquisitions taken between 2017 and 2020 has a clear temporal separation to the TanDEM-X global DEM data which were acquired between 2010 and 2015. Therefore, this new DEM aims to enable the characterization of terrain changes. Improvements in the acquisition planning and the data processing were necessary to generate this Change DEM with fewer acquisitions but still very high accuracy. For this, the use of an edited TanDEM-X DEM as a "starting point" for the interferometric processing is mandatory.

We study the connection between the phase and the amplitude of the wave function and the conditions under which this relationship exists. For this we use model of particle in a box. We have shown that the amplitude can be calculated from the phase and vice versa if the log Analytical uncertainty relations are satisfied.

Following the development of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), the survival of patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) drastically improved. With the introduction of these agents, CML is now considered a chronic disease, for some patients. Taking into consideration the side effects, toxicity, and high cost, discontinuing TKIs became a goal for patients with chronic phase CML. Patients who achieved deep molecular response (DMR) and discontinued TKI, remained in treatment-free remission (TFR). Currently, the data from the published literature demonstrate that 40-60% of patients achieve TFR, with relapses occurring within the first six months. In addition, almost all patients who relapsed regained a molecular response upon re-treatment, indicating TKI discontinuation is safe. However, there is still a gap in the understanding the mechanisms behind TFR, and whether there are prognostic factors that can predict the best candidates who qualify for TKI discontinuation with a view to keeping them in TFR. Furthermore, the information about a second TFR attempt and the role of gradual de-escalation of TKI before complete cessation is limited. This review highlights the factors predicting success or failure of TFR. In addition, it ex-amines the feasibility of a second TFR attempt after the failure of the first one, and the current guidelines concerning TFR in clinical practice.

The aim of this work was to investigate the microstructure and the mechanical properties of la-ser-welded joints combined of DP800 and DP1000 high strength thin steel sheets. The welded joints (WJ) comprised of similar/dissimilar steels with similar/dissimilar thickness were consisted of different zones and exhibited similar microstructural characteristics. The trend of microhard-ness for all WJs was consistent, characterized of the highest value at hardening zone (HZ) and lowest at softening zone (SZ). The degree of softening was more severe and the size of SZ was wider in the WJ combinations of DP1000 than DP800. The tensile test fractures were located at the base material (BM) for all DP800 weldments, while the fractures occurred at the fusion zone (FZ) for the weldments with DP1000 and those with dissimilar sheet thicknesses. The DP800-DP1000 weldment presented similar yield strength (YS) and ultimate tensile strength (UTS) values but lower elongation (EI) in comparison with the DP800-DP800 weldment, which showed similar strength properties as the BM of DP800. However, the EI of DP1000-DP1000 weldment was much lower in comparison with the BM of DP1000. The DP800-DP1000 weldment with dissimilar thicknesses showed the highest YS and UTS values compared with the other weldments, but with the lowest EI. The fatigue fractures occurred at the WJ for all types of weldments. The DP800-DP800 weldment had the highest fatigue limit and DP800-DP1000 with dissimilar thick-nesses had the lowest fatigue limit. The fatigue crack initiated from the weld surface.

In this paper, the deformation and phase transformation of disorder α phase at (α + γ) two phase region in as-forged Ti-44Al-8Nb-(W, B, Y) alloy are investigated by hot compression and hot packed rolling. Detailed microstructural evolution demonstrates that the as-deformed microstructure is significantly affected by deformation conditions. The mircrostructure differences are mainly due to temperature drop and strain rate. The evolution of α lamelae into α grains is detailed descripted. Moreover, the disorder α lamellae can also be decomposed into some new α grains by the assisted decomposition mechanism of γ grains. Microstructure evolution model of current TiAl alloy at 1250 °C during hot rolling is built.

