Development of 400-μW cryogen-free dilution refrigerators for quantum experiments

We have successfully developed cryogen-free dilution refrigerators with medium cooling power that can be applied to quantum experiments. Breakthroughs have been made in some key technologies and components of heat switches and dilution units. Our prototype has been running continuously and stably for more than 100 hours below 10 m K, with a minimum temperature of 7.6 m K and a cooling power of 450 μW at 100 m K. At the same time, we have also made progress in the application of dilution refrigerators, such as quantum computing, low-temperature detector, and magnet integration. These indicators and test results indicate good prospects for application in physics, astronomy, and quantum information.

Effect of CO_(2) dilution on laminar burning velocities,combustion characteristics and NO_(x) emissions of CH_(4)/air mixtures

The laminar combustion characteristics of CH_(4)/air premixed flames with CO_(2) addition are systemically studied.Experimental measurements and numerical simulations of the laminar burning velocity(LBV)are performed in CH_(4)/CO_(2)/Air flames with various CO_(2) doping ratio under equivalence ratios of 1.0–1.4.GRI 3.0 mech and Aramco mech are employed for predicting LBV,adiabatic flame temperature(AFT),important intermediate radicals(CH_(3),H,OH,O)and NO_(x) emissions(NO,NO_(2),N2O),as well as the sensitivity analysis is also conducted.The detail analysis of experiment and simulation reveals that as the CO_(2) addition increases from 0%to 40%,the LBVs and AFTs decrease monotonously.Under the same CO_(2) doping ratio,the LBVs and AFTs increase first and then decrease with the increase of equivalence ratio,and the maximum of LBV is reached at equivalence ratio of 1.05.The mole fraction tendency of important intermediates and NO_(x) with equivalence ratio and CO_(2) doping ratio are similar to the LBVs and AFTs.Reaction H+O_(2)⇔O+OH is found to be responsible for the promotion of the generation of important intermediates and NO_(x) under the equivalence ratios and CO_(2) addition through sensitivity analysis.The sensitivity coefficients of elementary reactions that the increasing of CO_(2) doping ratio promotes or inhibits formation of intermediate radicals and NO_(x) decreases.

Dilution characteristics of dual buoyant jets in wavy cross-flow environment

Due to the difference in density between the discharge effluent and coastal water,partially treated wastewater is often discharged into the marine environment as a buoyant jet via submarine outfalls with multiport diffusers.The dilution characteristics of effluent discharge(dual buoyant jets)in a wavy cross-flow environment were studied in a laboratory.The planar laser-induced fluorescence technique was used to obtain the concentration data of the jets.The effects of different environmental variables on the diffusion and dilution characteristics of the jets were examined through physical experiments,dimensional analysis,and empirical formulations.It was found that the dilution process of the dual jets could be divided into two components:the original jet component and the effluent cloud component.The jet-to-current velocity ratio was the main parameter affecting the concentration levels of the effluent cloud.The merging of the two jets increased the jet concentration in the flow field.When the jets traveled further downstream,the axial dilution increased gradually and then increased significantly along the axis.Under the effects of strong waves,the concentration contours branched into two peaks,and the mean dilution became more significant than under the effects of weak waves.Therefore,the dilution of the effluent discharge was expected to be significant under strong wave effects because the hydrodynamic force increased.A dilution equation was derived to improve our understanding of the dilution process of buoyant jets in a wavy cross-flow environment.This equation was used to determine the influences of the jet-to-current velocity ratio,wave-to-current velocity ratio,and Strouhal number on the minimum jet dilution.It revealed that the wave and buoyancy effects in effluent discharges were significant.

What Is the Difference between Post- and Pre-Dilution in On-Line Haemodiafiltration in the Removing of Median-Molecular-Weight Toxins?

Introduction: β2-microglobulin and prolactin are medium-molecular-weight toxins. We believe that the rate of removal of these molecules, using filters with two different surfaces, in post- and pre-dilution haemodiafiltration, will be of interest to the literature. Methods: We studied, in 12 haemodialyzed patients, the removal of those, with filter with surface of 2.5 m2 (Group A) or 2.1 m2 (Group B) with post-dilution haemodiafiltration, and with a filter with surface 2.5 m2 with pre-dilution (Group C). Results: Satisfactory removal of β2-microglobulin (best with post-dilution) was found, and a good rate of removal of prolactin without the filter surface played a role in both cases. Conclusion: The elimination of β2-microglobulin in post-dilution is not affected by the filter surface area. Pre-dilution achieves removal of β2-microglobulin, less than that of post-dilution. Prolactin was removed satisfactorily regardless of the filter surface in post-dilution, and its removal appears to be less than that of β2-microglobulin.

