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Reliability-based design optimization (RBDO) is a valuable tool for optimizing while considering the impact of uncertainties. However, its application in engineering, specifically in pile foundation design, is complicated due to high computational costs and the potential for nonlinear iteration misconvergence. To address these challenges, we propose a modified optimization calculation method utilizing the mean first-order reliability method (MFORM). The revised function of the reliability index is introduced to ensure computational accuracy and linear regression is employed for its calculation. The results of the case study demonstrate that the modified optimization calculation method not only improves computational efficiency but also enhances computational accuracy. While the form of the performance function significantly influences initial and local optimizations, it has minimal impact on global optimization. Through local and global optimizations, the objective function values are reduced by 20.2% and 24.9%, respectively, for the first form of the performance function. For the second form of the performance function, reductions of 15.0% and 24.9%, respectively, are achieved through local and global optimizations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is an economically significant crop with aerial cleistogamous flowers and subterranean geocarpic fruit (pods). The formation of peanut pod requires movement of the embryo from air to ground and then development in the soil, which is a complex biological process involving transport and accumulation of sugars. Sugar transport proteins (STP) mediate the transport of monosaccharides in various physiological processes, including fertilization, ovary formation, and seed development. In this study, a total of 36 AhSTP genes (AhSTP1-36) containing the conserved sugar_tr motif were identified in the A. hypogaea genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that AhSTP genes were classified into four clades, and the arrangement of motifs in AhSTP proteins was similar within clades. Synteny analysis revealed that segmental duplication events have played an important role in the expansion of STP genes in peanut, and chromosome rearrangements might have facilitated the exchange of STP genes between the A and B sub-genomes. Transcriptome analyses revealed that the expression patterns of AhSTP genes varied among tissues. Hormone and abiotic stress treatments could upregulate or down-regulate the expression of AhSTP genes, and low temperature had a major effect on the expression of most AhSTP genes. Four AhSTP genes (AhSTP3, AhSTP9, AhSTP19, and AhSTP28) were specifically expressed in the pod, indicating that these genes might be involved in pod formation and development in peanut. The unique expression of these four genes during pod construction and development was confirmed in two different type cultivars using quantitative real-time PCR analysis. Our findings provide new insights into the STP gene family in peanut and will aid future functional studies of AhSTP genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reddish orange-emitting 0.948(K0.5 Na 0.5)NbO3-0.052LiSbO3-xmol%Sm2O3 (KNN-5.2LS-xSm2O3) lead-free piezoelectric ceramics with good piezoelectric properties were fabricated in this study, and the photoluminescence and electrical properties of the ceramics were systematically studied. Results showed that Sm2O3 substitution into KNN-5.2LS induces a phase transition from the coexistence of orthorhombic and tetragonal phases to a pseudocubic phase and shifts the polymorphic phase transition (PPT) to below room temperature. The temperature stability and fatigue resistance of the modified ceramics were significantly improved by Sm2O3 substitution. The KNN-5.2LS ceramic with 0.4 mol. % Sm2O3 exhibited temperature-independent properties (25-150 °C), fatigue-free behavior (up to 106 cycles), and good piezoelectric properties (d 33 *= 230 pm/V, d 33 = 176 pC/N, k p = 35%). Studies on the photoluminescence properties of the samples showed strong reddish-orange emission upon blue light excitation; these emission intensities were strongly dependent on the doping concentration and sintering temperature. The 0.4 mol. % Sm2O3-modified sample exhibited temperature responses over a wide temperature range of 10-443 K. The maximum sensing sensitivity of the sample was 7.5 × 10-4 K at 293 K, at which point PPT occurred. A relatively long decay lifetime t of 1.27-1.40 ms and a large quantum yield η of 0.17-0.19 were obtained from the Sm-modified samples. These results suggest that the KNN-5.2LS-xSm2O3 system presents multifunctional properties and significant technological potential in novel multifunctional devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The existence of toe debris at the bottom of the bored pile will reduce the bearing capacity of the pile. This paper develops a novel equipment to measure the thickness of toe debris for bored piles. The equipment consists of a test rod, test hammer, velocimeter, transmission cable and data receiving and processing device. Based on the one-dimensional wave theory, the mechanism of the sudden change of the velocity time curve received at the top of the test rod is analyzed, which is caused by the change of the wave impedance at the interface between the test rod and the sediment, thus the feasibility of the equipment is verified in theory. Finally, numerical simulations of toe debris under various working conditions are carried out to verify the reliability of the equipment. The results show that the test curves are sensitive to the materials of test rod using proposed equipment when the thickness of toe debris is equal or greater than 50 cm, and the test values are all larger than actual values, which meet the requirement of relevant specifications. The test results are more accuracy when the thickness of toe debris is less than 50 cm. when the excited force is large, not only the sudden change is easy to be discriminated, but also the test accuracy can be assured. The remainder toe debris meet the requirement of relevant specifications after clearing pile hole according the proposed method. And the device is not affected by the properties of the sediment material, which indicates that the proposed equipment can perform well to test the thickness of toe debris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we present an optimized version of the detection pipeline for the ASKAP Variables and Slow Transients (VAST) survey, offering significant performance improvement. The key to this optimization is the replacement of the original w -projection algorithm integrated in the Common Astronomy Software Applications package with the w -stacking algorithm implemented in the WSClean software. Our experiments demonstrate that this optimization improves the overall processing efficiency of the pipeline by approximately a factor of 3. Moreover, the residual images generated by the optimized pipeline exhibit lower noise levels and fewer artefact sources, suggesting that our optimized pipeline not only enhances