Dependence of impact regime boundaries on the initial temperatures of projectiles and targets

Towards higher impact velocities,ballistic events are increasingly determined by the material temperatures.Related effects might range from moderate thermal softening to full phase transition.In particular,it is of great interest to quantify the conditions for incipient or full melting of metals during impact interactions,which result in a transition from still strength-affected to hydrodynamic material behavior.In this work,we investigate to which extent the respective melting thresholds are also dependent on the initial,and generally elevated,temperatures of projectiles and targets before impact.This is studied through the application of a model developed recently by the authors to characterize the transition regime between high-velocity and hypervelocity impact,for which the melting thresholds of materials were used as the defining quantities.The obtained results are expected to be of general interest for ballistic application cases where projectiles or targets are preheated.Such conditions might result,for example,from aerodynamic forces acting onto a projectile during atmospheric flight,explosive shapedcharge-jet formation or armor exposure to environmental conditions.The performed analyses also broaden the scientific understanding of the relevance of temperature in penetration events,generally known since the 1960s,but often not considered thoroughly in impact studies.

Computer modeling of high-pressure leaching process of nickel laterite by design of experiments and neural networks

Due to the complex chemical composition of nickel ores, the requests for the decrease of production costs, and the increase of nickel extraction in the existing depletion of high-grade sulfide ores around the world, computer modeling of nickel ore leaching process be- came a need and a challenge. In this paper, the design of experiments （DOE） theory was used to determine the optimal experimental design plan matrix based on the D optimality criterion. In the high-pressure sulfuric acid leaching （HPSAL） process for nickel laterite in ＂Rudjinci＂ ore in Serbia, the temperature, the sulfuric acid to ore ratio, the stirring speed, and the leaching time as the predictor variables, and the degree of nickel extraction as the response have been considered. To model the process, the multiple linear regression （MLR） and response surface method （RSM）, together with the two-level and four-factor full factorial central composite design （CCD） plan, were used. The proposed re- gression models have not been proven adequate. Therefore, the artificial neural network （ANN） approach with the same experimental plan was used in order to reduce operational costs, give a better modeling accuracy, and provide a more successful process optimization. The model is based on the multi-layer neural networks with the back-propagation （BP） learning algorithm and the bipolar sigmoid activation function.

The Born-Oppenheimer Approximation Revisited

We present an improved Born-Oppenheimer method for the treatment of molecules. Our development is based on taking into account a portion of the kinetic energy which was inadvertently omitted by Born and Oppenheimer. Our theory replaces the set of standard atom-atom potentials by an evolution operator. In particular, in contrast to the traditional Born-Oppenheimer method our amended basis describes the so-called Wannier phenomenon which deforms potential surfaces, and traps one or more threshold electrons into an unstable equilibrium. Within our framework that trapping manifests itself as a Fresnel distribution. Finally we discover a π/2 phase jump in the evolution operator caused by the diffraction of a two-electron wave from a potential ridge.

Did Major Impacts Affect Sedimentologic/Sequence-Analytical Pattern of the Early Palaeozoic Sedimentary Systems of Jordan,Arabian Plate?

Based on profound sequence-analytical data of the early Palaeozoic sedimentary systems of Jordan, Arabian Plate, a correlation attempt is proposed with regard to possible major impact events after Price [10]. His methodological concept tells that abrupt 441 Ma. Referring to the fact that major impacts may trigger, respectively influence, exogenic and endogenic processes on an over-regional, even global, extent, this paper put the “sensitive” geological setting of Jordan at the Arabian Platform’s margin into focus. That mainly concerns the early Palaeozoic coastlines as to sea level change as well as the Jordan Valley Rift as being possibly to susceptible for tectonic re-activation changes of both direction and speed of plate motions would indicate such convulsive processes as occurred on: 550 Ma, 526.5 Ma, 514 Ma, 502 Ma, 456/455.4 Ma, and following triggering of magmatism at the Precambrian/Cambrian boundary. The following phenomena are taken into account: Faulting and magmatism triggered along the Jordan Valley Rift (Wadi Araba) in connection with the Pan-African Orogeny, anoxic sediments, temporary high detrital input onto the adjoining stable platform from Gondwana hinterlands, and significant chemical weathering in the Gondwana source areas by intensive acid (nitric) rain directing mineral content variation in the “Nubian Sandstones” (e.g. feldspar, kaolinite/dickite, tourmaline).