Regulating the dopant clustering in LiZnAs-based diluted magnetic semiconductor

Tuning of the magnetic interaction plays the vital role in reducing the clustering of magnetic dopant in diluted magnetic semiconductors(DMS).Due to the not well understood magnetic mechanism and the interplay between different magnetic mechanisms,no efficient and universal tuning strategy is proposed at present.Here,the magnetic interactions and formation energies of isovalent-doped(Mn) and aliovalent(Cr)-doped LiZnAs are studied based on density functional theory(DFT).It is found that the dopant–dopant distance-dependent magnetic interaction is highly sensitive to the carrier concentration and carrier type and can only be explained by the interplay between two magnetic mechanisms,i.e.,superexchange and Zener’s p–d exchange model.Thus,the magnetic behavior and clustering of magnetic dopant can be tuned by the interplay between two magnetic mechanisms.The insensitivity of the tuning effect to U parameter suggests that our strategy could be universal to other DMS.

Correlation of work function and stacking fault energy through Kelvin probe force microscopy and nanohardness in diluteα-magnesium

Electronic interactions of the Group 2A elements with magnesium have been studied through the dilute solid solutions in binary Mg-Ca,Mg-Sr and Mg-Ba systems.This investigation incorporated the difference in the‘Work Function'(ΔWF)measured via Kelvin Probe Force Microscopy(KPFM),as a property directly affected by interatomic bond types,i.e.the electronic structure,nanoindentation measurements,and Stacking Fault Energy values reported in the literature.It was shown that the nano-hardness of the solid-solutionα-Mg phase changed in the order of Mg-Ca>Mg-Sr>Mg-Ba.Thus,it was shown,by also considering the nano-hardness levels,that SFE of a solid-solution is closely correlated with its‘Work Function'level.Nano-hardness measurements on the eutectics andΔWF difference between eutectic phases enabled an assessment of the relative bond strength and the pertinent electronic structures of the eutectics in the three alloys.Correlation withΔWF and at least qualitative verification of those computed SFE values with some experimental measurement techniques were considered important as those computational methods are based on zero Kelvin degree,relatively simple atomic models and a number of assumptions.As asserted by this investigation,if the results of measurement techniques can be qualitatively correlated with those of the computational methods,it can be possible to evaluate the electronic structures in alloys,starting from binary systems,going to ternary and then multi-elemental systems.Our investigation has shown that such a qualitative correlation is possible.After all,the SFE values are not treated as absolute values but rather become essential in comparative investigations when assessing the influences of alloying elements at a fundamental level,that is,free electron density distributions.Our study indicated that the principles of‘electronic metallurgy'in developing multi-elemental alloy systems can be followed via practical experimental methods,i.e.ΔWF measurements using KPFM and nanoindentation.

First-Principle Study on the Electronic Structure and Optical Property of New Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor(Y_(0.75)Ca_(0.25))(Cu_(0.75)Mn_(0.25))SO

The band structure,DOSs,and optical properties of(Y_(0.75)Ca_(0.25))(Cu_(0.75)Mn_(0.25))SO,including dielectric function,absorption function,reflection function,and energy loss spectrum were studied by using the first-principles calculation.The calculation results indicate that(Y_(0.75)Ca_(0.25))(Cu_(0.75)Mn_(0.25))SO is a direct bandgap semiconductor with a bandgap of 1.1 eV.The Fermi surface is asymmetric and exhibits spin splitting phenomenon.The new type of dilute magnetic semiconductor(Y_(0.75)Ca_(0.25))(Cu_(0.75)Mn_(0.25))SO exhibits significant light loss around 70 eV,with light reflection gradually increasing after 30 eV,and light absorption mainly occurring around 8-30 eV.These results also provide a basis for the discovery of more types of 1111 phase new dilute magnetic semiconductors in the future.