detection accuracy but also improves imaging fidelity. This optimized VAST detection pipeline is integrated into the Data Activated Liu Graph Engine (DALiuGE) execution framework, specifically designed for SKA-scale big data processing. Experimental results show that the performance and scalability advantages of the pipeline using DALiuGE over traditional MPI or BASH techniques increase with the data size. In summary, the optimized transient detection pipeline significantly reduces runtime, increases operational efficiency, and decreases implementation costs, offering a practical optimization solution for other ASKAP imaging pipelines as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neurogenic pulmonary edema (NPE) is occasionally observed in patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI); however, this condition is often underappreciated. NPE is frequently misdiagnosed due to its atypical clinical performance, thus delaying appropriate treatment. A comprehensive management protocol of NPE in patients with TBI has yet to be established. The current study reported the case of a 67-year-old man with severe TBI who was transferred to our intensive care unit (ICU). On day 7 after hospitalization, the patient suddenly suffered tachypnea, tachycardia, systemic hypertension and hypoxemia during lumbar cistern drainage. Intravenous diuretics, tranquilizer and glucocorticoid were administered due to suspected left heart failure attack. Chest radiography examination supported the diagnosis of pulmonary edema; however, hypotension and hypovolemia were subsequently observed. Pulse index continuous cardiac output (PiCCO) hemodynamic monitoring and bedside echocardiography were performed, which excluded the diagnosis of cardiac pulmonary edema, and thus the diagnosis of NPE was confirmed. Goal-directed therapy by dynamic PiCCO monitoring was then implemented. In addition, levosimendan, an inotropic agent, was introduced to improve cardiac output. The patient had complete recovered from pulmonary edema and regained consciousness on day 11 of hospitalization. The current case demonstrated that PiCCO monitoring may serve a central role in the integrated management of NPE in patients with TBI. Levosimendan may be a potential medicine in treating cardiac dysfunction, along with its benefit from improving neurological function in NPE patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Good quality electrocardiogram (ECG) is utilized by physicians for the interpretation and identification of physiological and pathological phenomena. In general, ECG signals may mix various noises such as baseline wander, power line interference, and electromagnetic interference in gathering and recording process. As ECG signals are non-stationary physiological signals, wavelet transform is investigated to be an effective tool to discard noises from corrupted signals. A new compromising threshold function called sigmoid function-based thresholding scheme is adopted in processing ECG signals. Compared with other methods such as hard/soft thresholding or other existing thresholding functions, the new algorithm has many advantages in the noise reduction of ECG signals. It perfectly overcomes the discontinuity at ±T of hard thresholding and reduces the fixed deviation of soft thresholding. The improved wavelet thresholding denoising can be proved to be more efficient than existing algorithms in ECG signal denoising. The signal to noise ratio, mean square error, and percent root mean square difference are calculated to verify the denoising performance as quantitative tools. The experimental results reveal that the waves including P, Q, R, and S waves of ECG signals after denoising coincide with the original ECG signals by employing the new proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the molecular structural and energetic basis of the interactions between peptides and inorganic surfaces is critical to their applications in tissue engineering and biomimetic material synthesis. Despite recent experimental progresses in the identification and functionalization of hydroxyapatite (HAP)-binding peptides, the molecular mechanisms of their interactions with HAP surfaces are yet to be explored. In particular, the traditional method of molecular dynamics (MD) simulation suffers from insufficient sampling at the peptide-inorganic interface that renders the molecular-level observation dubious. Here we demonstrate that an integrated approach combining bioinformatics, MD, and metadynamics provides a powerful tool for investigating the structure-activity relationship of HAP-binding peptides. Four low charge density peptides, previously identified by phage display, have been considered. As revealed by bioinformatics and MD, the binding conformation of the peptides is controlled by both the sequence and the amino acid composition. It was found that formation of hydrogen bonds between lysine residue and phosphate ions on the surface dictates the binding of positively charged peptide to HAP. The binding affinities of the peptides to the surface are estimated by free energy calculation using parallel-tempering metadynamics, and the results compare favorably to measurements reported in previous experimental studies. The calculation suggests that the charge density of the peptide primarily controls the binding affinity to the surface, while the backbone secondary structure that may restrain side chain orientation toward the surface plays a minor role. We also report that the application of enhanced-sampling metadynamics effects a major advantage over the steered MD method by significantly improving the reliability of binding free energy calculation. In general, our novel integration of diverse sampling techniques should contribute to the rational design of surface-recognition peptides in biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report neutron inelastic scattering experiments on single-crystal PbMgl/3Nb2/303 doped with 32% PbTi03, a relaxor ferroelectric that lies close to the morphotropic phase boundary. When cooled under an electric field E || [001] into tetragonal and monoclinic phases, the scattering cross section from transverse acoustic (TA) phonons polarized parallel to E weakens and shifts to higher energy relative to that under zero-field-cooled conditions. Likewise, the scattering cross section from transverse optic (TO) phonons polarized parallel to E weakens for energy transfers 4 ≤ hω ≤ 9 meV. However, TA and TO phonons polarized perpendicular to E show no change. This anisotropic field response is similar to that of the diffuse scattering cross section, which, as previously reported, is suppressed when polarized parallel to E but not when polarized perpendicular to E. Our findings suggest that the lattice dynamics and dynamic short-range polar correlations that give rise to the diffuse scattering are coupled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present neutron inelastic scattering measurements of the low-energy phonons in single crystal BiFeO3. The dispersions of the three acoustic phonon modes (LA along [100], TA1 along [010], and TA2 along [110]) and