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The entropy excess caused by one proton (proton entropy excess) has been extracted for several pairs of medium and heavy mass nuclei such as ($^{237}$U and $^{238}$Np), ($^{231}$Th and $^{232}$Pa), ($^{211}$Po and $^{212}$At), ($^{196}$Pt and $^{197}$Au), and ($^{90}$Y and $^{91}$Zr) using the available nuclear level density data. The nature of entropy excess as a function of excitation energy E⁎ is found in a reasonable agreement with the microscopic calculations based on the exact pairing plus independent-particle model at finite temperature (EP+IPM). It is observed that the proton entropy excess is ∼0.1−0.5kB for the spherical systems and ∼1.0−1.2kB for the deformed ones, which is notably smaller than that of neutron entropy excess (∼1.3−2.0kB). This is due to the effect of Coulomb interaction as well as the single-particle level density of protons, which is less than that of neutrons. Moreover, a peak-like structure in the entropy excess observed at low E⁎<1 MeV is possibly associated with the pairing reentrance phenomenon caused by the weakening of blocking effect in odd nuclei at low temperature within the EP+IPM. However, this peak-like structure, which is more pronounced in the spherical nuclei than in the deformed isotopes, is not well supported by experimental observation due to strong fluctuations of the measured data. Hence, further experimental and theoretical studies are called in order to understand this effect.

We theoretically study the scattering behavior of spin waves (SWs) at the interface of an antiferromagnetically coupled (AFMC) heterojunction. It is shown that the SWs passing through the interface are evanescent and the incident waves are all reflected back, demonstrating a magnetization-dependent magnon blocking effect in this structure. We also analytically derive the expressions for the decay length of the evanescent waves (EWs). The theoretical result indicates that with the increase of the spin-wave (SW) frequency, the decay length decreases and the EWs are more concentrated at the interface, showing a magnonic skin effect (MSE) which is similar to the skin effect of electromagnetic waves. Furthermore, a positive magnonic Goos-H\"anchen shift (MGHS) of the reflected waves is also predicted. It can be understood by an effective reflection interface shift induced by the nonzero decay length of the EWs. The results of micromagnetic simulations are consistent well with all the theoretical findings. Based on the above findings, we also propose a magnon valve without spacers, which shows 100% on-off ratio for magnons. Our work provides insights into SW transmissions in the system of AFMC heterostructures and will serve as a promising tool for future magnonic devices.

Se ha observado que el uso de imágenes interfiere en el aprendizaje de palabras novedosas. Se buscó extender estos resultados a Clases de Equivalencia de Estímulo (CEE), indagando si el efecto de bloqueo se presenta de manera diferencial según la modalidad del estímulo bloqueado (i.e. pictórico o pseudo-lexical). Diez estudiantes universitarios fueron entrenados, mediante igualación a la muestra, en cuatro CEE (dos de modalidad pseudo-lexical y dos de modalidad pictórica). En el mismo entrenamiento se aplicó un procedimiento de bloqueo. Se evaluó la emergencia de relaciones derivadas para cada elemento de los estímulos compuestos por separado. Un mayor efecto de bloqueo fue observado siempre que el estímulo bloqueado X fue de modalidad pseudo-lexical. Se discuten los resultados en relación a las teorías de emparejamiento de estímulos y su implicancia en el desarrollo de prácticas pedagógicas. Los resultados observados desalientan el uso de estímulos compuestos para la enseñanza de palabras.

The properties of foam fluid are substantially determined by its interfacial dynamics changes during foam transport. In this research, a foam flow simulation model based on the level set method and the N–S equation with surface tension term is established to simulate the dynamic interface evolution mechanism of group foam and individual foam from various aspects such as drainage process and foam migration in porous media, coalescence and Jamin effect. The results show that the foam life decreases linearly with the logarithm of the surface tension and enhances linearly with the liquid viscosity. For foam transport in porous media, both flowing foam and trapped foam exist, and the pressure fluctuates at a certain pressure value and the best foam structure is achieved at the optimum conditions with the optimum values of gas-liquid ratio, surface tension, and porosity being 1:1˜3:2, 0.1˜0.3, and 44.4%, respectively. Besides, the temporary blocking effect of foam has been verified. During the foam coalescence, foam gradually evolves towards minimum interfacial energy with oscillating and gradually decreasing foam volume. During the process of the foam passing through the throat, the maximum pressure occurs when the front end of the foam reaches the narrowest point, and the minimum pressure occurs when half of the foam passes through the narrowest point. The maximum pressure elevates linearly with the surface tension and the inverse of the throat radius.

