Numerical simulation of the red blood cell aggregation and deformation behaviors in ultrasonic field

The objective of this paper is to propose an immersed boundary lattice Boltzmann method (IB-LBM) considering the ultrasonic effect to simulate red blood cell (RBC) aggregation and deformation in ultrasonic field. Numerical examples involving the typical streamline, normalized out-of-plane vorticity contours and vector fields in pure plasma under three different ultrasound intensities are presented. Meanwhile, the corresponding transient aggregation behavior of RBCs, with special emphasis on the detailed process of RBC deformation, is shown. The numerical results reveal that the ultrasound wave acted on the pure plasma can lead to recirculation flow, which contributes to the RBCs aggregation and deformation in microvessel. Furthermore, increasing the intensity of the ultrasound wave can significantly enhance the aggregation and deformation of the RBCs. And the formation of the RBCs aggregation leads to the fluctuated and dropped vorticity value of plasma in return.     

Dynamic stability of externally pressurized elastic rings subjected to high rates of loading

Of interest here is the influence of loading rate on the stability of structures where inertia is taken into account, with particular attention to the comparison between static and dynamic buckling. This work shows the importance of studying stability via perturbations of the initial conditions, since a finite velocity governs the propagation of disturbances. The method of modal analysis that determines the fastest growing wavelength, currently used in the literature to analyze dynamic stability problems, is meaningful only for cases where the velocity of the perfect structure is significantly lower than the associated wave propagation speeds.     

Measuring grain rotation at the nanoscale

In this paper, we introduced a method to measure grain rotation of nanomaterials under external stress using a high pressure diamond anvil cell and the Laue microdiffraction technique at a synchrotron facility. We used tungsten carbide marker crystals to investigate grain rotation activities of 3 and 500?nm nickel media. Our results show that the grain rotation of 3 and 500?nm nickel nanocrystals increase with pressure and finally rotation of 500?nm nickel tends to stop at a lower pressure/stress level than 3?nm nickel. 3?nm nickel nanocrystals show a higher rotation magnitude than 500?nm nickel nanocrystals. Our measurements show an effective method to study the grain rotation of nanomaterials especially in ultrafine nanocrystals.     

A re-examination of platinum-group element concentrations in the environmental certified reference material BCR-723

A detailed statistical examination of replicated data used to certify platinum-group elements (PGEs) in environmental reference material BCR-723 is presented. Certification of Pt, Pd, and Rh concentrations in BCR-723 was based on 16, eight, and nine accepted data sets, respectively. Each accepted data set contained six replicated measurements for each PGE, and the statistical properties of these concentration data were examined, i.e. 96 for Pt, 48 for Pd, and 54 for Rh. This level of investigation has received limited attention but is critical in furthering our understanding of PGE variability and representativeness. Concentrations of Pt, Pd, and Rh were shown to differ significantly between accepted data sets. Palladium and Pt differed in their quantification between detection techniques. Additionally, Pd and Pt concentrations varied significantly between laboratories using a similar definitive method (inductively coupled plasma-isotope dilution mass spectrometry). The distribution of Pd concentrations was found to be bimodal, with a secondary population exhibiting a contamination signal of about 15%. The secondary population, not previously reported in BCR-723, is likely a measurement artifact and not due to a nugget effect. Comparisons of BCR-723 with other environmental media from Europe, i.e. airborne particulate matter, tunnel dust, and road-deposited sediment, indicated that Pd is uncommonly low in BCR-723 (6.0?ng?g^?1) and is generally not representative in terms of its distribution relative to Pt and Rh. Serious consideration should be given to developing a new PGE certified environmental reference material.     

From Dislocation Motion to an Additive Velocity Gradient Decomposition, and Some Simple Models of Dislocation Dynamics

A mathematical theory of time-dependent dislocation mechanics of unrestricted geometric and material nonlinearity is reviewed. Within a ``small deformation" setting, a suite of simplified and interesting models consisting of a nonlocal Ginzburg Landau equation, a nonlocal level set equation, and a nonlocal generalized Burgers equation is derived. In the finite deformation setting, it is shown that an additive decomposition of the total velocity gradient into elastic and plastic parts emerges naturally from a micromechanical starting point that involves no notion of plastic deformation but only the elastic distortion, material velocity, dislocation density and the dislocation velocity. Moreover, a plastic spin tensor emerges naturally as well.     