two low-energy optic phonon modes (LO and TO1) have been mapped out between 300 and 700 K. Elastic constants are extracted from the phonon measurements. The energy linewidths of both TA phonons at the zone boundary clearly broaden when the system is warmed toward the magnetic ordering temperature TN = 640 K. This suggests that the magnetic order and low-energy lattice dynamics in this multiferroic material are coupled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present neutron scattering measurements on low-energy phonons from a superconducting (Tc = 2.7 K) Sn0.8In0.2Te single-crystal sample. The longitudinal acoustic phonon mode and one transverse acoustic branch have been mapped out around the (002) Bragg peak for temperatures of 1.7 and 4.2 K. We observe a substantial energy width of the transverse phonons at energies comparable to twice the superconducting gap; however, there is no change in this width between the superconducting and normal states, and the precise origin of this energy width anomaly is not entirely clear. We also confirm that the compound is well ordered, with no indications of structural instability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of antiferromagnetic spin correlations in high-temperature superconductors remains a matter of debate. We present inelastic neutron-scattering evidence that gapless spin fluctuations coexist with superconductivity in La1.905Ba0.095CuO4. Furthermore, we observe that both the low-energy magnetic spectral weight and the spin incommensurability are enhanced with the onset of superconducting correlations. We propose that the coexistence occurs through intertwining of spatial modulations of the pair wave function and the antiferromagnetic correlations. This proposal is also directly relevant to sufficiently underdoped La2-xSrxCuO4 and YBa2Cu3O6+x. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Infrared images are characterized by low signal to noise ratio (SNR) and fuzzy texture edges. This article introduces the variational infrared image enhancement algorithm based on gradient field equalization with adaptive dual thresholds. Firstly, we transform the image into gradient domain and get the gradient histogram. Then, we do the gradient histogram equalization. By setting adaptive dual thresholds to qualify the gradients, the image is prevented from over enhancement. The total variation (TV) model is adopted in the reconstruction of the enhanced image to suppress noise. It is shown from experimental results that the image edge details are significantly enhanced, and therefore the algorithm is qualified for enhancement of infrared images in different applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report neutron scattering measurements on low-energy (ℏω ∼ 5 meV) magnetic excitations from a series of Fe1+y-z(Ni/Cu)zTe1-xSex samples which belong to the "11" Fe-chalcogenide family. Our results suggest a strong correlation between the magnetic excitations near (0.5,0.5,0) and the superconducting properties of the system. The low-energy magnetic excitations are found to gradually move away from (0.5,0.5,0) to incommensurate positions when superconductivity is suppressed, either by heating or chemical doping, confirming previous observations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Phenomena of nonlinear light-matter interaction that occur during the propagation of intense ultrashort laser pulses in continuous media have been extensively studied in ultrafast optical science. In this vibrant research field, conversion of the input laser beam into optical filament(s) is commonly encountered. Here, we demonstrate generation of distinctive single or double super-luminescent optical jet beams as a result of strong spatial-temporal nonlinear interaction between focused 50 fs millijoule laser pulses and their induced micro air plasma. Such jet-like optical beams, being slightly divergent and coexisting with severely distorted conical emission of colored speckles, are largely different from optical filaments, and obtainable when the focal lens of proper f-number is slightly tilted or shifted. Once being collimated, the jet beams can propagate over a long distance in air. These beams not only reveal a potentially useful approach to coherent optical wave generation, but also may find applications in remote sensing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spin excitations are one of the top candidates for mediating electron pairing in unconventional superconductors. Their coupling to superconductivity is evident in a large number of systems, by the observation of an abrupt redistribution of magnetic spectral weight at the superconducting transition temperature, Tc, for energies comparable to the superconducting gap. Here we report inelastic neutron scattering measurements on Fe-based superconductors, Fe1-x(Ni/Cu)xTe0.5Se0.5, that emphasize an additional signature. The overall shape of the low energy magnetic dispersion changes from two incommensurate vertical columns at T » Tc to a distinctly different U-shaped dispersion at low temperature. Importantly, this spectral reconstruction is apparent for temperatures up to ˜3Tc. If the magnetic excitations are involved in the pairing mechanism, their surprising modification on the approach to Tc demonstrates that strong interactions are involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present neutron inelastic scattering measurements of the full three-dimensional spin-wave dispersion in the multiferroic material BiFeO3, for temperatures from 5 to 700 K. Despite the presence of strong electromagnetic coupling, the magnetic excitations behave as conventional magnons over all parts of the Brillouin zone. At low temperature the spin waves are well-defined coherent modes, described by a classical model for a G-type antiferromagnet. A softening of the spin-wave velocity and broadening in energy is already present at room temperature, which is well below the Neel temperature TN ~ 640 K, and increases on heating. In addition, a strong hybridization of the Fe 3d and 0 2p states is found to modify significantly the distribution of the spin-wave spectral weight, which implies that the spins are not restricted to the Fe atomic sites as previously believed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-temperature cuprate superconductors display unexpected nanoscale inhomogeneity in essential properties such as pseudogap energy, Fermi surface, and even superconducting critical temperature. Theoretical explanations for this inhomogeneity have ranged from chemical disorder to spontaneous electronic phase separation. We extend the energy range of scanning tunneling spectroscopy on Bi2+ySr2-yCaCu2O8+x, allowing a complete mapping of two types of interstitial oxygen dopants and vacancies at the apical oxygen site. We show that the nanoscale spatial variations in the pseudogap states are correlated with disorder in these dopant concentrations, particularly that of apical oxygen vacancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the effects of Cu substitution in Fe1.1 Te, the nonsuperconducting parent compound of the iron-based