Introduction of an ultrathin compact layer in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) can improve the cell efficiency under standard one sun illumination (> 100,000 lx). Herein, an ultrathin Nb2O5 layer is deposited on the TiO2-coated photoanode using a facial dip-coating method and its effects on the cell efficiency under a low level of light intensity (300–6000 lx) is studied. The results show that the ultrathin Nb2O5 layer helps the DSSCs to improve their power conversion efficiency (PCE) through different ways under standard one sun and low power illuminations. Under strong one sun illumination, the PCE of DSSC is improved by improving the short-circuit current density (JSC) which can be attributed to an increment of the surface area of photoanode for more dye adsorption and the blocking effect of Nb2O5. Under low power illumination, the introduction of Nb2O5 blocking layer improves the fill factor by effectively suppressing the charge recombination on the photoanode.

Although the motivation of AlH3 enhancing combustion were recognized in many research, the promotion mechanism have been rarely explored. Herein, a previously unreported porous layer mechanism when combustion were determined in HTPB/AlH3 fuels by SEM, thermo-analysis and a new simplified calculation method, owing to rapidly released gas phase H2 from AlH3 dehydrogenation exposing in melting layer. 5/10% 40–80 μm and 10% 80–200 μm AlH3-HTPB formulas show the regression rate increase by, 25.7%, 29.0% and 43.0% at Gox = 350 kg/m2·s, while by 57.2%, 42.0% and 44.2% enhancement at Gox = 150 kg/m2·s. The low AlH3 content (≤ 10%) promotes the regression rate obviously, while excess AlH3 content (≥ 20%) promotes slightly as a result of comprehensive factors combined by energy release, a certain porous layer mechanism, aggregated Al2O3 attached on the burning surface and the blocking effect of the gaseous released H2. A new model predicting the overlapping process of AlH3 dehydrogenation and Al oxidation in air atmosphere was developed by superimposing AlH3 dehydrogenation simulation and corresponding separated Al oxidation simulation. A 1.5th Avrami-Erofeev (A–E) simulation was proposed for Al passivation weight gain between 420 and 520 K with an activation energy of 124.92 kJ/mol and the pre-exponential of 10^12.35.

Dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have great potential for solar generation owing to their low cost and ease of fabrication compared with silicon-based photovoltaic devices. One of the major issues with TiO2-based DSSCs is the recombination loss at the substrate–electrolyte interface due to the mesoporous nature of the TiO2 film. It was proposed earlier that introduction of a blocking layer at the substrate–TiO2 interface could reduce this recombination loss by preventing direct contact of the substrate and electrolyte. In this study, ZnO blocking layers (ZBLs) with different thicknesses were spin-coated onto fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) glass and the influence studied in comparison with a conventional TiO2 blocking layer (TBL) prepared using the same technique. The ZBL functions as an energy barrier at the FTO–electrolyte interface to prevent backtransfer of electrons to the electrolyte from the FTO. The blocking effect of the ZBL was verified by an enhancement of the fill factor (FF) and open-circuit photovoltage (Voc) of the DSSC, leading to an improvement in the power conversion efficiency (PCE) from 3.86% to 4.34% for the ZBL with optimum thickness of 120 nm. The suppression of the dark current density revealed a reduction of charge recombination with increasing ZBL thickness. Further increase in the ZBL thickness resulted in reduced cell performance due to a drastic decrease of the short-circuit current density (Jsc). The PCE was slightly improved to 4.36% by replacing the ZBL with a 100-nm TBL. These results suggest that the facile and low-cost sol–gel spin-coating technique is a feasible method for formation of a ZBL or TBL to reduce the recombination loss in DSSCs.

