Computer modelling: Future directions

Summary Recent developments in computing and in the theory of simulation have extended greatly the successes of the modelling of ionic crystals pioneered by Mott and Littleton. This has changed the way in which computer experiments are brought to bear on an increasing range of solid-state phenomena. Yet applied science creates new demands, both in the form of new types of system and in terms of the complexity and subtlety of what is studied. The author's brief survey looks at some of the successes and gaps from interfaces and catalysts to neurotransmitters and from superconductors to slags.     

Defect and dopant properties of MgTa2O6

Atomistic computer simulation techniques have been used, for the first time, to reproduce the crystal structure of MgTa₂O₆ and to investigate the defect chemistry and dopant properties of this material. The calculated defect energetics suggest that the concentration of intrinsic atomic defects in this phase is insignificant and that the system is probably stable to both oxidation and reduction. Dopant solution energy versus ion size trends are found for both isovalent and aliovalent dopant incorporation at Mg and Ta sites. Divalent dopants (e.g. Ca, Cu) preferentially occupy the Mg site whereas dopants with higher charge (e.g. Sc, Zr, Nb) are more favorable on the Ta site. High migration activation energies (>2 eV) predict limited ionic conductivity in this material.     

Electrocatalytic Reduction of Chromium(VI) by Thionin: Electrochemical Properties and Mechanistic Study

The electrochemical properties of aqueous thionin (an electroactive water soluble dye) of pH 1–12 were investigated by cyclic voltammetry at a boron doped diamond(BDD) electrode. A well defined reversible redox couple was observed in acidic, neutral and alkaline solutions. The standard potential and kinetic parameters for thionin were obtained by fitting experimental cyclic voltammograms to those generated by the DigiSim program. The electrogenerated reduced form of thionin has been used as an efficient organic catalyst for the reduction of Cr(VI) at a BDD electrode immersed in aqueous media. The cyclic voltammetry measurements indicate that an electrocatalytic process occurs, where electrochemically generated thionin reduced species (Leucothionin) is oxidized by Cr(VI) back to the parent thionin species via a EC' reaction mechanism. The determination of catalytic rate constant (K_cat) was accomplished again by fitting experimental cyclic voltammograms with simulated ones.     

Numerical analysis of enhanced mixing in a Gallay tote blender

The mixing performance of a multi-bladed baffle inserted into a traditional Gallay tote blender is explored by graphic processing unit-based discrete element method software. The mixing patterns and rates are investigated for a binary mixture, represented by two different colors, under several loading profiles. The baffle effectively enhances the convective mixing both in the axial and radial directions, because of the disturbance it causes to the initial flowing layer and solid-body zone, compared with a blender without a baffle. The axial mixing rate is affected by the gap between the baffle and the wall on the left and right sides, and an optimal blade length corresponds to the maximum mixing rate. However, the radial mixing rate increases with the blade length almost monotonically.     

L~p空间中的Fejér和Hermite-Hadamard型不等式

给出了二阶导数属于Lp空间时Fejér和Hermite-Hadamard型不等式的推广,得到两个新结果.     

Folded overlapping variance estimators for simulation

We propose and analyze a new class of estimators for the variance parameter of a steady-state simulation output process. The new estimators are computed by averaging individual estimators from “folded” standardized time series based on overlapping batches composed of consecutive observations. The folding transformation on each batch can be applied more than once to produce an entire set of estimators. We establish the limiting distributions of the proposed estimators as the sample size tends to infinity while the ratio of the sample size to the batch size remains constant. We give analytical and Monte Carlo results showing that, compared to their counterparts computed from nonoverlapping batches, the new estimators have roughly the same bias but smaller variance. In addition, these estimators can be computed with order-of-sample-size work.     