superconductor, Fe1+yTe1-xSex, utilizing neutron scattering techniques. It is found that the structural and magnetic transitions, which occur at ∼60 K without Cu, are monotonically depressed with increasing Cu content. By 10% Cu for Fe, the structural transition is hardly detectable, and the system becomes a spin glass below 22 K, with a slightly incommensurate ordering wave vector of (0.5 -- &dgr;, 0,0.5) with S being the incommensurability of 0.02, and correlation length of 12 Â along the a axis and 9 Â along the c axis. With 4% Cu, both transition temperatures are at 41 K, though short-range incommensurate order at (0.42,0,0.5) is present at 60 K. With further cooling, the incommensurability decreases linearly with temperature down to 37 K, below which there is a first-order transition to a long-range almost-commensurate antiferromagnetic structure. A spin anisotropy gap of 4.5 meV is also observed in this compound. Our results show that the weakly magnetic Cu has a large effect on the magnetic correlations; it is suggested that this is caused by the frustration of the exchange interactions between the coupled Fe spins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The superconducting system La2-xBaxCu04 is known to show a minimum in the transition temperature Tc at x = ⅛ where maximal stripe order is pinned by the anisotropy within the CuO2 planes that occurs in the low-temperature-tetragonal (LTT) crystal structure. For x = 0.095, where Tc reaches its maximum value of 32 K, there is a roughly coincident structural transition to a phase that is very close to LTT. Here, we present a neutron scattering study of the structural transition, and demonstrate how features of it correlate with anomalies in the magnetic susceptibility, electrical resistivity, thermal conductivity, and thermoelectric power. We also present measurements on a crystal with 1% Zn substituted for Cu, which reduces Tc to 17 K, enhances the spin stripe order, but has much less effect on the structural transition. We make the case that the structural transition correlates with a reduction of the Josephson coupling between the Cu02 layers, which interrupts the growth of the superconducting order. We also discuss evidence for two-dimensional superconducting fluctuations in the normal state, analyze the effective magnetic moment per Zn impurity, and consider the significance of the anomalous thermopower often reported in the stripe-ordered phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our inelastic neutron scattering study of spin excitations in iron telluride reveals remarkable thermal evolution of the collective magnetism. In the temperature range relevant for the superconductivity in FeTe1-xSex materials, where the local-moment behavior is dominated by liquidlike correlations of emergent spin plaquettes, we observe unusual, marked increase of magnetic fluctuations upon heating. The effective spin per Fe at T ≈ 10 K, in the phase with weak antiferromagnetic order, corresponds to S ≈ 1, consistent with the recent analyses that emphasize importance of Hund's coupling [K. Haule and G. Kotliar, New J. Phys. 11, 025021 (2009).]. However, it grows to S ≈ 3/2 in the high-T disordered phase, suggestive of the Kondo-type behavior, where local magnetic moments are entangled with the itinerant electrons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The nature of the magnetic correlations in Fe-based superconductors remains a matter of controversy. To address this issue, we use inelastic neutron scattering to characterize the strength and temperature dependence of low-energy spin fluctuations in FeTe0.35Se0.65 (Tc~14 K). Integrating magnetic spectral weight for energies up to 12 meV, we find a substantial moment (⟨M2⟩LE~0.07μB2/Fe)that shows little change with temperature, from below Tc to 300 K. Such behavior cannot be explained by the response of conduction electrons alone; states much farther from the Fermi energy must have an instantaneous local spin polarization. It raises interesting questions regarding the formation of the spin gap and resonance peak in the superconducting state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using two-step particle-coating method, pyrochlore-free Pb(Mg1/3Nb2/3)O3 (PMN) powders have been successfully synthesized by a single calcination step at a relatively lower calcined temperature of 850°C. The XRD and EDS results confirmed that the Mg–citric acid polymeric complex coatings effectively prevent direct contact between PbO and Nb2O5 and thus avoid the formation of pyrochlore phase. The coated powders were calcined directly without the ball-milling procedure at 850°C. The pyrochlore-free PMN powders obtained showed uniform and even grain size. The results showed that this method is an attractive method for the synthesis of PMN-based composite powders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To improve both the temperature stability and the mechanical quality factor of (K0.5Na0.5)0.94Li0.06NbO3 (KNLN6) ceramics, dense (K4CuNb8O23, Bi2O3)-modified KNLN6 lead-free ceramics were prepared. Results showed that the (K4CuNb8O23, Bi2O3)-modified ceramics exhibited a flat, temperature-stable behavior over the range of 20–120 °C. K4CuNb8O23 (KCN) and Bi2O3-codoping changed the KNLN6 to “hard” ceramics with a significant improvement of mechanical quality factor, Qm, from 82 to 756. Meanwhile, the piezoelectric constant, d33, and the planar electromechanical coefficient, kp, still maintained relatively high levels ( d33 ~118 pC/N, kp ~35.6%). These results indicate that the modified KNLN6 ceramics are promising lead-free piezoelectric candidates for practical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adsorption free-energy of surfactant on solid surfaces has been calculated by molecular dynamics (MD) simulation for a model surfactant/solvent system. The umbrella-sampling with the weight histogram analysis method (WHAM) was applied. The entropic and enthalpic contributions to the full potential of mean force (PMF) were obtained to evaluate the detailed thermodynamics of surfactant adsorption in solid/liquid interfaces. Although we observed that this surfactant adsorption process is driven mainly by a favorable enthalpy change, a highly unfavorable entropic contribution still existed. By decomposing the free energy (including its entropic and enthalpic components) into the solvent-induced contribution and the surfactant−wall term, the effect of surface and solvent on the adsorption free-energy has been distinguished. The contribution to the PMF from the surface effect is thermodynamically favorable, whereas the solvent term displays an obviously unfavorable component with a monotonic increase as the surfactant approaches to the surface. The impact of various interactions from the surfaces (both solvent-philic and solvent-phobic) and the solvent on the adsorption PMF of surfactant has been compared and discussed. Compared to the solvent-philic surface, the solvent-phobic surface generates more stable site for the surfactant adsorption. However, the full PMF profile for the solvent-phobic system shows a clear positive maximum value at