Wet vacuum impregnation method was applied in order to evaluate the possibility of the formation of the material in BaCe0.9Y0.1O3−δ–V2O5 system. Single-phase BaCe0.9Y0.1O3−δ samples, synthesised by solid-state reaction method, were impregnated with the solution of vanadium(V) oxide precursor. Multi-step, multi-cycle impregnation procedure was applied to enhance the impregnation efficiency. Partial decomposition of Y-doped BaCeO3 in contact with the solution of the precursor, resulting in the formation of vanadium containing phases (CeVO4 and BaV2O6) on the materials surface, was observed. However, the presence of vanadium was also confirmed for the inner parts of the materials. The synthesised materials were submitted for exposition test to evaluate their chemical stability towards CO2/H2O. All BaCe0.9Y0.1O3-based materials modified by impregnation revealed higher chemical stability in comparison with single-phase un-modified BaCe0.9Y0.1O3−δ, since the amount of barium carbonate formed during the exposition was significantly lower. The total electrical conductivity of the received multi-phase materials was generally slightly lower than for the reference BaCe0.9Y0.1O3−δ sample, since the presence of the additional phases had a blocking effect on materials conductivity. The values of BaCeO3 lattice parameters and the Seebeck coefficient did not show the modification of the defects structure of Y-doped BaCeO3 during applied synthesis procedure.

Various shape designs for tip clearance contribute to leakage control in turbomachinery whereas few studies so far focus on the combination treatments of casing and blade tip, their smoothness and continuousness as well. A novel circumferential casing and blade tip treatments based on the bimodal Gaussian function curve for suppression of tip leakage flow have been numerically studied in a linear turbine cascade. This configuration is then optimized by applying the Kriging model and orthogonal design for further loss reduction. As the main aerodynamic parameters, leakage flow and total pressure loss coefficient are evaluated with three configurations: flat-tip without casing treatment (BASE), casing and blade tip treatments (CBTT) and its optimization result (OPT). Compared with BASE, the results in CBTT and OPT indicate that under the effect of blocking vortex (BV), the tip leakage vortex (TLV) is divided into two parts. One becomes involved in mixing process with BV, and then joins to the upper passage vortex (UPV) downstream, the other rebuilds behind bimodal peaks. The further optimization would lead to a sharp decline of loss in CBTT and a better result in OPT. Compared with the baseline case, a reduction of 5.39% in relative total pressure loss could be noticed in the CBTT case while a decreasing of 10.87% found in the OPT case, as a result of the earlier blocking effect.

Ten different simulation models are used to investigate the effects of content and chirality of graphene on the mechanical properties of nanolayered graphene/Cu composites. The increasing volume fraction of graphene can significantly enhance the Young's modulus and tensile strength of composites, but it leads to a lower yield strain. The negative Poisson's ratio of composites (NPRC) under uniaxial tension is observed at an atomic level. The corresponding mechanism is revealed by enhanced surface effect and inhomogeneous distribution of stress due to graphene-Cu interface. The strengthening mechanism of graphene is investigated by constraining effect in elastic region and blocking effect in plastic region. In a multi-layer structure, the middle copper film shows better tensile properties as its movement is constrained between two graphene layers. The blocking effect plays an important role in the interface interaction between graphene and dislocations. Graphene effectively blocks dislocations from penetrating through and restricts the synergistic movement of copper atoms.

Core/shell quantum dots (QDs) always favor electron injection more than hole injection because of the deeper energy levels. Therefore, it is still challenging to achieve highly efficient quantum dot light-emitting devices (QLEDs) needing excellent carrier injection balance. Here, efficient QLEDs employing 4,4,4-tris(N-Carbazolyl)-triphenylamine (TCTA) doped with phosphorescent material tris(2-phenylpyridine) iridium [Ir(ppy)3] as trapping-type electron buffer layer are reported. Compared with conventional devices, efficiency enhancement reaching to 89% can be observed in such QLEDs. It is proved that the electron trap and blocking effect can efficiently improve carrier injection balance without sacrificing the operating voltage and luminance, mainly resulting in the considerable efficiency enhancement.