The absorption of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA) depends on the solubility of these components in the gastric fluid. Parameters such as the total MCFA concentration, carboxyl ionization level, and carbon chain length affect the solubility of these molecules. Moreover, the enzymatic lipolysis of solubilized triacylglycerol (TAG) molecules may depend on the carbon chain length of the fatty acids (FAs) components and their positions on the glycerol backbone. This present study aimed at investigating the effect of electrolyte usually formed during the gastric digestion phase on the solubility of MCFA, and evaluating the influence of the FA carbon chain length on the lipolysis rate during the in vitro digestion simulation. The results obtained here showed that the increasing of electrolyte concentrations tend to decrease the mutual solubility of systems composed by the caproic and caprylic fatty acids + sodium chloride, sodium bicarbonate, and potassium chloride solutions. We also observed that a conventional version of the thermodynamic UNIQUAC model was able to correlate the liquid-liquid phase behavior of the electrolyte solutions. Regarding the in vitro digestion simulation, the experimental data indicated that the action of the pancreatic enzyme occurred preferentially in TAG molecules comprised of short and medium-chain fatty acids.

Understanding cell migration is a key step to unravel many physiological phenomena and predict several pathologies, like cancer metastasis. In particular, mechanical confinement has been proved to be a key factor in the cellular migration strategy choice. As our insight in the field improves, new tools are needed in order to empower biologists’ analysis capabilities. In this framework, microfluidic devices have been used to engineer the mechanical stimuli and to investigate cellular migration response in a more controlled way. In this work, we will review the existing technologies employed in the realization of microfluidic cellular migration assays, namely soft lithography of PDMS and hydrogels and femtosecond laser micromachining. We will give an overview of the state of the art of these devices, focusing on the different geometrical configurations that have been exploited to study specific aspects of cellular migration. Our scope is to highlight the advantages and possibilities given by each approach and to envisage the future developments in in-vitro migration studies under mechanical confinement in microfluidic devices.

Immobilized metal affinity chromatography (IMAC) is a popular and valuable method for the affinity purification of polyhistidine-tagged recombinant proteins. However, it often shows practical limitations, which might require cumbersome optimizations, additional polishing, and enrichment steps. Here, we present functionalized corundum particles for the efficient, economical, and fast purification of recombinant proteins in a column-free format. The corundum surface is first derivatized with the amino silane APTES, then EDTA dianhydride, and subsequently loaded with nickel ions. The Kaiser test, well-known in solid-phase peptide synthesis, was used to monitor amino silanization and the reaction with EDTA dianhydride. In addition, ICP-MS was performed to quantify the metal-binding capacity. His-tagged protein A/G (PAG), mixed with bovine serum albumin (BSA), was used as a test system. The PAG binding capacity was around 3 mg protein per gram of corundum. Cytoplasm obtained from different E. coli strains was examined as an example of a complex matrix. The imidazole concentration was varied in the loading and washing buffers. As expected, higher imidazole concentrations during loading are usually beneficial when higher purities are desired. Even when higher sample volumes, such as one liter, were used, recombinant protein down to a concentration of 1 µg/mL could be isolated selectively. Comparing the corundum material with standard Ni-NTA agarose beads indicated higher purities of proteins isolated using corundum. His6-MBP-mSA2, a fusion protein consisting of monomeric streptavidin and maltose-binding protein in the cytoplasm of E. coli, was purified successfully. To show that this method is also suitable for mammalian cell culture supernatants, purification of the SARS-CoV-2-S-RBD His8 expressed in human Expi293F cells was performed. The material cost of the nickel-loaded corundum material (without regeneration) is estimated to be less than 30 cents for 1 gram of functionalized support or 10 cents per milligram of isolated protein. Another advantage of the novel system is the corundum particles' extremely high physical and chemical stability. The new material should be applicable in small laboratories and large-scale industrial applications. In summary, we could show that this new material is an efficient, robust, and cost-effective purification platform for the purification of His-tagged proteins, even in challenging, complex matrices and large sample volumes of low product concentration.

Nonporous corundum powder, known as an abrasive material in the industry, was functionalized covalently with protein binders to isolate and enrich specific proteins from complex matrices. The materials based on corundum were characterized by TEM, ESEM, BET, DLS, and zeta potential measurements. The strong Al-O-P bonds between the corundum surface and amino phosphonic acids are used to introduce functional groups for further conjugations. The common crosslinker glutaraldehyde was compared with a hyperbranched polyglycerol (PG) of around 10 kDa. The latter is oxidized with periodate to generate aldehyde groups that can covalently react with the amines of the surface and the amino groups from the protein via a reductive amination process. The amount of bound protein was quantified via aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA). This work shows that oxidized polyglycerol can be used as an alternative to glutaraldehyde. With polyglycerol, more of the model protein bovine serum albumin (BSA) could be attached to the surface under the same conditions, and lower nonspecific binding (NSB) was observed. As a proof of concept, IgG was extracted with protein A from crude human plasma. The purity of the product was examined by SDS-PAGE. A binding capacity of 1.8 mg IgG per g of corundum powder was achieved. The advantages of corundum are the very low price, extremely high physical and chemical stability, pressure resistance, favorable binding kinetics, and flexible application.