the bulk-interface transition region, which leads to a considerable long-range free-energy barrier to the surfactant adsorption. These results have been analyzed in terms of the local interfacial structures. In summary, this comprehensive study is expected to reveal the microscopic interaction mechanisms determining the surfactant adsorption on solid surfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SrBi4Ti4O15(SBTi) powders were synthesized by a novel hybrid method of sol–gel and ultrasonic atomization. TiO2 particle was used as a starting material to replace other expensive soluble titanium salts. X-ray diffraction results showed that the pure-phase SBTi powders were obtained at 700°C for 2 h, which is much lower than the calcination temperature (800°–850°C) required in solid-state reactions. The ceramics sintered at 1100°C for 1 h exhibited 94.5% of relative density and a piezoelectric coefficient of 21 pC/N. The results showed that this hybrid method could lead to an attractive method for the industrial fabrication of SBTi materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation has been carried out to study the adsorption and self-organization for a model surfactant/supercritical CO2system confined in the slit-shape nanopores with amorphous silica-like surfaces. The solid surfaces were designed to be CO2-philic and CO2-phobic, respectively. For the CO2-philic surface, obviously surface adsorption is observed for the surfactant molecules. The various energy profiles were used to monitor the lengthy dynamics process of the adsorption and self-assembly for surfactant micelles or monomers in the confined spaces. The equilibrium properties, including the morphologies and micelle-size distributions of absorbed surfactants, were evaluated based on the equilibrium trajectory data. The interaction between the surfactant and the surface produces an obvious effect on the dynamics rate of surfactant adsorption and aggregation, as well as the final self-assembly equilibrium structures of the adsorbed surfactants. However, for the CO2-phobic surfaces, there are scarcely adsorption layers of surfactant molecules, meaning that the CO2-phobic surface repels the surfactant molecules. It seems to conclude that the CO2solvent depletion near the interfaces determines the surface repellence to the surfactant molecules. The effect of the CO2-phobic surface confinement on the surfactant micelle structure in the supercritical CO2has also been discussed. In summary, this study on the microscopic behaviors of surfactant/Sc−CO2in confined pores will help to shed light on the surfactant self-assembly from the Sc−CO2fluid phase onto solid surfaces and nanoporous media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tension pneumopericardium is an uncommon complication of mechanical ventilaton. It may indeed be life-threatening for hemodynamic compromise and circulatory collapse. We present a case of tension pneumopericardium in a patient with a portable ventilator during intrahospital transport for computed tomography scan. Although timely rescue measures were performed, the patient died finally. We report the case to help us to be aware of and take precautions against this fatal condition during intrahospital patient transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lead-free (Ba1− xCa x)(Ti0.95Zr0.05)O3 ( x=0.02-0.20) ceramics were prepared successfully using a solid-state reaction technique. The polymorphic phase transitions from orthorhombic to tetragonal phase around room temperature were identified in the composition range of 0.06< x<0.10. A high piezoelectric coefficient of d33=365 pC/N and high planar electromechanical coupling factor of kp=48.5% were obtained for the sample of x=0.08. With the doping of Ca content, the orthorhombic-tetragonal phase transition point shifted toward room temperature while the relative high Curie temperature ( Tc) was still maintained about 110°C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The overrunning disaster of harmful gas tends to occur in the working face in thick coal seam with high gas concentration, as the fully mechanized caving stope has the characteristics of high mining intensity, high remnant coal, and high gas content. Therefore, the disastrous mechanism and concentration distribution of gas migration in fully mechanized caving stope are the theoretical basis for gas control scheme. Based on the 7607 working face in Wuyang coal mine, the gas emission quantity in working face is comprehensively analyzed by field measurement in this paper. The gas leakage field, oxygen concentration field, and gas concentration field in 7607 working face are simulated by establishing the equal proportional numerical model. Due to the increase of air leakage in working face caused by the high alley pumping drainage, the risk of coal spontaneous combustion is also analyzed, when gas extraction in goaf is carried out. The research results show that the gas drainage technology in high drainage roadway has a remarkable effect on the gas overrunning phenomenon. The gas concentration near the upper corner of the working surface has been reduced from 0.7%-1% to 0.5%. At the same time, it is necessary to pay attention to the risk of coal spontaneous combustion in the goaf for gas drainage in the high drainage roadway. The width of the oxidation zone in the goaf is about 25 m deeper than that before the drainage. Research results provide the references for gas control technology and coal spontaneous combustion prevention in similar working faces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An isobaric-isothermal Gibbs ensemble Monte Carlo simulation has been carried out to study the adsorption of a model surfactant/solvent mixture in slit nanopores. The adsorption isotherms, the density distributions, and the configuration snapshots were simulated to illustrate the adsorption and self-assembly behaviors of the surfactant in the confined pores. The adsorption isotherms are stepwise: a two-step curve for the smaller (30 Å) pore and a three-step one for the larger (50 Å) pore. The adsorption isotherms and the interfacial aggregate structure of the surfactants in the pores with various sizes show a qualitatively consistent performance with the previous experimental observation. The micelle size distributions of the adsorbed surfactant aggregates have been analyzed in order to understand the adsorption mechanism, which suggests that the step rise in the surfactant adsorption is associated with the considerable formation of the micelle aggregates in the confined pores. The effect of the interaction between the pore surface and the surfactant on the adsorption behavior has also been investigated. The simulation results indicate that a change in the interaction can modify the shape of adsorption isotherms. A nonlinear mathematical model was used to represent the multistep adsorption isotherms. A good agreement between the model fitting and the simulation data was obtained for both the amount of adsorption and the jump point concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report inelastic neutron scattering measurements