Reinforcement bar corrosion induced by chloride ions ingress is one of the dominating causes for the deterioration of reinforced concrete structures in salty environment. Thus, it is particularly important to accurately predict chloride concentration in concretes and evaluate the structural service life. This paper presents the results of an indoor experimental investigation on chloride diffusion in plain and reinforced mortar specimens exposed to tidal zone, which is simulated by a self-design marine environment automatic simulation device. Concrete covering-layer was divided into major influence area (MIA) and secondary influence area (SIA) to accurately describe the chloride ion concentration distribution characteristics. MIA is the region affected by direct and indirect blocking effect of reinforcement bar, while SIA is the area only influenced by the indirect one. Also, the relative influence coefficient Cre was defined to measure the impact of reinforcement bar on the chloride ion ingress. The results indicate that indirect blocking effect of rebar resulting from changes of material properties is the major cause for the chloride ion concentration distribution in SIA and it is only relative to the diffusion depth. Whereas, direct blocking effect of bar caused by physical obstruction to accumulate chloride ions contributes most to the chloride increase in MIA and it is correlated to the diffusion depth, exposure time and diameter of bar. Finally, an empirical prediction model of chloride concentration in concrete covering-layer considering the effect of reinforcement presence is proposed.

Despite the net energy yield be the primary goal of ethanol electro-oxidation reaction (EOR), it is never measured in fundamental electrochemical studies. By combining galvanodynamic and potentiodynamic profiles of the steady states of the system, we demonstrate a methodology to estimate the dissipation of chemical energy that allows the inference of the fuel cell power output in relative terms. Apart from the empirical energy dissipation, several kinetic information are unravelled: (a) the kinetics is governed by ethanol adsorption rate for both media and for both external control modes; and (b) either the maximum current sustained by EOR or the steady state currents are, in addition, governed by a global coverage of poisonings species, which includes the contributions from COad and non-reactive OHad. The blocking effect of potassium cations over EOR is clearly verified, reducing the maximum activity up to a factor of 0.19, which is interpreted as an effect of the high coverage of non-reactive OHad. Finally, it is expected a slightly improvement of the power output of a direct ethanol fuel cell operating at steady state in alkaline media due to the lower chemical dissipation at fixed interfacial current value. Nonetheless, the blocking effect of potassium in alkaline media may, depending on the concentration, either induces an oscillatory regime at higher overvoltage (above 0.57 V) along with the preservation of the energy generation at lower overvoltage or completely decrease the energy generation due to a drastic loss of energy used to polarize the EOR.

We consider the nonlinear nonsymmetrical spatially distributed excitations near the thin layer with nonlinearproperties separated with two media with Kerr-type focusing (positive) nonlinearity. We use the nonlinear Schrödingerequation with nonlinear potential containing two parameters to describe the new types of nonlinear stationary states.The problem is reduced to the solution of nonlinear Schrödinger equations on half spaces with the nonlinear boundaryconditions at the interface plane. We obtain and analyze the two types of nonlinear excitations describing the effect ofthe field blocking passing through the interface into one half-space from another one. The field blocking effect is thelocalization of the nonlinear spatially periodic wave during the transition from one half-space to another one where thewave function is monotonically damping from the interface. We derive the exact energy levels of states of special kinds inexplicit form. The conditions of the field blocking effect existence's dependence on the interface and media characteristicsare found.

To address the poor charge transport performance and severe surface combination of Hematite (Fe2O3), surface modification of electron blocking layer with a more negative conduction band than Fe2O3 have gradually received attention, which could prevent excess electrons escaping from Fe2O3 to the electrode surface. However, the electron blocking process is often accompanied by the similar hole blocking effect, resulting in severe secondary interface recombination. Here, we design a ZnFe2O4 active layer between Fe2O3 substrate and ZnO electron blocking layer to avoid the interface stacking phenomenon of photogenerated carriers. The photogenerated holes can be promptly extracted from valence band of Fe2O3 to the photoanode surface and the electrons can be smoothly delivered from Fe2O3 and FTO, avoiding the carriers interface accumulation. The optimized Fe2O3/ZnFe2O4/ZnO achieved a significant enhancement in photocurrent of 0.805 mA/ cm2 at 1.23 V vs. RHE when compared to the pristine Fe2O3 value of 0.12 mA/ cm2, Fe2O3/ZnFe2O4 of 0.58 mA/ cm2 and Fe2O3/ZnO of 0.38 mA/ cm2, increased by 670%, 140% and 210%, respectively. Meanwhile, the degradation rate constant is remarkably increased by 483%, 144% and 191% for treating a typical organic pollutant of methyl orange. Our finding emphasizes the importance of electron blocking layer and holes extraction layer on overall photogenerated carriers’ transfer, in achieving a hematite based photoanode with high PEC performance. These results provide a new strategy toward the surface design of more efficient PEC water splitting and organic degradation photoanode.