^{We consider the collective pricing orders in a minimum supply chain that is composed of a monopolistic manufacturer and many retailers that belong to the same chain store firm. The retailers have the freedom to raise or lower the local price. The chain store firm sets up the commercial rules for local retail stores to maximize its total payoff. The monopolistic manufacturer firm controls the total quantity supplied for the market to achieve maximum benefits. We applied the two dimensional Ising model in statistical physics to map the collective distribution of microscopic strategy of local retailers into the macroscopic total payoff of the chain store firm. The local stores choose to raise the price or lower the price based their own mind when the supply in market surpasses the demand. When the supply in market is far less than the demand, the stores synchronously raise prices, even though a local store only have the incomplete information of their nearest neighboring supermarket. We find the critical equation for the balance point between the action of supplier and the action of chain store management based on game theory and statistical physics. The critical equation can identify the Nash equilibrium point of the non-cooperative game between the manufacturer and the chain-store seller, and reveal different levels of collective operations. This statistical physics method also holds for more complicate supply chains and economic systems.}

The entropy of Boltzmann-Gibbs, as proved by Shannon and Khinchin, is based on four axioms, where the fourth one concerns additivity. The group theoretic entropies make use of formal group theory to replace this axiom with a more general composability axiom. As has been pointed out before, generalized entropies crucially depend on the number of allowed number degrees of freedom $N$. The functional form of group entropies is restricted (though not uniquely determined) by assuming extensivity on the equal probability ensemble, which leads to classes of functionals corresponding to sub-exponential, exponential or super-exponential dependence of the phase space volume $W$ on $N$. We review the ensuing entropies, discuss the composability axiom, relate to the Gibbs' paradox discussion and explain why group entropies may be particularly relevant from an information theoretic perspective.

The 8Nb isopleth section of a Ti-Al-Nb system is experimentally determined based on thermal analysis and thermodynamic calculation methods to obtain the phase transformation and equilibrium relations required for material design and fabrication. The phase transus and relations for the 8Nb-TiAl system show some deviations from the calculated thermodynamic results. The ordered βo phase transforms from the disordered β/α phases at 1200–1400 °C over a large Al concentration range, and this transformation is considered to be an intermediate type between the first- and second-order phase transitions. Moreover, the βo phases are retained at the ambient temperature in the 8Nb-TiAl microstructures. The ωo phase transforms from the highly ordered βo phase, rather than from α2 or βo with low degree of atom ordering B2 (LOB2) structure, with Al concentration of 32–43 at.% at approximately 850 °C. From the experimental detection, the transition of the ωo phase from the βo phase is considered to be a further ordering process.

This research presents the design and characteristics of new wideband polarizer based on the square waveguide with irises. Matching and polarization characteristics of the polarizer have been simulated and optimized. Frequency dependences of the characteristics are presented. Developed polarizer can be applied in satellite information systems.

The objective of this paper is to investigate the convergence of coupling-parameter expansion-based solutions to Ornstein-Zernike equation in liquid state theory. The analytically solved Baxter's adhesive hard sphere model is analyzed first using coupling-parameter expansion. It is found that the expansion provides accurate approximations to solutions - including the liquid-vapor phase diagram - in most parts of the phase plane. However, it fails to converge in the region where the model has only complex solutions. Similar analysis and results are, then, obtained using analytical solutions within the mean spherical approximation for the hard-core Yukawa potential. Next, convergence of the expansion is analyzed for the Lennard-Jonnes potential using an accurate density-dependent bridge function in the closure relation. Numerical results are presented which show convergence of correlation functions, compressibility versus density profiles, etc., in the single as well as two phase regions. Computed liquid-vapor phase diagrams, using two independent schemes employing the converged profiles, compare excellently with simulation data. Results obtained for the generalized Lennard-Jonnes potential, with varying repulsive exponent, also compare well with simulation data. All these results together establish the coupling-parameter expansion as a practical tool for studying single component fluid phases modeled via general pair-potentials.