A New Species of Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804(Squamata: Viperidae) from Southwestern China, Vietnam, Thailand and Myanmar

The pit vipers of the genus Trimeresurus Lacépède, 1804 is one of the largest groups of Asian snakes, distributed from India to China and Indonesia. Recent surveys in Jiangcheng and Simao, Yunnan Province, China resulted in a new species previously allocated to T. albolabris. Combining morphological and molecular data, we describe it as Trimeresurus guoi sp. nov. The new species morphologically differs from T. albolabris in the yellow green ventral color;an indistinct ventrolateral line;the a bsence of a postocular stripe;the firebrickred iris;a dark red stripe on dorsal tail;hemipenes with relatively weak sparse papillae, reaching 23 rd subcaudal when unextruded. Molecularly, the new species forms a clearly divergent lineage(BPP 1.00/UFB 100). Uncorrected pairwise distances of mitochondrial gene Cyt b between the new species and other known species of the subgenus Trimeresurus range from 0.052(T. albolabris) to 0.071(T. insularis).

A Novel Medium Access Control Protocol for Real-Time Wireless Communications in Industrial Automation

In this paper, a novel Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol for industrial Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs) is proposed and studied. The main challenge in industry automation systems is the ultra-low network latency with a target upper bound in the order of 1 ms while maintaining high network reliability and availability. The novelty of the proposed wireless MAC protocol resides in its similar latency performance as its counterpart in wired industrial LAN. First, the functional design of the MAC protocol is introduced. Then its performance results gained from hardware implementation (SystemC and VHDL) on an FPGA platform are presented. Finally, a real-time communication module which achieves the ultra-low latency required in industrial automation is described.

Quantifying the parameter dependent basin of the unsafe regime of asymmetric Lévy-noise-induced critical transitions

In real systems,the unpredictable jump changes of the random environment can induce the critical transitions(CTs)between two non-adjacent states,which are more catastrophic.Taking an asymmetric Lévy-noise-induced tri-stable model with desirable,sub-desirable,and undesirable states as a prototype class of real systems,a prediction of the noise-induced CTs from the desirable state directly to the undesirable one is carried out.We first calculate the region that the current state of the given model is absorbed into the undesirable state based on the escape probability,which is named as the absorbed region.Then,a new concept of the parameter dependent basin of the unsafe regime(PDBUR)under the asymmetric Lévy noise is introduced.It is an efficient tool for approximately quantifying the ranges of the parameters,where the noise-induced CTs from the desirable state directly to the undesirable one may occur.More importantly,it may provide theoretical guidance for us to adopt some measures to avert a noise-induced catastrophic CT.

LARGE TIME ASYMPTOTIC BEHAVIOR OF THE COMPRESSIBLE NAVIER-STOKES EQUATIONS IN PARTIAL SPACE-PERIODIC DOMAINS

In this article, we study the large time behavior of the 3-D isentropic compressible Navier-Stokes equation in the partial space-periodic domains, and simultaneously show that the related profile systems can be described by like Navier-Stokes equations with suitable ＂pressure＂ functions in lower dimensions. Our proofs are based on the energy methods together with some delicate analysis on the corresponding linearized problems.

Assistive Navigation Device for Visually Impaired—A Study on Reaction Time to Tactile Modality Stimuli

A tactile system to support severe visually-impaired or blind people in the world for their orientation and navigation had been developed. To optimize the design, some parameters of tactile display device were evaluated. In the present paper,we focused on the reaction time to tactile stimuli. In the test, the stimuli were produced through a vibration belt that was worn around the participants’ waist. In the choice reaction time task, the participants had to click corresponding arrow keys according to the location of a tactile signal. The findings of this study provided a reference of the reaction time range, so as to design a more effective and safe tactile navigation system.