This dissertation analyzes reflexivization in Mandarin Chinese. It has two main aims: one is to critically examine the standard assumption in the literature that the Mandarin anaphor ziji is simplex, providing an analysis based on the role of the verbal prefix zi- in the anaphoric system of Mandarin; the second aim is to provide a critical assessment of a claim in the current literature on binding, namely that anaphor binding is in principle always local and that nonlocal binding makes crucial use of an additional mechanism involving discourse factors. I show that zi-ji is in fact morphosyntactically complex based on diachronic and synchronic evidence involving the systematic application of various diagnostics. I conclude that zi-ji consists of a reflexivizing element zi- (also as verbal affix reflexivizing the predicate) and a defective pronominal stem -ji. I also show that the original arguments in favor of a simplex analysis lack force. This complexity is crucial for understanding of reflexivity in Mandarin. It entails that zi-ji ‘REFL-self’ licenses reflexivity by protection (Reuland 2011a). Another major issue not discussed in the theoretical literature is the role of the verbal prefix zi- in the anaphoric system of Mandarin (but see Chief 1997, 1998 for earlier discussion). Zi- functions as an operator on argument structure generating reflexive verbs by identifying two argument variables. Its effect is similar to the bundling operation of Reinhart and Siloni (2005), which is restricted to a subset of Agent-Theme verbs. Zi- also operates on a class of verbs taking clausal complements, identifying the external argument variable of the verb with a free variable in the complement. This explains a highly curious and hitherto mysterious binding pattern: the pronominal ta and the reflexive zi-ji in the complement of such a zi-verb must be bound by the subject of that verb; in the latter case unless a blocking effect interferes. I review a number of influential earlier approaches to binding in Mandarin. For each of them I identify empirical and theoretical problems that warrant pursuing an alternative. Specifically, none of them addresses the role of zi-prefixation. Moreover, they all turn out not to be able to account for the binding pattern in the complements of zi-verbs. The conclusion is that the complexity hypothesis paired with Giblin’s (2016) Agree-based approach is best equipped to provide an explicit and principled account of both nonlocal binding of ziji and the blocking effect, it can be straightforwardly integrated with my account of that peculiar binding pattern. In a nutshell, I show that the complexity of zi-ji provides the basis for a unified analysis in which the contrast between local and nonlocal binding of zi-ji reduces to a timing difference involving the interaction of zi-ji’s constituents with the syntactic environment. There is no qualitative difference in the mechanisms employed for local and nonlocal binding, since both are part of narrow syntax. Overall, then, Mandarin has a verbal reflexivizing affix zi-, a (complex) semireflexive zi-ji (licensing reflexivity without enforcing), and a supercomplex reflexive ta zi-ji (licensing and enforcing reflexivity).

Several researches has proved that surface fluorination of polyethylene has a significant barrier effect of space charge, so whether the surface fluorination treatment of poly (ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) loaded with carbon black particles electrode has the same effect? In this study, the space charge distribution in polyethylene under different electrode fluorination conditions was measured with laser-PWP method to observe the blocking effect of surface fluorination. Experimental results show that the homo space charge distribution inside the polyethylene heat-pressed with fluorinated electrode increases, which is exactly the opposite of the situation of surface fluorination of polyethylene. ATR-IR spectra reveal that a fluorinated layer is formed on the surface of the fluorinated electrode, which blocked the impurities from diffusing into the polyethylene. The surface fluorination of $\text{EVA}+\text{CB}$ electrode may have the effect of blocking the diffusion of impurities, instead of suppressing the charge injection. While the homocharge injection from electrode unchanged and the heterocharge generated by impurities reduces, the measured charge in the apparent result is greatly increased. And the fluorinated layer on polyethylene blocks both impurities and carbon black particles, resulting in a significant reduction in the total charge distribution.