Alterations in the carnitine shuttle system may be an indication of the presence of cancer. As such, in-depth analyses of this pathway in different malignant tumors could be important for the detec-tion and treatment of this disease. The current study aims to assess the profiles of carnitine and acylcarnitines in gliomas with respect to their grade, the presence of isocitrate dehydrogenase (IDH) mutations, and 1p/19q co-deletion. Brain tumors obtained from 19 patients were sampled on-site using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) immediately following excision. Analytes were desorbed and then analyzed via liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry. The results showed that SPME enabled the extraction of carnitine and 22 acylcarnitines. An analysis of the correlation factor revealed presence of two separate clusters: short-chain and long chain car-nitine esters. Slightly higher carnitine and acylcarnitine concentrations were observed in the higher malignancy tumor samples (high vs low grade), and in those samples with worse projected clinical outcomes (without vs with IDH mutation; without vs with 1p/19q co-deletion). Thus, the proposed chemical biopsy approach offers a simple solution for on-site sampling that enables sample preservation, thus supporting comprehensive multi-method analyses.

The generalized dual-kinetic-balance approach for axially symmetric systems is employed to solve the two-center Dirac problem. The spectra of one-electron homonuclear quasimolecules are calculated and compared with the previous calculations. The analysis of the monopole approximation with two different choices of the origin is performed. Special attention is paid to the lead and xenon dimers, Pb82+–Pb82+–e− and Xe54+–Xe54+–e−, where the energies of the ground and several excited σ-states are presented in the wide range of internuclear distances. The developed method provides the quasicomplete finite basis set and allows for construction of the perturbation theory, including within the bound-state QED.

In this paper we introduce the New/Generalized two parameter Gamma function and Pochhammer symbol. We named them, as Generalized p - k Gamma Function and Generalized p - k Pochhammer symbol and denoted as $ _{p}^{a}\Gamma_{k}(x) $ and $ _{p}^{a}(x)_{n,k} $ respectively. We prove the several identities for $ _{p}^{a}\Gamma_{k}(x) $ and $ _{p}^{a}(x)_{n,k} $ those satisfied by the classical Gamma function. Also we provide the integral representation for the $ _{p}^{a}\Gamma_{k}(x) $

The paper describes an algorithm for semantic representation of behavioral contexts relative to a dichotomic decision alternative. The contexts are represented as quantum qubit states in two-dimensional Hilbert space visualized as points on the Bloch sphere. The azimuthal coordinate of this sphere functions as a one-dimensional semantic space in which the contexts are accommodated according to their subjective relevance to the considered uncertainty. The contexts are processed in triples defined by knowledge of a subject about a binary situational factor. The obtained triads of context representations function as stable cognitive structure at the same time allowing a subject to model probabilistically-variative behavior. The developed algorithm illustrates an approach for quantitative subjectively-semantic modeling of behavior based on conceptual and mathematical apparatus of quantum theory.

We experimentally demonstrate enhanced self-phase modulation (SPM) in silicon nitride (Si₃N₄) waveguides integrated with 2D graphene oxide (GO) films. GO films are integrated onto Si₃N₄ waveguides using a solution-based, transfer-free coating method that enables precise control of the film thickness. Detailed SPM measurements are carried out using both picosecond and femtosecond optical pulses. Owing to the high Kerr nonlinearity of GO, the hybrid waveguides show significantly improved spectral broadening compared to the uncoated waveguide, achieving a broadening factor of up to ~3.4 for a device with 2 layers of GO. By fitting the experimental results with theory, we obtain an improvement in the waveguide nonlinear parameter by a factor of up to 18.4 and a Kerr coefficient (n₂) of GO that is about 5 orders of magnitude higher than Si₃N₄. Finally, we provide a theoretical analysis for the influence of GO film length, coating position, and its saturable absorption on the SPM performance. These results verify the effectiveness of on-chip integrating 2D GO films to enhance the nonlinear optical performance of Si₃N₄ devices.