ON THE GLOBAL EXISTENCE OF SMOOTH SOLUTIONS TO THE MULTI-DIMENSIONAL COMPRESSIBLE EULER EQUATIONS WITH TIME-DEPENDING DAMPING IN HALF SPACE

This paper is a continue work of [4, 5]. In the previous two papers, we studied the Cauchy problem of the multi-dimensional compressible Euler equations with time-depending damping term --u/（1＋t）λpu, where λ≥ 0 and μ 〉 0 are constants. We have showed that, for all λ ≥ 0 andμ 〉 0 the smooth solution to the Cauchy problem exists globally or blows up in finite time. In the present paper, instead of the Cauchy problem we consider the initial- boundary value problem in the half space R＋^d with space dimension d = 2, 3. With the help of the special structure of the equations and the fluid vorticity, we overcome the difficulty arisen from the boundary effect. We prove that there exists a global smooth solution for 0 ≤λ 〈 1 when the initial data is close to its equilibrium state. In addition, exponential decay of the fluid vorticity will also be established.

Experimental and numerical study on energy dissipation in freely cooling granular gases under microgravity

Energy dissipation is one of the most important properties of granular gas, which makes Its behavior dltterent trom that of molecular gas. In this work we report our investigations on the freely-cooling evolution of granular gas under microgravity in a drop tower experiment, and also conduct the molecular dynamics （MD） simulation for comparison. While our experimental and simulation results support Haff＇s law that the kinetic energy dissipates with time t as E（t） （1 ＋ t/v） 2, we modify ~＂ by taking into account the friction dissipation during collisions, and study the effects of number density and particle size on the collision frequency. From the standard deviation of the measured velocity distributions we also verify the energy dissipation law, which is in agreement with Haff＇s kinetic energy dissipation.

Sensitive Colorimetric and Fluorescent Detection of Mercury Using Fluorescein Derivations

A colorimetric and fluorometric dual-model probe for mercury (II) ion was developed employing fluorescein hydrazide (FH) in ethanol-HEPES solution (1:1, v/v, pH 8.0). The probe exhibited high selectivity and sensitivity for Hg2+ detection using UV/Vis and fluorescence spectroscopy. Addition of Hg2+ caused a visual color change from colorless to coloured and a fluorescence change from colorless to bright green. Other metal ions did not interfere with the detection of Hg2+.

Urban Cemeteries in Southern Brazil: An Analysis of Planimetric Variations, Vegetation Indices and Temperature

Urban cemeteries have the potential to negatively impact the quality of health of populations in their immediate vicinity.Thus,it becomes important to understand the factors influencing the potential to disperse contamination.This study examined the altimetry,Normalized Difference Vegetation Index(NDVI)and Land Surface Temperature(LST)in five urban cemeteries in the City of Passo Fundo/RS,in the south of Brazil,and the possible potential for the proliferation of contaminating agents present in these cemetery spaces in relation to a radius of 300 meters(m).The methodologies used Landsat 8 satellite images to sample the altimetry,NDVI and LST,applied to a regression model,to analyze the dispersion factors of the correlation of collected data.The results showed a trend of contamination of the environment by urban cemeteries in Passo Fundo,in the regions with the highest population density and the lowest vegetative cover.

Observations on a magnetotactic bacteria-grazing ciliate in sediment from the intertidal zone of Huiquan Bay,China

Magnetotactic bacteria(MTB)are a group of prokaryotes having the ability to orient and swim along geomagnetic field lines because they contain intracellular magnetosomes that are synthesized through a biomineralization process.Magnetosomes have recently also been found in unicellular eukaryotes,which are referred to as magnetically responsive protists(MRPs).The magnetosomes have three origins in MRPs.In this study,we characterized a MTB-grazing ciliated MRP that was magnetically collected from intertidal sediment of Huiquan Bay,Qingdao,China.Based on 18S rRNA gene sequence analysis,the ciliated MRP was tentatively identified as Uronemella parafi lificum HQ.Using transmission electron microscopy,we observed that magnetosomes having 2-3 shapes were randomly distributed within this ciliate.Energydispersive X-ray spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy images of the magnetosomes were consistent with them being composed of magnetite.Magnetosomes having the same shape and mineral composition were also detected in MTB that occurred in the same environment as the ciliated MRP.Statistical analysis showed that the size and shape of the magnetosomes in the ciliated MRP were similar to those in MTB.The results suggest that this ciliated MRP can graze,ingest,and digest various types of MTB.It is certainly worth noting that this is the first record of MRPs in Asian aquatic sediment and suggesting they might be widely distributed.These results also support the assertion that MRPs probably contribute to the ecological cycles of iron,and expand possibilities for research into the mechanism of magnetoreception in eukaryotes.