The hot nucleus $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$ is investigated by the covariant density functional theory with the PC-PK1 effective interaction. The thermodynamic quantities are evaluated with the canonical ensemble theory. The pairing correlations is treated by the shell-model-like approach, in which the particle numbers are conserved strictly and in which the blocking effect is handled exactly. An S-shaped heat capacity versus temperature of $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$ appears. It has been studied in terms of the blocking effect, the single-particle levels, the pairing gap, and defined seniority components, and compared to the heat capacity of $^{172}\mathrm{Yb}$. The pairing transition from the superfluid state to the normal state can result in the S-shaped heat capacity of $^{172}\mathrm{Yb}$ where the one-pair-broken and two-pair-broken states dominate, while the single-particle level structure near the Fermi surface is associated with the S-shaped heat capacity of $^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$. For odd-$A$ nuclei, although the one-pair-broken and two-pair-broken states still contribute, the pairing gap and the pairing transition is relatively weak. The S-shaped heat capacity could be affected due to the blocking of the single-particle level near the Fermi surface.

The interaction of zero-mean-shear turbulence (generated using an oscillating grid) with solid and permeable boundaries is studied experimentally. The influence of wall permeability is characterised using the permeability Reynolds number, increases, due to the transportation of turbulent energy into the porous medium as the macroscopic blocking condition is relaxed, thereby reducing TKE within the boundary-affected region and inhibiting the formation of high-pressure stagnation events that are responsible for intercomponent energy transfer. The results illustrate how the turbulence structure above a permeable boundary is sensitive to the blocking effect on the boundary-normal turbulent velocity. In light of these results, we propose that further analysis is required to establish the validity of a commonly used model of the boundary conditions enforced at the boundary of porous media, in which a no-penetration boundary condition on the boundary-normal velocity component is proposed.

The blocking effect causing the suppression of spurious frequencies in an injection-locked optoelectronic oscillator (IL-OEO) is studied in this paper. The blocking effect analysis in nonlinear systems is carried out using the Volterra series and is experimentally measured in a microwave amplifier. The blocking effect in the nonlinear system helps in analyzing the suppression of spurious frequencies in an IL-OEO. Under injection locking, the spurious frequencies in the IL-OEO are significantly suppressed, and the spurs are further suppressed when the power of the reference signal is increased.

Mixed ionic-electronic 98[20Li2O-xBi2O3-(80-x)TeO2]-2Ag (x = 3, 5, 7, 11, 13 and 15 mol%) glasses were prepared by melt-quenching technique to investigate their AC conductivity and dielectric properties. Structural analysis revealed the increase of non-bridging oxygen (NBO) up to x = 5 mol% before dropping at x = 7 mol% followed by a further increase at x > 7 mol%. The nonlinear behaviour of AC conductivity with Bi2O3 showed an initial increase in $$\sigma$$ AC until reaching a minimum at x = 7 and 11 mol% before increasing again at x > 11 mol%. The minimum is suggested to be due to the blocking effects of Bi2O3 towards ionic conduction caused by mixed ionic-electronic (MIE) effect. Other than that, dielectric constant displayed an anomalous decrease at x = 7 mol% followed by a steep increase at x > 7 mol%. This decrease could also be related to blocking effects induced by MIE that contributes to a reduction of space charge polarization. The anomalous decrease at x = 7 mol% coincided with a minimum of $$\sigma$$ AC for the same glass composition. Meanwhile, another nonlinear behaviour is observed on M′ with a maximum at x = 7 and 11 mol% which coincided with the location of $$\sigma$$ AC minimum that may be due to MIE effect attributed to the blocking effect of Bi2O3 to migrating ions which then led to high resistance. Electrical modulus analysis reveals the non-Debye relaxation nature for the glass samples indicating the presence of dynamic ions processes.