of low-energy (ℏω≲10 meV) magnetic excitations in the "11" system Fe1+yTe1-xSex. The spin correlations are two-dimensional (2D) in the superconducting samples at low temperature, but appear much more three-dimensional (3D) when the temperature rises well above Tc~15 K, with a clear increase of the (dynamic) spin correlation length perpendicular to the Fe planes. This behavior is extremely unusual; typically, the suppression of thermal fluctuations at low temperature would favor the enhancement of 3D correlations, or even ordering, and the reversion to 2D cannot be naturally explained when only the spin degree of freedom is considered. Our results suggest that the low temperature physics in the 11 system, in particular the evolution of low-energy spin excitations towards superconducting pairing, intrinsically involves changes in orbital correlations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It has recently been demonstrated that dynamical magnetic correlations measured by neutron scattering in iron chalcogenides can be described with models of short-range correlations characterized by particular choices of four-spin plaquettes, where the appropriate choice changes as the parent material is doped towards superconductivity. Here we apply such models to describe measured maps of magnetic scattering as a function of two-dimensional wave vectors obtained for optimally superconducting crystals of FeTe1-xSex. We show that the characteristic antiferromagnetic wave vector evolves from that of the bicollinear structure found in underdoped chalcogenides (at high temperature) to that associated with the stripe structure of antiferromagnetic iron arsenides (at low temperature); these can both be described with the same local plaquette, but with different interplaquette correlations. While the magnitude of the low-energy magnetic spectral weight is substantial at all temperatures, it actually weakens somewhat at low temperature, where the charge carriers become more itinerant. The observed change in spin correlations is correlated with the dramatic drop in the electronic scattering rate and the growth of the bulk nematic response upon cooling. Finally, we also present powder neutron diffraction results for lattice parameters in FeTe1-xSex indicating that the tetrahedral bond angle tends to increase towards the ideal value upon cooling, in agreement with the increased screening of the crystal field by more itinerant electrons and the correspondingly smaller splitting of the Fe 3d orbitals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we report a lead-free piezoelectric ceramic system (Bi0.5Na0.5)1−xBaxTi0.98 (Fe0.5Sb0.5)0.02O3 which shows a surprisingly high field-induced nonlinear strain of 0.57% comparable to those obtained in Pb-based antiferroelectrics. The ultrahigh strain response of the composition stems from the composition proximity to the ferroelectric-nonpolar phase boundary, which leads to reversible transformation between a nonpolar phase and a polar ferroelectric phase under cyclic fields. In particular, this material is very attractive for its exceptionally good fatigue resistance (up to 106 cycles) and high temperature stability (25–100 °C) due to its stable nonpolar phase and lower defect density. These findings render the current material a great opportunity for novel applications in ultra-large stroke and nonlinear actuators demanding improved cycling and thermal reliabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, Co-based honeycomb magnets have been proposed as promising candidate materials to host the Kitaev spin liquid (KSL) state. One of the front-runners is BaCo2(AsO4)2 (BCAO), where it was suggested that the exchange processes between Co2+ ions via the surrounding edge-sharing oxygen octahedra could give rise to bond dependent Kitaev interactions. In this work, we present and analyze a comprehensive inelastic neutron scattering (INS) study of BCAO with fields in the honeycomb plane. Combining the constraints from the magnon excitations in the high-field polarized state and the inelastic spin structure factor measured in zero magnetic field, we examine two leading theoretical models: the Kitaev-type JK 000 model and the XXZ-J1-J3model. We show that the existing experimental data can be consistently accounted for by the XXZ-J1-J3model but not by the JK 000 model, and we discuss the implications of these results for the realization of a spin liquid phase in BCAO and more generally for the realization of the Kitaev model in cobaltates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe1+yTe with y ≲ 0.05 exhibits a first-order phase transition on cooling to a state with a lowered structural symmetry, bicollinear antiferromagnetic order, and metallic conductivity, dp/dT > 0. Here, we study samples with y = 0.09(1), where the frustration effects of the interstitial Fe decouple different orders, leading to a sequence of transitions. While the lattice distortion is closely followed by incommensurate magnetic order, the development of bicollinear order and metallic electronic coherence is uniquely associated with a separate hysteretic first-order transition, at a markedly lower temperature, to a phase with dramatically enhanced bond-order wave (BOW) order. The BOW state suggests ferro-orbital ordering, where electronic delocalization in ferromagnetic zigzag chains decreases local spin and results in metallic transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed resistivity and inelastic neutron scattering measurements on three samples of Fe0.98–zCuzTe0.5Se0.5 with z=0, 0.02, and 0.1. It is found that with increasing Cu doping the sample's resistivity deviates progressively from that of a metal. However, in contrast to expectations that replacing Fe with Cu would suppress the magnetic correlations, the low-energy (≤12 meV) magnetic scattering is enhanced in strength, with greater spectral weight and longer dynamical spin-spin correlation lengths. Such enhancements can be a consequence of either enlarged local moments or a slowing down of the spin fluctuations. In either case, the localization of the conduction states induced by the Cu doping should play a critical role. Our results are not applicable to models that treat 3d transition metal dopants simply as effective electron donors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high-Tc cuprate Bi-2212 is sputtered with 500 eV Ar+ ions, and changes to the surface composition are investigated with low energy (2 keV) Na+ ion scattering. It is shown that ion bombardment leads to the development of a Bi-O overlayer, differing in structure from the underlying material and making the surface highly resistant to further sputtering-induced changes. In contrast, sputtering and ion-scattering simulations would suggest that atoms from lower layers should be present at the surface as a consequence of the kinematics of the sputtering process. It is thus concluded that the Bi-O layer forms because the surfactant effects of Bi reduce the surface energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The frequency, temperature, tetragonality and aging degree dependences of the hysteresis loops in Pb[(Zr 0.52 Ti 0 . 