Characterization and diversity of magnetotactic bacteria from sediments of Caroline Seamount in the Western Pacific Ocean

Magnetotactic bacteria(MTB)are a group of microorganisms capable of orientating and swimming along magnetic fields because they contain intracellular biomineralized magnetosomes composed of magnetite(Fe 3 O 4)or/and greigite(Fe_(3)S_(4)).They are ubiquitous in freshwater,brackish,and marine habitats,and are cosmopolitan in distribution.However,knowledge of their occurrence and distribution in seamount ecosystems is limited.We investigated the diversity and distribution of MTB in the Caroline Seamount(CM4).The abundance of living MTB in 12 stations in depth varying from 90 to 1545 m was 1.1×10^(3)-43.7×10^(3) inds./dm 3.Despite diverse shapes of MTB observed,magnetotactic cocci were the dominant morphotype and could be categorized into two types:1)typical cocci that appeared to have peritrichous fl agella;and 2)those characterized by having a drop-shaped form and one bundle of fl agella located at the thin/narrow end of the cell.Transmission electron microscopy(TEM)analysis revealed that the magnetosomes formed by those magnetotactic cocci are magnetite(Fe 3 O 4)with octahedral crystal habit.A total of 41 operational taxonomic units(OTUs)of putative MTB(2702 reads)were acquired from nine stations,based on high-throughput sequencing.Of these,40 OTUs belonged to the Proteobacteria phylum and one belonged to the Nitrospirae phylum.We found apparent connectivity between the MTB populations on the Caroline and Kexue(Science in Chinese)seamounts,although the diversity of MTB on Caroline was much richer than on the Kexue Seamount.Our results imply that the unique topography of seamounts and other as-yet unclear environmental factors could lead to evolution of different fl agella arrangements in magnetotactic cocci,and the occurrence of octahedral magnetite magnetosomes.

Tuning Intermolecular Interaction Between Lignin and Carbon Nanotubes in Fiber Composites–A Combined Experimental and Ab-Initio Modeling Study

Doping lignin with carbon nanotubes is a promising strategy for cost-effective high-performance carbon fibers.We investigate the intermolecular interaction potential of CNT and organosolv lignin with two main approaches.Experimentally,oxidized purified multiwalled carbon nanotubes(MWCNTs)and beech organosolv lignins and derivatives are analyzed with their Hansen solubility parameters(HSPs)to assess their mutual compatibility.Theoretically,dispersion-corrected density functional theory simulations of the interaction between model molecules and single-walled carbon nanotubes reveal the source of interactions.We find that oxidation enables and enhances the interaction between carbon nanotubes and organosolv lignin experimentally,which is in agreement with the enhanced polar interaction found in the simulations.

Quantitative analysis of RNA levels from single hepatocytes in vivo: combined use of real-time RT-PCR and laser microdissection

AIM: The manner in which a cell responds to and influences its environment is ultimately determined by the genes that are expressed. To better understand cellular functions, the isolation of single cells and subsequent quantification of the expressed genes is essential. METHODS: Normal liver tissue was obtained from operation, snap-frozen in liquid nitrogen and sectioned in crystat. Individual hepatocytes were microdissected. RNA was extracted, then reverse transcribed and amplified using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR). RESULTS: Single hepatocytes were dissected by laser beam and catapulted to the microcentrifuge cap which was put above the slide. In this way, cells were collected, RNA was extracted, reverse transcribed to cDNA and used for analysis of RNA expression by real-time quantitative PCR. The amplification results showed that quantitation of the RNA inside the cell was compatible with the number of cells. CONCLUSION: The expression of RNA in single cells can be quantitated successfully by using laser microdissection and real-time PCR. These techniques provide an opportunity to monitor in vivo gene expression levels in single hepatocytes.

Three-Dimensional Linear Instability Analysis of Thermocapillary Return Flow on a Porous Plane

A three-dimensional linear instability analysis of thermocapillary convection in a fluid-porous double layer system, imposed by a horizontal temperature gradient, is performed. The basic motion of fluid is the surface-tension-driven return flow, and the movement of fluid in the porous layer is governed by Darcy＇s law. The slippery effect of velocity at the fluid-porous interface has been taken into account, and the influence of this velocity slippage on the instability characteristic of the system is emphasized. The new behavior of the thermocapillary convection instability has been found and discussed through the figures of the spectrum.