繁昌窑址附近多种瓷土成分分析

繁昌窑青白瓷胎体配方工艺一直停留在理论推理阶段，尚未有确凿的测试数据和模拟实验加以证实。为深入探究繁昌窑的胎料配方工艺，选取了繁昌窑址附近的多种瓷土样品进行了测试分析，并采用了古代制瓷工艺进行了模拟烧制。主要运用了波长色散X射线荧光光谱法(WDXRF)、红外光谱（FTIR）和X射线衍射（XRD）等光谱分析方法对瓷土成分进行测试；借助同步热分析（TG-DSC）对样品烧造温度进行了探索；通过模拟烧制陶瓷样品，对繁昌窑青白瓷的烧制工艺进行了研究，并对烧制的陶瓷样品进行显微结构分析。研究表明，繁昌窑附近的几种瓷土无论是单独制胎还是添加高岭土混合制胎，其烧成温度皆接近古代繁昌窑青白瓷的烧制温度。繁昌窑附近的瓷土是可以作为制作古代青白瓷的原料之一，但由于其中的铝含量较低，不能单独用来制作青白瓷胎体的原料，繁昌窑青白瓷在制作过程中应添加了其他富铝类原料。该研究对探索古代繁昌青白瓷的生产工艺及其蕴含的科学价值，提升繁昌窑在中国陶瓷工艺技术发展史上的地位等具有重要的学术意义，并可为现代陶瓷产业技术改进提供有益启示。     

Disseminating a warning message to evacuate: A simulation study of the behaviour of neighbours

Large-scale evacuations are a recurring theme on news channels, whether in response to major natural or manmade disasters. The role of warning dissemination is a key part in the success of such large-scale evacuations and its inadequacy in certain cases has been a ‘primary contribution to deaths and injuries’ (Hayden et al., 2007). Along with technology-driven ‘official warning channels’ (e.g. sirens, mass media), the role of unofficial channel (e.g. neighbours, personal contacts, volunteer wardens) has proven to be significant in warning the public of the need to evacuate. Although post-evacuation studies identify the behaviours of evacuees as disseminators of the warning message, there has not been a detailed study that quantifies the effects of such behaviour on the warning message dissemination. This paper develops an Agent-Based Simulation (ABS) model of multiple agents (evacuee households) in a hypothetical community to investigate the impact of behaviour as an unofficial channel on the overall warning dissemination. Parameters studied include the percentage of people who warn their neighbours, the efficiency of different official warning channels, and delay time to warn neighbours. Even with a low proportion of people willing to warn their neighbour, the results showed considerable impact on the overall warning dissemination.     

Multiple Statistical models for simulation and prediction of nonlinear processes

The paper describes a parameterisation procedure for multiple nonlinear equations with intercepts. These equations may consist of numerous members with few practical limitations on their structure. Examples are given on the application of the procedure to simulation in the areas of chemical technology and hydrology. Advantages of the proposed method are simplicity of the fitting procedure, high accuracy of simulations and more reliable simulations beyond the calibration range     

Modeling,stability and the activity assessment of glutathione reductase from Streptococcus Thermophilus; Insights from the in-silico simulation study

Antioxidant enzymes (AEs) are the main parts of the natural barriers of the body which deactivate the oxidant factors. To discover and understand their structures and function will deserve a deeper investigation. Accordingly, as an AE of probiotic strains, glutathione reductase of Streptococcus thermophilus (GRst), is characterized and modeled by in-silico methods. The investigation indicated the physicochemical properties of the enzyme and estimated its half-life of being more than 10 h. The analysis revealed that the enzyme is composed of 86 strands, 123 helices, and 241 random coils. Homology modeling of the GRst led to the construction of the enzyme’s 3D model that 62% of which is analogous to the glutathione reductase of Escherichia Coli (GRec), and which is qualitatively high in terms of Molpdf, ERRAT, Verify-3D and Ramachandran scores. Moreover, the structural stability of the model was substantiated within 10 and 20 ns at 400 and 300 K, respectively. Interestingly, these data showed that the enzyme is more stable than GRec at 400 K. In other words, the active cavity of the constructed model is characteristic of 38 amino acid residues within 4 Å around the NADPH and GSSG as corresponding ligands of GRst. Noteworthy, herein is the fact that, CYS40 and CYS45 are specified as the active site residues of this enzyme. Furthermore, the interaction assays of the model support its antioxidant capability which is even more than that of GRec.In general, these data provide a new model of AEs being inclusive of high antioxidant capacity and thermostability.