48 ) 0.95 (Mn 1/3 Nb 2/3 ) 0.05 ]O 3 (PMnN-PZT) ceramics have been investigated. The polarization-field hysteresis curves show some double loop at room temperature or higher frequencies, whereas they display normal square-like loops at 200° or frequencies lower than 10 mHz. It is also found that a smaller tetragonality of the specimen leads to the normal loop when the measurement is performed at 200°. A small A.C disturbing field can change the double loop to normal one. Critical ferroelectric features such as coercive field, polarization, and internal bias field show strong frequency, temperature or aging degree dependences. The close relations between the P-E loops and the above situations indicate that the defect dipoles pin the switching of the regular dipoles, resulting in the double loop of the P-E curve. It is suggested that there exists a typical relaxation time corresponding to the reorientation of the defect dipoles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investigates the synthesis of mixed conducting ceramic oxide SrFeCo[sub 0.5]O[sub y] powder by hybrid microwave heating. Types of analysis used in characterizing the products; Distribution of particle size; Application of mixed conductors in electrochemical devices.

Currently under active study in condensed matter physics, both theoretically and experimentally, are quantum spin liquid (QSL) states, in which no long-range magnetic ordering appears at low temperatures due to strong quantum fluctuations of the magnetic moments. The existing QSL candidates all have their intrinsic disadvantages, however, and solid evidence for quantum fluctuations is scarce. Here, we report a previously unreported compound, Na2BaCo(PO4)2, a geometrically frustrated system with effective spin-1/2 local moments for Co2+ ions on an isotropic 2-dimensional (2D) triangular lattice. Magnetic susceptibility and neutron scattering experiments show no magnetic ordering down to 0.05 K. Thermodynamic measurements show that there is a tremendous amount of magnetic entropy present below 1 K in 0-applied magnetic field. The presence of localized low-energy spin fluctuations is revealed by inelastic neutron measurements. At low applied fields, these spin excitations are confined to low energy and contribute to the anomalously large specific heat. In larger applied fields, the system reverts to normal behavior as evident by both neutron and thermodynamic results. Our experimental characterization thus reveals that this material is an excellent candidate for the experimental realization of a QSL state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cultivated peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.), an important source of edible oil and protein, is widely grown in tropical and subtropical areas of the world. Genetic improvement of yield-related traits is essential for improving yield potential of new peanut varieties. Genomics-assisted breeding (GAB) can accelerate the process of genetic improvement but requires linked markers for the traits of interest. In this context, we developed a recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population (Yuanza 9102 ? Xuzhou 68-4) with 195 individuals and used to map quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with three important pod features, namely pod length, pod width and hundred-pod weight. Results: QTL analysis using the phenotyping data generated across four environments in two locations and genotyping data on 743 mapped loci identified 15 QTLs for pod length, 11 QTLs for pod width and 16 QTLs for hundred-pod weight. The phenotypic variation explained (PVE) ranged from 3.68 to 27.84%. Thirteen QTLs were consistently detected in at least two environments and three QTLs (qPLA05.7, qPLA09.3 and qHPWA05.6) were detected in all four environments indicating their consistent and stable expression. Three major QTLs, detected in at least three environments, were found to be co-localized to a 3.7 cM interval on chromosome A05, and they were qPLA05.7 for pod length (16.89-27.84% PVE), qPWA05.5 for pod width (13.73-14.12% PVE), and qHPWA05.6 for hundred-pod weight (13.75-26.82% PVE). This 3.7 cM linkage interval corresponds to ~2.47 Mb genomic region of the pseudomolecule A05 of A. duranensis, including 114 annotated genes related to catalytic activity and metabolic process. Conclusions: This study identified three major consistent and stable QTLs for pod size and weight which were co-localized in a 3.7 cM interval on chromosome A05. These QTL regions not only offer further investigation for gene discovery and development of functional markers but also provide opportunity for deployment of these QTLs in GAB for improving yield in peanut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Nectin-4 is a member of the Nectin family of four Ca+-independent immunoglobulin-like cell adhesion molecules and implicated in cell adhesion, movement, proliferation, differentiation, polarization, and survival. The aberrant expression of Nectin-4 has been found in a variety of tumors; however, its expression in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is still poorly understood. This study was to investigate the expression of Nectin-4 and its clinical significance in the patients with HCC. Methods: The expression of Nectin-4 was assessed at mRNA and protein levels by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) and Western blotting assays in 20 HCC specimens and adjacent non-tumor live tissues. Furthermore, the clinical significance of Nectin-4 in 87 cases of HCC was confirmed by immunohistochemistry. Results: The mRNA and protein levels of Nectin-4 were higher in HCC tumor tissues than in the matched non-tumor tissues. Nectin-4 was located in the cytoplasm of tumor cells and over-expressed in 67.82% (59/87) HCC tissues by immunohistochemical staining. Positive Nectin-4 expression was significantly correlated with tumor size (P=0.029), status of metastasis (P=0.023), vascular invasion (P=0.018) and tumor-node-metastasis stage (P=0.003). In addition, Kaplan-Meier survival analysis indicated that positive Nectin-4 expression was associated with worse recurrence-free survival (RFS) and overall survival (OS) (P=0.006 and P=0.005, respectively). In multivariate analysis, Nectin-4 was an independent prognostic factor for RFS and OS in the patients with HCC. Conclusion: Nectin-4 is upregulated in HCC and may be a novel prognostic biomarker for the patients after surgical resection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have studied the structure, magnetic, and transport properties of copper-substituted iron telluride. Our results extend the range of copper substitution to 60% substitution per formula unit, which is far beyond previously stated solubility limits. Substitution of copper into antiferromagnetic iron telluride is found to suppress the signatures of the low-temperature transitions in susceptibility and resistance measurements, giving rise to an insulating, spin-glass state. Upon increasing the copper substitution from 4% to 6%, short-range antiferromagnetic order appears followed by the combined