Study on the metastable state of dilution of spectinomycin

采用诱导期法和直接法研究了大观霉素溶析结晶的介稳态.新相形成由多核机理控制.由多核机理得到两个操作温度下溶析结晶的介稳区.实验考察了丙酮浓度和温度对溶析结晶介稳态的影响.随着丙酮浓度的增大或温度的降低,诱导期延长.介稳区宽度随溶解度的减小而变宽.大观霉素初级成核的过饱和度水平较高,属于第Ⅰ类物系.根据经典成核理论估算了大观霉素成核参数.这些实验结果对大观霉素溶析结晶工业生产的控制具有重要意义.

Preparation of Nano-sized Zirconium Carbide Powders through a Novel Active Dilution Self-propagating High Temperature Synthesis Method

High quality nano-sized zirconium carbide （ZrC） powders were successfully fabricated via a developed chemical active dilution self-propagating high-temperature synthesis （SHS） method assisted by ball milling pretreatment process using traditional cheap zirconium dioxide powder （ZrO2）, magnesium powder （Mg） and sucrose （C12H22Oll） as raw materials. FSEM, TEM, HRTEM, SAED, XRD, FTIR and Raman, ICP- AES, laser particle size analyzer, oxygen and nitrogen analyzer, carbon/sulfur determinator and TG-DSC were employed for the characterization of the morphology, structure, chemical composition and thermal stability of the as-synthesized ZrC samples. The as-synthesized samples demonstrated high purity, low oxygen content and evenly distributed ZrC nano-powders with an average particle size of 50nm. In addition, the effects of endothermic rate and the possible chemical reaction mechanism were also discussed.

Geometric dilution of precision for GPS single-point positioning based on four satellites

To improve the positioning accuracy in GPS point positioning, the geometric dilution of precision （GDOP） including HDOP, VDOP, TDOP, PDOP is commonly considered. The properties of the DOP for the GPS satellite navigation system are studied and the coordinate system is improved in order to decrease the amount of variables. In the end, by simulation and discussing the results, the corresponding conclusions are presented.

Investigation on the deposition rate and the dilution ratio of plasma surface welding

A new kind of plasma technology with both high deposition rate and low dilution ratio was developed under the calculation and analysis of the arc flame characteristics of plasma arc,the kinematics behavior of powder and powder's heating in the arc. Compared with normal plasma surfacing method, the idea using constricting nozzle with small orifice diameter, long plasma arc and increasing the distance from meeting point of the two beams of powder to workpiece, to achieve the goals of high deposition rate and low dilution ratio, was put forward here. In order to prove this idea, a set of experimental system was built up and obtained satisfied results including high deposition rate(more than 25 kg/h )and low dilution ratio(less than 5%). The success of this study offers a promising prospect for developing the powder plasma surface welding in China and may open a way to improve this technology further in efficiency and quality.

Critical behaviours and magnetic properties of three-dimensional bond and anisotropy dilution Blume-Capel model in the presence of an applied field

This paper studies the critical behaviours and magnetic properties of three-dimensional bond and anisotropy dilution Blume-Capel model （BCM） in the presence of an applied field within the effective field theory. The trajectory of tricritical point, reentrant transitions and degenerate patterns of anisotropy are obtained both for the bond and the anisotropy dilutions. The global phase diagrams demonstrate unusually reentrant phenomena. The temperature dependences of magnetization curves undergo remarkable spin glass behaviour at low temperatures, and transform from ferromagnetism to paramagnetism at high temperature in applied fields. Temperature dependence of magnetic susceptibility curve is in qualitative agreement with experimental result.

Effect of Welding Parameters on Dilution and Weld Bead Geometry in Cladding

The effect of pulsed gas metal arc welding （GMAW） variables on the dilution and weld bead geometry in cladding X65 pipeline steel with 316L stainless steel was studied. Using a full factorial method, a series of experiments were carried out to know the effect of wire feed rate, welding speed, distance between gas nozzle and plate, and the vertical angle of welding on dilution and weld bead geometry. The findings indicate that the dilution of weld metal and its dimension i.e. width, height and depth increase with the feed rate, but the contact angle of the bead decreases first and then increases. Meantime, welding speed has an opposite effect except for dilution. There is an interaction effect between welding parameters at the contact angle. The results also show forehand welding or decreasing electrode extension decrease the angle of contact. Finally, a mathematical model is contrived to highlight the relationship between welding variables with dilution and weld bead geometry.