Future, flexible thermal energy conversion systems require new, demand-optimized high-performance materials. The High performance Ferritic (HiperFer) stainless steels, under development at the Institute of Microstructure and Properties of Materials (IEK-2) at Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH in Germany, provide a balanced combination of fatigue, creep and corrosion resistance at reasonable price. This paper outlines the scientific background of alloy performance development, which resulted in an age-hardening ferritic, stainless steel grade. Furthermore, technological properties are addressed and the potential concerning application is estimated by benchmarking versus conventional state of the art materials.

New class of conserved quantities is constructed. These quantities find direct application in mechanics of dissipative (generally non-conservative) dynamical systems. Approach demands formulation in the language of geometric mechanics, providing theoretical framework for situations with energy flow in and out of the system. As a by product, we suggest possibility of existence of Hamiltonian form for every autonomous ODE system, evolution of which is governed by non-potential generator of motion. Various examples are provided, ranging from physics and mathematics, to chemical kinetics and population dynamics in biology. Applications of these ideas in geometric integration techniques (GNI) of numerical analysis are discussed, and as an example of such, new discrete gradient-based numerical method is introduced.

Although lithium-ion batteries have extensively been used in various applications because of their high energy capacity, fracture and failure, the by-products of large strains and stresses caused by fast charging and discharging need yet to be addressed. The size effects on the mechanical behavior of the nano-sized structures are significant; however, the classical elasticity theory may not consider such effects. On the other hand, surface stress theory, as a robust and potential theory, is suitable in considering size effects in nano-scale structures. Therefore, in this paper, in order to involve the surface stress effects on the fracture behavior of Li-ion batteries, the following steps are taken. Firstly, a phase-field model is used to determine the evolution of the concentration profile. Subsequently, the stress distribution is obtained by using the surface stress theory combined with chemical equations for a planar electrode. Afterward, by using the weight function method for an edge crack in the plate, the stress intensity factor is derived for all time steps and possible crack lengths during the process. It is found that with increasing phase boundary thickness parameter or decreasing phase-separation phenomenon, the surface mechanics parameters become more influential. Furthermore, in the presence of positive surface stress, the diffusion-induced stress distribution decreases, which in turn reduces the stress intensity factor. In addition, in this paper, the two states of surface stress are compared either for elastic or total strain. Concerning stresses and concentrations, the results indicate a big difference at the beginning of the deintercalation process showing, in particular, 2% for stresses, but the differences diminish gradually.

The principles of causality and unitarity are studied within rational nonlinear electrodynamics proposed earlier. We investigate dyonic and magnetized black holes and show that in the self-dual case, when the electric charge equals the magnetic charge, corrections to Coulomb's law and Reissner-Nordstrom solutions are absent. In the case of the magnetic black hole, the Hawking temperature, the heat capacity and the Helmholtz free energy are calculated. It is shown that there are second-order phase transitions and it was demonstrated that at some range of parameters the black holes are stable.

Phase Change Materials (PCMs) are latent heat storage media with high potential of integration in building structures and technical systems. Their solid-liquid transition is commonly utilized for thermal energy storage in building applications. It also means that some kind of encapsulation is necessary. This is often solved with metal containers that also have high thermal conductivity and resistance to mechanical damage enhancing the performance these so called latent heat thermal energy storage (LHTES) systems. However selection of suitable metal is rather challenging. It depends, among other things, on the elimination of undesirable interaction between storage medium and surrounding metal. Heat storage medium must be reliably sealed in metal container especially when the storage system is integrated in systems like domestic hot water storage tanks, where PCM leaks can negatively affect human health. The aim of this study was evaluation of interaction between selected commercially available organic and inorganic PCMs and metals. The evaluation is based on the calculation of corrosion rate and use gravimetric method for determination of the weigh variations of the metal samples. Results show that aluminium is the most suitable container material with lowest mass loss and suffered only minimal visual changes on the surface after prolonged exposure to PCMs.