magnetic and structural transition at a lower temperature, although the magnetic order is ultimately not resolution limited with a correlation length of 250 Å in the 6% Cu-substituted sample, in contrast to the magnetic order of the 4% copper-substituted sample, which is resolution limited. Upon warming the 6% Cu-substituted sample in the presence of a 5 T magnetic field oriented along the b axis, magnetic and structural phase transitions are observed at a temperature much lower than those of the magnetic and structural transitions which occur in zerofield. Furthermore, these transitions are absent upon cooling in this field. We discuss the field results in the most general terms possible, including possible random field effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have performed systematic resistivity and inelastic neutron scattering measurements on Fe0.98 -zNizTe0.5Se0.5 samples to study the impact of Ni substitution on the transport properties and the low-energy (⩽12 meV) magnetic excitations. It is found that, with increasing Ni doping, both the conductivity and superconductivity are gradually suppressed; in contrast, the low-energy magnetic spectral weight changes little. Comparing with the impact of Co and Cu substitution, we find that the effects on conductivity and superconductivity for the same degree of substitution grow systematically as the atomic number of the substituent deviates from that of Fe. The impact of the substituents as scattering centers appears to be greater than any contribution to carrier concentration. The fact that low-energy magnetic spectral weight is not reduced by increased electron scattering indicates that the existence of antiferromagnetic correlations does not depend on electronic states close to the Fermi energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-temperature superconductors exhibit a wide variety of novel excitations. If contacted with a topological insulator, the lifting of spin rotation symmetry in the surface states can lead to the emergence of unconventional superconductivity and novel particles. In pursuit of this possibility, we fabricated high critical-temperature (Tc∼85K) superconductor/topological insulator (Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+δ/Bi2Te2Se) junctions. Below 75 K, a zero-bias conductance peak (ZBCP) emerges in the differential conductance spectra of this junction. The magnitude of the ZBCP is suppressed at the same rate for magnetic fields applied parallel or perpendicular to the junction. Furthermore, it can still be observed and does not split up to at least 8.5 T. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the excitation we observe appears to fall outside the known paradigms for a ZBCP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides superconductivity, copper-oxide high-temperature superconductors are susceptible to other types of ordering. We used scanning tunneling microscopy and resonant elastic x-ray scattering measurements to establish the formation of charge ordering in the high-temperature superconductor Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x. Depending on the hole concentration, the charge ordering in this system occurs with the same period as those found in Y-based or La-based cuprates and displays the analogous competition with superconductivity. These results indicate the similarity of charge organization competing with superconductivity across different families of cuprates. We observed this charge ordering to leave a distinct electron-hole asymmetric signature (and a broad resonance centered at +20 milli--electron volts) in spectroscopic measurements, indicating that it is likely related to the organization of holes in a doped Mott insulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We establish the spectral line shape of orbital excitations created by resonant inelastic x-ray scattering for the model Mott insulator CoO. Improved experimental energy resolution reveals that the line shapes are strikingly different from expectations in a first-principles-based atomic multiplet model. Extended theoretical simulations are performed to identify the underlying physical origins, which include a pronounced thermal tail reminiscent of anti-Stokes scattering on the energy gain side of excitations, and an essential contribution from interatomic many-body dynamics on the energy loss side of excitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) study of Bi2Se3 single crystals grown by three different methods. All the crystals show nine well-resolved peaks in their 209Bi NMR spectra of the nuclear quadrupolar splitting, albeit with an intensity anomaly. Spectra at different crystal orientations confirm that all the peaks are purely from the nuclear quadrupolar effect, with no other hidden peaks. We identify the short nuclear transverse relaxation time (T2) effect as the main cause of the intensity anomaly. We also show that the 209Bi signal originates exclusively from bulk, while the contribution from the topological surface states is too weak to be detected by NMR. However, the bulk electronic structure in these single crystals is not the same, as identified by the NMR frequency shift and nuclear spin-lattice relaxation rate (1/T1). The difference is caused by the different structural defect levels. We find that the frequency shift and 1/T1 are smaller in samples with fewer defects and a lower carrier concentration. Also, the low-temperature power law of the temperature-dependent 1/T1 (∝Tα) changes from the Korringa behavior α=1 in a highly degenerate semiconductor (where the electrons obey Fermi statistics) to α<1 in a less degenerate semiconductor (where the electrons obey Boltzmann statistics). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present an experimental study of the anisotropic resistivity of superconducting La2-xBaxCu04 with x = 0.095 and transition temperature Tc = 32 K. In a magnetic field perpendicular to the CuO2 layers H┴, we observe that the resistivity perpendicular to the layers ρ┴ becomes finite at a temperature consistent with previous studies on very similar materials; however, the onset of finite parallel resistivity ρ║ occurs at a much higher temperature. This behavior contradicts conventional theory, which predicts that ρ┴ and ρ║ should become finite at the same temperature. Voltage versus current measurements near the threshold of voltage detectability indicate linear behavior perpendicular to the layers, becoming nonlinear at higher currents, while the behavior is nonlinear from the onset parallel to the layers. These results, in the presence of moderate Hx, appear consistent with superconducting order parallel to the layers with voltage fluctuations between the layers due to thermal noise. In search of uncommon effects that might help to explain this behavior, we have performed diffraction measurements that provide evidence for H┴ -induced charge- and spin-stripe order. The field-induced decoupling of superconducting layers is similar to the decoupled phase observed previously inLa2-xBaxCu04 with x = 1/8 in zero field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]