Al双晶体的晶界疲劳效应

通过Al双晶体疲劳试验,研究了晶界对循环变形和疲劳裂纹扩展的影响。实验结果表明,晶界疲劳效应集中体现于晶界影响区,表现为不相容塑性应变在该区内产生内应力,并由此可激发次级滑移,甚至产生晶界裂纹;在常幅循环应力下,随超Ⅰ阶段裂纹逐渐接近晶界,裂纹分叉、前沿碎裂,扩展速率降低,直至在晶界影响区中央达到一最小值。本文提出了晶界诱发裂纹顶端屏蔽机制,并以此解释了上述超Ⅰ阶段裂纹对微观组织敏感的扩展行为。

Assessment of liver ablation using cone beam computed tomography

AIM: To investigate the feasibility and accuracy of cone beam computed tomography(CBCT) in assessing the ablation zone after liver tumor ablation.METHODS: Twenty-three patients(17 men and 6 women, range: 45-85 years old, mean age 65 years) with malignant liver tumors underwent ultrasoundguided percutaneous tumor ablation [radiofrequency(n = 14), microwave(n = 9)] followed by intravenous contrast-enhanced CBCT. Baseline multidetector computed tomography(MDCT) and peri-procedural CBCT images were compared. CBCT image quality was assessed as poor, good, or excellent. Image fusion was performed to assess tumor coverage, and quality of fusion was rated as bad, good, or excellent. Ablation zone volumes on peri-procedural CBCT and post-procedural MDCT were compared using the nonparametric paired Wilcoxon t-test.RESULTS: Rate of primary ablation effectiveness was 100%. There were no complications related to ablation. Local tumor recurrence and new liver tumors were found 3 mo after initial treatment in one patient(4%). The ablation zone was identified in 21/23(91.3%) patients on CBCT. The fusion of baseline MDCT and peri-procedural CBCT images was feasible in all patients and showed satisfactory tumor coverage(at least 5-mm margin). CBCT image quality was poor, good, and excellent in 2(9%), 8(35%), and 13(56%), patients respectively. Registration quality between periprocedural CBCT and post-procedural MDCT images was good to excellent in 17/23(74%) patients. The median ablation volume on peri-procedural CBCT and post-procedural MDCT was 30 cm3(range: 4-95 cm3) and 30 cm3(range: 4-124 cm3), respectively(P-value > 0.2). There was a good correlation(r = 0.79) between the volumes of the two techniques. CONCLUSION: Contrast-enhanced CBCT after tumor ablation of the liver allows early assessment of the ablation zone.

EFFECT OF GRAIN BOUNDARY ON FATIGUE BEHAVIOUR OF Al BICRYSTALS

The effect of grain boundaries on cyclic deformation and fatigue crack growth in aluminum bicrystals has been studied.The effect of a grain boundary is restricted in a narrow area, termed as grain boundary affecting zone(GBAZ),where the incompatible plastic strain treats internal stress which conversely promotes inhomogeneous slip in the area and grain boundary cracking.As an extended stage I crack initiated from a notch approaches the grain boundary under a constant cyclic stress,the crack front branches splits into several pieces, meanwhile,the growth rate of the crack reduces to a minimum value at the center of the GBAZ.Such microstructure-sensitive growth of extended stage I cracks is mainly attributed to the grain boundary-induced crack tip sheilding.

Elusive workers are more likely to differentiate into replacement reproductives than aggressive workers in a lower termite

One of the most intriguing questions in eusocial insects is to understand how the overt reproductive conflict in the colony appears limited when queens or kings are senescent or lost because the morphologically similar individuals in the colony are reproductively totipotent.Whether there are some individuals who preferentially differentiate into replacement reproductives or not has received little attention.The consistent individual behavioral differences(also termed“animal personality”)of individuals from the colony can shape cunningly their task and consequently affect the colony fitness but have been rarely investigated in eusocial insects.Here,we used the termite Reticulitermes labralis to investigate if variations in individual personalities(elusiveness and aggressiveness)may predict which individuals will perform reproductive differentiation within colonies.We observed that when we separately reared elusive and aggressive workers,elusive workers differentiate into reproductives significantly earlier than aggressive workers.When we reared them together in the proportions 12:3,10:5,and 8:7(aggressive workers:elusive workers),the first reproductives mostly differentiated from the elusive workers,and the reproductives differentiated from the elusive workers significantly earlier than from aggressive workers.Furthermore,we found that the number of workers participating in reproductive differentiation was significantly lower in the groups of both types of workers than in groups containing only elusive workers.Our results demonstrate that the elusiveness trait was a strong predictor of workers’differentiation into replacement reproductives in R.labralis.Moreover,our results suggest that individual personalities within the insect society could play a key role in resolving the overt reproductive conflict.