We study the deterministic dynamics of N point particles moving at constant speed in a 2D table made of two polygonal urns connected by an active rectangular channel, which applies a feedback-control on the particles, inverting the horizontal component of their velocities, when their number in the channel exceeds a fixed threshold. Such a bounce--back mechanism is non-dissipative: it preserves volumes in phase space. An additional passive channel closes the billiard table forming a circuit in which a stationary current may flow. Under specific constraints on the geometry and on the initial conditions, the large N limit allows nonequilibrium phase transitions between homogeneous and inhomogeneous phases. The role of ergodicity in making a probabilistic theory applicable is discussed both for rational and irrational urns. The theoretical predictions are compared with the numerical simulation results. Connections with the dynamics of feedback-controlled biological systems are highlighted.

Load Frequency Control (LFC) is essential to ensure the stability and performance of power systems. In this study, a novel optimization algorithm, the Sea Horse Optimizer (SHO) algorithm, was proposed for optimizing controller parameters in LFC problems of power system. The proposed SHO algorithm was tested on a two-area power system with photovoltaic system and reheat thermal units, under three different scenarios: a 10% load change in both area, large load disturbances, and varying solar radiation. The proposed algorithm optimizes the gain parameters of PI/PID controllers using performance metrics such as Integral of Absolute value of the Error (IAE), Integral of Square Error (ISE), Integral of Time multiplied by Square Error (ITSE), and Integral of Time multiplied by Absolute Error (ITAE). The study compared the performance of the SHO-optimized controller with other reported optimization algorithms such as Genetic Algorithm (GA), Firefly Algorithm (FA), Whale Optimization Algorithm (WOA), and Modified Whale Optimization Algorithm (MWOA). The study also evaluated the accuracy and effectiveness of the controllers using performance metrics such as Settling Time, Overshoot (M+), and Undershoot (M-). The results show that the SHO-tuned controller significantly reduces overshoot, undershoot, and settling time of the system oscillations compared to other algorithms. The study provides valuable insights into the optimization of LFC controllers and presents a significant contribution to the literature with its novel algorithm. The proposed SHO algorithm can be considered an effective alternative solution method for LFC in power systems.

This paper proposes a novel three-phase voltage source inverter dead-time compensation strategy for accurate compensation in wide current regions of the inverter. In particular, an analysis of the output voltage distortion of the inverter, which appears as parasitic components of the switches, has been conducted for proper voltage compensation in the low current region, and an on-line compensation voltage controller has been proposed. Also, a new trapezoidal compensation voltage implementation method using the current phase is proposed to simplify realizing the trapezoidal shape of the three-phase compensation voltages. Finally, when the proposed dead-time compensation strategy is applied, the maximum phase voltage magnitude in the linear modulation voltage regions is defined to achieve smooth operation even at high modulation index. Simulations and experiments were conducted to verify the performance of the proposed dead-time compensation scheme.

A novel mathematical model is developed to calculate the temperature distribution on the surface and bulk of a steel plate under the laser hardening process. The model starts with the basic heat equation then it is developed into a volumetric form and is connected to the various solid existing phases. The proposed model is based on three influencing parameters of the laser hardening process which are the velocity of the laser spot and irradiation time. The results are compared with the available experimental data reported in the literature. The volumetric model provides an assessment of temperature distribution in both the vertical and horizontal axis. Laser irradiation at sufficiently high fluence can be used to create a solid-state phase change on the surface. Primary calculations show that the temperature profile has a Gaussian distribution in horizontal x and y-axis and presents an exponentially decreasing in the horizontal and vertical depth directions.

In this paper, we investigate the accuracy and robustness of three classes of methods for solving two-phase incompressible flows on a staggered grid. Here, the unsteady two-phase flow equations are simulated by finite volumes and penalty methods using implicit and monolithic approaches (such as the augmented Lagrangian and the fully coupled methods), where all velocity components and pressure variables are solved simultaneously (as opposed to segregated methods). The interface tracking is performed with a Volume-of-Fluid (VOF) method, using the Piecewise Linear Interface Construction (PLIC) technique. The home code Fugu is used for implementing the various methods. Our target application is the simulation of two-phase flows at high density and viscosity ratios, which are known to be challenging to simulate. The resulting strategies of monolithic approaches will be proven to be considerably better suited for these two-phase cases, they also allow to use larger time step than segregated methods.