Initial Dilution of A Vertical Round Non-Buoyant Jet in Wavy Cross-Flow Environment

The phenomenon of wastewater discharged into coastal waters can be simplified as a turbulent jet under the effect of waves and currents. Previous studies have been carried out to investigate the jet behaviors under the current only or the wave only environment. To obtain better understanding of the jet behaviors in a realistic situation, a series of physical experiments on the initial dilution of a vertical round jet in the wavy cross-flow environment are conducted. The diluted processes of the jet are recorded by a high-resolution camcorder and the concentration fields of the jet are measured with a peristaltic suction pumping system. When the jet is discharged into the wavy cross-flow environment, a distinctive phenomenon, namely ＂effluent clouds＂, is observed. According to the quantitative measurements, the jet width in the wavy cross-flow environment increases more significantly than that does in the cross-flow only environment, indicating that the waves impose a positive effect on the enhancement of jet initial dilution. In order to generalize the experimental findings, a comprehensive velocity scale ua and a characteristic length scale l are introduced. Through dimensional analysis, it is found that the dimensionless centerline concentration trajectories cy/l is in proportion to 1/3 power of the dimensionless downstream distance x/l, and the dimensionless centerline dilution 2c aS Q/（u l） is proportional to the square of the dimensionless centerline trajectory cy/l. Several empirical equations are then derived by using the Froude number of cross-flow Frc as a reference coefficient. This paper provides a better understanding and new estimations of the jet initial dilution under the combined effect of waves and cross-flow current.

Determination of Fe,Ni,Cu,Zn,Cd and Pb in seawater by isotope dilution automatic solid-phase extraction—ICP-MS

A thorough understanding of the biogeochemical cycling of trace metals in the ocean is crucial because of the important role these elements play in regulating metabolism in marine biotas and thus,the climate.However,a precise and accurate analysis of trace metals in seawater is difficult because they are present at extremely low concentrations in a high salt matrix.In this study,we report an analytical method for the preconcentration and separation of six trace metals,Fe,Ni,Cu,Zn,Cd and Pb,in seawater using a sea FAST automatic solid-phase extraction device,analysis by a triple quadrupole collision/reaction technique with inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry(ICP-MS),and quantification by the isotope dilution technique.A small volume(10 m L)of seawater sample was mixed with a multi-element isotope spike and subjected to sea FAST procedures.The preconcentrate solution was then analyzed using the optimized collision/reaction cell mode of ICP-MS,with NH_(3)gas for Fe and Cd with a flow rate of 0.22 m L/min and He for Ni,Cu,Zn and Pb with a flow rate of 4.0 m L/min.The procedure blanks were 130 pmol/L,3.0 pmol/L,6.8 pmol/L,37 pmol/L,0.29 pmol/L and 0.42 pmol/L,for Fe,Ni,Cu,Zn,Cd and Pb,respectively.The method was validated using five reference materials(SLRs-6,SLEW-3,CASS-6,NASS-7 and GEOTRACE-GSC),and our results were consistent with the consensus values.The method was further validated by measuring full-water-column seawater samples from the subtropical Northwest Pacific Ocean,and our results demonstrated good oceanic consistency.

Grazing impact of microzooplankton on phytoplankton in the Xiamen Bay using pigment-specific dilution technique

Phytoplankton group-specific growth and microzooplankton grazing were determined seasonally using the dilution technique with high-performance liquid chromatography （HPLC） in the Xiamen Bay, a subtropical bay in southeast China, between May 2003 and February 2004. The results showed that growth rates of phytoplankton ranged from 0.71 to 2.2 d^-1 with the highest value occurred in the inner bay in May. Mierozooplankton grazing rates ranged from 0.5 to 3.1 d^-1 with the highest value occurred in the inner bay in August. Microzooplankton grazing impact ranged from 39% to 95% on total phytoplankton Chl a biomass, and 65% to 181% on primary production. The growth and grazing rates of each phytoplankton group varied, the highest growth rate （up to 3.3 d^-1 ） was recorded for diatoms in August, while the maximum grazing rate （ up to 2.1 d ^-1 ） was recorded for chlorophytes in February in the inner bay. Among main phytoplankton groups, grazing pressure of microzooplankton ranged from 10% to 83% on Chl a biomass, and from 14% to 151% on primary production. The highest grazing pressure on biomass was observed for cryptophytes （83%） in August, while the maximum grazing pressure on primary production was observed for eyanobacteria （up to 151% ） in December in the inner bay. Net growth rates of larger phytoplanktons （diatoms and dinoflagellates） were higher than those of smaller groups （ prasinophytes, chlorophytes and cyanobacteria）. Relative preference index showed that microzooplankton grazed preferentially on prasinophytes and avoided to harvest diatoms in cold seasons （December and February）.

