Radiation-stimulated diffusion in Al–Si alloys

A di-vacancy low-temperature diffusion is proposed to explain diffusion-controlled processes in Al–Si alloys responsible for neutron-induced silicon precipitation. Ab initio calculations of potential barriers for Si atom hopping in aluminium lattice showed that in the case of di-vacancy diffusion, they are small compared with that of mono-vacancy diffusion. The low temperature diffusivity of mono-vacancies is too small to account for the measured Si diffusivities in aluminium. The dependencies of radiation-stimulated diffusion on the neutron flux and on the temperature are obtained and can be used for the experimental verification of the developed model.     

Computational modeling and in-vitro/in-silico correlation of phospholipid-based prodrugs for targeted drug delivery in inflammatory bowel disease

Targeting drugs to the inflamed intestinal tissue(s) represents a major advancement in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). In this work we present a powerful in-silico modeling approach to guide the molecular design of novel prodrugs targeting the enzyme PLA₂, which is overexpressed in the inflamed tissues of IBD patients. The prodrug consists of the drug moiety bound to the sn-2 position of phospholipid (PL) through a carbonic linker, aiming to allow PLA₂ to release the free drug. The linker length dictates the affinity of the PL-drug conjugate to PLA₂, and the optimal linker will enable maximal PLA₂-mediated activation. Thermodynamic integration and Weighted Histogram Analysis Method (WHAM)/Umbrella Sampling method were used to compute the changes in PLA₂ transition state binding free energy of the prodrug molecule (??G^tr) associated with decreasing/increasing linker length. The simulations revealed that 6-carbons linker is the optimal one, whereas shorter or longer linkers resulted in decreased PLA₂-mediated activation. These in-silico results were shown to be in excellent correlation with experimental in-vitro data. Overall, this modern computational approach enables optimization of the molecular design of novel prodrugs, which may allow targeting the free drug specifically to the diseased intestinal tissue of IBD patients.     

Effect of Al2O3 content and milling time on microstructure and mechanical properties of aluminum metal matrix composites

Experimental Techniques - In this study, aluminum metal matrix composites (Al-MMCs) reinforced with aluminum oxide (Al2O3) (5, 10, 15 wt%) were produced using the powder metallurgy (PM) process....     

Observation of ε′-Ag17 Mg54 phase induced by plasma immersion ion implantation

This paper provides a confirmation of the effectiveness of the recently suggested ab initio approach to the theoretical prediction of phase transformations which may be induced in metallic alloys by metal plasma immersion and ion implantation processing. The approach is based on an assumption that at certain concentrations of the implanted species, the relaxation of the exited electronic state of the implanted structure should be accompanied by the rearrangement of atoms leading to the formation of a new phase. Recently, on the basis of density functional theory calculations of the energetic characteristics of the electronic subsystems of the implanted Mg–Ag system, it was predicted that concentrations of the implanted Ag ions within the range from ～18 to 23 at% Ag, favor transition to the phase ε′-Ag₁₇Mg₅₄. Our transmission electron microscopy observations and electron diffraction analysis of the Mg-based alloy subjected to the implantation of Ag ions at dose of ～5×10¹⁵ ion/cm² confirmed that the formation of the ε′-Ag₁₇Mg₅₄ phase indeed takes place.     

Conducting swift heavy ion track networks

In this paper, the electronic behavior of conducting swift heavy ion track networks is studied. On the one hand, the transient conductivity of ion tracks in metal oxides on silicon in status nascendi is exploited for this purpose, and on the other hand, conducting tracks are produced by ion irradiation of insulating membranes (either self-supported or deposited onto silicon substrates), subsequent etching and finally inserting conducting materials of whatever provenience (in this work preferentially electrolytes). Depending on their manufacture, the conducting tracks either act as electronically active or passive elements. When applying a voltage across individual tracks in the first case, one observes current spikes with negative differential resistances. These tracks interact among themselves, leading to phase-locked synchronous coupled oscillations with complex patterns that are quite similar to those emerging from neural networks. The other case corresponds to networks of electronically passive conducting tracks which become overall electronically active only through their collective interactions. Though the aforementioned effects had been experimentally described earlier, they are re-visited here to make clear that the corresponding systems have to be considered as being artificial neural networks. On this occasion, some new findings are added.     

Letter: Multiple Photonic Shells Around a Line Singularity

Line singularities including cosmic strings may be screened by photonic shells until they appear as a planar wall.     

Investigation on the preconcentration of trace elements on polyacrylonitrile

Summary Trace amounts of Co, Ni, and Mn have been enriched from aqueous solutions by retention of their ions on polyacrylonitrile (PAN). The recovery has been determined as a function of the amount of PAN, pH, the concentration of eluent (HCl) and the volume of sample solution. The elements were removed with 100% efficiency by means of conc. HCl. Recoveries were up to 95% depending on the elements. The resin has been used in combination with atomic absorption spectrophotometry for the determination.     

The Inhomogeneous Quantum Invariance Group of The Two Parameter Deformed Boson Algebra

We consider two parameter deformed boson algebra and investigate the inhomogeneous invariance quantum group of this system. We find the R-matrix which collects all information about the non-commuting structure of the quantum group. We extend our study to the d-dimensional case.     

A pure spinor model with composite gluons

A pure spinor model with a non-polynomial interaction with global SU(n) symmetry is quantized in the path integral formalism. The model is found to be asymptotically free.     

A measurement of π+p backward elastic differential cross sections from 1.282 to 2.472 GeV/c

New high-statistics measurements of π⁺p elastic scattering differential cross sections are presented at 30 momentum points between 1.282 and 2.472 GeV/c, covering most of the angular distribution outside the forward diffractive peak. These data show significant disagreements at some momenta with previous high-statistics experiments and with current partial wave analyses.