Helmholtz energy of ice VII-X is determined in a pressure regime extending to 450 GPa at 300 K using local basis functions in the form of b splines. The new representation for the equation of state is embedded in a physics-based inverse theory framework of parameter estimation. Selected pressures as a function of volume from 14 prior experimental studies and two theoretical studies constrain the behavior of Helmholtz energy. Separately measured bulk moduli, not used to construct the representation, are accurately replicated below about 20 GPa and above 60 GPa. In the intermediate range of pressure, the experimentally determined moduli are larger and have greater scatter than values predicted using the Helmholtz representation. Although systematic experimental error in the experimental elastic moduli is possible and likely, the alternative hypothesis is a slow relaxation time associated with changes in proton mobility or the ice VII to X transition. A correlation is observed between anomalies in the pressure derivative of the predicted bulk modulus and previously suggested higher-order phase transitions. Improved determinations of elastic properties at high pressure would allow refinement of the current equation of state. More generally, the current method of data assimilation is broadly applicable to other materials in high-pressure studies.

The growth of solid particles during liquid phase sintering was modeled by the Cellular Automata method. The binary phase diagram and Fickian approach for the diffusion process were applied to simulate the chemical composition variation in liquid and solid phases during sintering. The Oswald-Ripening effect was considered during the dissolution of the solid phase in the liquid phase. It is used to define the probability of solid-phase dissolution by the liquid phase and develop the model to simulate the alloy with solid solubility. So, the microstructure could be modeled in the liquid phase sintering process.

Copper-catalyzed and organocopper-involved reactions are of great significance in organic synthesis. To have a deep understanding of the reaction mechanisms, the structural characterizations of organocopper intermediates become indispensable. Meanwhile, the structure-function relationship of organocopper compounds would advance rational design and development of new Cu-based reactions and organocopper reagents. Compared to the mono-carbonic ligand, the C,N- and C,C-bidentate ligands better stabilize the unstable organocopper compounds. The bidentate ligands can chelate to the same copper atom via ?2-mode, forming a mono-cupra-cyclic compounds with at least one acute C-Cu-C angle. When the bidentate ligands bind to two copper atoms via ?1-mode at each coordinating site, the bimetallic macrocyclic compounds will form nearly linear C-Cu-C angles. The anionic coordinating sites of the bidentate ligand can also bridge two metals via ?2-mode, forming organocopper aggregates with Cu-Cu interactions and organocuprates with contact ion pair structures. The reaction chemistry of some selected organocopper compounds is highlighted, showing their unique structure-reactivity relationships.

The influence of distant London dispersion forces on the docking preference of alcohols of different size between the two lone electron pairs of the carbonyl group in pinacolone is explored by infrared spectroscopy of the OH stretching fundamental in supersonic jet expansions of 1:1 solvate complexes. Experimentally, no pronounced tendency of the alcohol to switch from the methyl to the bulkier tert-butyl side with increasing size is found. In all cases, methyl docking dominates by at least a factor of two, whereas DFT-optimized structures suggest a very close balance for the larger alcohols, once corrected by CCSD(T) relative electronic energies. Together with inconsistencies when switching from a C4 to a C5 alcohol, this points at deficiencies of the investigated B3LYP and in particular TPSS functionals even after dispersion correction, which cannot be blamed on zero point energy effects. The search for density functionals which describe the harmonic frequency shift, the structural change and the energy difference between the docking isomers of larger alcohols to unsymmetric ketones in a satisfactory way is open.

The importance of genome organization at the supranucleosomal scale in the control of gene expression is increasingly recognized today. In mammals, Topologically Associating Domains (TADs) and the active / inactive chromosomal compartments are two of the main nuclear structures that contribute to this organization level. However, recent works reviewed here indicate that, at specific loci, chromatin interactions with nuclear bodies could also be crucial to regulate genome functions, in particular transcription. They moreover suggest that these nuclear bodies are membrane-less organelles dynamically self-assembled and disassembled through mechanisms of phase separation. We have recently developed a novel genome-wide experimental method, High-salt Recovered Sequences sequencing (HRS-seq), which allows the identification of chromatin regions associated with large ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes and nuclear bodies. We argue that the physical nature of such RNP complexes and nuclear bodies appears to be central in their ability to promote efficient interactions between distant genomic regions. The development of novel experimental approaches, including our HRS-seq method, is opening new avenues to understand how self-assembly of phase separated nuclear bodies possibly contributes to mammalian genome organization and gene expression.