基于布谷鸟算法与BP神经网络的煤灰变形温度预测

以120种煤样为数据基础,采用布谷鸟算法(CS)优化BP(Back Propagation)神经网络,建立了CSBP模型对单煤、煤掺添加剂和配煤等3类样本的煤灰变形温度(DT)样本进行预测。模型以煤灰化学成分及其组合参数等13个变量作为输入量,以变形温度(DT)作为输出量。CSBP模型预测结果与BP神经网络模型预测结果进行对比发现,无论是单煤、煤掺添加剂还是配煤,CSBP模型较BP模型对煤灰变形温度(DT)的预测都更加精准,平均相对误差分别达到了3.11%、4.08%和4.22%。另外,对比3类样本预测结果发现,无论是CSBP模型还是BP模型,相比单煤预测而言,煤掺添加剂及配煤的预测误差都有明显的增加。     

Three trithiadiazepines and a trithiatriazepine

The structures of 6‐nitro‐1,3λ⁴δ²,5,2,4‐trithiadiazepine [C₂HN₃O₂S₃, ( 1 )], 6,7‐dinitro‐1,3λ⁴δ²,5,2,4‐trithiadiazepine [C₂N₄O₄S₃, ( 2 )], 1,3λ⁴δ²,5,2,4‐trithiadiazepine‐6,7‐dicarbonitrile [C₄N₄S₃, ( 3 )] and 7‐acetyl‐1,3λ⁴δ²,5,2,4,6‐trithiatriazepine [C₃H₃N₃OS₃, ( 4 )] presented here include the most precise determinations of these seven‐membered 10 π‐electron aromatic ring systems published to date. Both ( 2 ) and ( 3 ) are sited around crystallographic twofold axes with half a molecule per asymmetric unit. Comparison with other published derivatives of these rings reveals the effect of substituents on bonding, conformations and intermolecular interactions, including π‐stacking. The deformation density analysis of ( 2 ) is consistent with the expected bonding electron density from other theoretical and experimental studies.     

Heterostructured composite of NiFe-LDH nanosheets with Ti4O7 for oxygen evolution reaction

Developing oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrocatalyst based on earth-abundant materials holds great promise for ascertaining water-splitting to surmount its deprived kinetics. In this regard, NiFe-LDH (layered double hydroxide) receives considerable attention owing to their layered structure. However, they still suffer from poor electronic conductivity and structural stability. We combined NiFe-LDH nanosheets with Magnéli phase Ti₄O₇ into a heterostructured composite. A series of analyses reveal that decorating Ti₄O₇ facilitates charge transfer to enhance the conductivity of NiFe-LDH-Ti₄O₇. During electrochemical measurement, Ni²⁺ is transformed to metastable Ni³⁺ (Ni (OH)→ NiOOH) before the OER onset potential. Thus, the presence of Ni³⁺ as the main active sites could improve the chemisorption of OH^? to facilitate OER. As a result, the NiFe-LDH-Ti₄O₇ catalyst delivers as low as onset potential (1.43 V). Combining the holey structure (NiFe-LDH and Ti₄O₇) and the defect engineering generated on NiFe-LDH-Ti₄O₇ as a synergistic effect improves the OER performance. The inclusion of Ti₄O₇ in the composite leads to more vacancy sites, as evidenced by the extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) analysis. The obtained defective structure with a low coordination environment would improve the electronic conductivity and facilitate the adsorption process of H₂O onto metal cations, thereby increasing the intrinsic catalytic activity of NiOOH. The strong coupling of NiFe-LDH and Ti₄O₇ also increases the stability, and the heterostructured composite helps maintain the structural robustness of the LDH.     

Hardness and slip systems of orthorhombic hen egg-white lysozyme crystals

Hardness and slip systems by an indentation method were investigated on different habit planes of orthorhombic hen egg-white lysozyme (O-HEWL) crystals containing water. A dependence of the hardness on the water-evaporation time exhibits three stages as incubation, transition and saturated ones, as tetragonal (T)-HEWL crystals reported previously. The hardness values of (1 1 0), (0 1 0) and (0 1 1) habit planes of O-HEWL in the incubation stage or wet condition exhibits 6, 8 and 10 MPa, respectively. The hardness depends on indented planes but it is independent of the air-humidity and crystal volumes. These values correspond to the intrinsic hardness for O-HEWL crystals containing water. In the incubation stage, the slip traces are clearly observed around the indentation mark and the corresponding six kinds of slip systems are identified to be {0 1 1}<1 0 0>, {1 1 0}<1 1 0>, {0 1 1}<0 1 1>, {1 1 0}<0 0 1>, {1 0 0}<0 0 1> and {0 1 0}<0 0 1>.