Numerical Investigation of Fuel Dilution Effects on the Performance of the Conventional and the Highly Preheated and Diluted Air Combustion Furnaces

This numerical study investigates the effects of using a diluted fuel （50% natural gas and 50% N2） in an industrial furnace under several cases of conventional combustion （air with 21% O2 at 300 and 1273 K） and the highly preheated and diluted air （1273 K with 10% O2 and 90% N2） combustion （HPDAC） conditions using an in-house computer program. It was found that by applying a combined diluted fuel and oxidant instead of their uncombined and/or undiluted states, the best condition is obtained for the establishment of HPDAC＇s main unique features. These features are low mean and maximum gas temperature and high radiation/total heat transfer to gas and tubes; as well as more uniformity of theirs distributions which results in decrease in NOx pollutant formation and increase in furnace efficiency or energy saving. Moreover, a variety of chemical flame shape, the process fluid and tubes walls temperatures profiles, the required regenerator efficiency and finally the concentration and velocity patterns have been also qualitatively/quantitatively studied.

Lysozyme refolding at high concentration by dilution and size—exclusion chromatography

This study of renaturation by dilution and size exclusion chromatogra phy (SEC) addition of urea to improve yield as well as the initial and final pro tein concentrations showed that although urea decreased the rate of lysozyme ref o lding, it could suppress protein aggregation to sustain the pathway of correct r efolding at high protein concentration; and that there existed an optimum urea c oncentration in renaturation buffer. Under the above conditions, lysozyme was su ccessfully refolded from initial concentration of up to 40 mg/mL by dilution and 100 mg/mL by SEC, with the yield of the former being more than 40% and that of the latter being 34.8%. Especially, under the condition of 30 min interval time, i.e. τ>2(t_R2 -t_R1 ), the efficiency was increased by 25% and the renaturation buffe r could be recycled for SEC refolding in continuous operation of downstream proc ess.

Prediction of Infinite Dilution Activity Coefficients of Alcohol and Ether Organic Compounds in Water

Based on QSPR of alcohol and ether organic compounds in water,geometrical optimization and electrostatic potential calculations were performed at the HF/6-31G＊ level for 73 alcohol and ether organic compounds.Linear relationships between infinite dilution activity coef-ficient（lnγ∞） of alcohols and ethers in water and theoretical descriptors of the molecular structure were established by multiple regression method.The result shows that the parameters derived from molecular electrostatic potential together with molecular surface area can be preferably used to express the quantitative structure-lnγ∞ relationship of alcohols and ethers in water.This reveals that this model has good predictive capabilities（RCV=0.969）.The molecular electrostatic potential has also been proved to have the general applicability in QSPR model of alcohol and ether organic compounds about γ∞ in water.The QSPR model established may provide a new powerful method for predicting γ∞ of organic compounds in aqueous systems.

Prediction of Infinite Dilution Activity Coefficients of Halogenated Hydrocarbons in Water

Geometrical optimization and electrostatic potential calculations have been performed for a series of halogenated hydrocarbons at the HF/Gen-6d level. A number of electrostatic potentials and the statistically based structural descriptors derived from these electrostatic potentials have been obtained. Multiple linear regression analysis and artificial neural network are employed simultaneously in this paper. The result shows that the parameters derived from electrostatic 2 potentials σtot^2, V s and ∑ Vs^＋, together with the molecular volume （Vine） can be used to express the quantitative structure-infinite dilution activity coefficients （γ^∞） relationship of halogenated hydrocarbons in water. The result also demonstrates that the model obtained by using BFGS quasiNewton neural network method has much better predictive capability than that from multiple linear regression. The goodness of the model has been validated through exploring the predictive power for the external test set. The model obtained via neural network may be applied to predict γ^∞ of other halogenated hydrocarbons not present in the data set.