Recent studies based on high-resolution direct numerical simulations (DNSs) of turbulence have shown that there are three different types of shear layers in homogeneous and inhomogeneous turbulent flows; at the outer edge (T/NT), in the interior (T/T) and within the buffer layer near the wall (T/W). All the layers play important roles in various turbulence phenomena in the fields of natural sciences and engineering applications. Data analyses showed that all the shear layers act as a barrier of the velocity fluctuations by blocking velocity fluctuations from the one side to the other side. It was suggested that the blocking mechanism of thin turbulent wall (T/W) layers can be used to control the turbulent wake of aerofoils. For high Reynolds number, flows over typical aerofoils at low angle of incidence in the thin turbulent boundary layers (TBLs) have a conditional structure with thin T/W layers which act as a barrier to eddies in the outer part of the TBL. Recent studies indicate that using disturbance—devices at the airfoil surface enhances the blocking effect of the TW barrier and leads—unexpectedly-to reduced shear fluctuations at the wall. This suggests that deeper understanding of the structures and properties of the T/W layers may provide ideas to consider the better strategies for aerofoils designs. In this paper, we review the recent studies on the three different types of shear layers, which are based on the high-resolution DNSs of homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT), turbulent boundary layer (TBL), and turbulent channel flow (TCF).

As the lightest structural metal, magnesium (Mg) and its alloys have an important application on aircrafts, and would work under an irradiation condition, i.e. in outer space. So it is significant to study the microstructure and mechanical property of irradiated magnesium. In this work, we performed molecular dynamics simulations on the interactions of basal edge dislocations with interstitials and vacancies. We found that both point defects have a blocking effect on dislocation motion. However, the blocking effect of interstitials is much stronger than that of vacancies. This is due to the different interaction types. The interstitials are absorbed by the basal dislocation, so the stronger blocking effect is a result of the short-range interaction, while the weaker blocking effect of vacancies is induced by the long-range interaction only since vacancies cannot be absorbed. Current work is useful for understanding the irradiation effects in magnesium and its alloys.

In order to solve the problem that the influence of reservoir characteristics on the test results of air foam flooding, the mechanism of rhythmicity, heterogeneity and channeling of reservoir was studied by means of reservoir numerical simulation. The results show that: (1) in positive prosody reservoir, the recovery efficiency of the air foam flooding test is the most significant. (2) when the permeability difference of the reservoir is between 4 and 30, the effect of air foam flooding is better. (3) foam has a certain blocking effect on channeling channel, but when the permeability of channeling channel is greater than 3000 mD, the blocking effect is limited. It has important guiding significance for improving the effect of foam assisted deaeration air flooding test and promoting its application.

Background/Objective: Blocking occurs when previous conditioning with one stimulus reduces, or blocks, conditioning to a second redundant stimulus added later in training or conditioning procedures. Previous research has suggested that blocking may occur during equivalence class formation. Although both match-to-sample and respondent-type training have been used to establish equivalence classes, blocking has only been studied using match to sample procedures. Previous research on blocking in equivalence class formation did not utilize control groups, limiting the conclusions drawn from those studies. Thus, the purpose of the present study was to compare match-to-sample and respondent-type training for their susceptibility to blocking in three-member equivalence classes using control conditions. Method: A total of 27 participants were exposed to match-to-sample or respondent-type training procedures to form equivalence classes using a linear series training structure. Within each training procedure, one group of participants was exposed to a blocking condition and one was not. Results: Results indicated that the blocking did not occur for the 4 of 6 participants who formed equivalence classes. Patterns of responding that would be expected if blocking occurred were seen in both experimental and control conditions. Conclusions: Results obtained in the current study indicate that some processes other than blocking are involved when stimuli fail to enter equivalence classes. Future research should examine other processes involved when stimuli fail to enter into equivalence classes after training.

El efecto de bloqueo es un fenómeno que cambió la idea del aprendizaje por la idea tradicional de su ocurrencia por medio de un CS y un US con una contigüidad espacio-temporal, y agrega una nueva fuerza alternativa al condicionamiento clásico conocida como la ‘sorpresa’ (Beckers et al, 2016). Este efecto consiste en un fallo en el condicionamiento, al agregar un segundo CS a una asociación CS-US previamente establecida, lo que puede demostrar una competición de señales o la atención puesta a diferentes estímulos condicionales (Sanderson, Jones & amp; Austen, 2016). Por otro lado, el contexto o un ocassion setter (OS) se considera como la fuerza de un estímulo para modular la respuesta a un CS (Alfaro, Mallea, Laborda, Cañete y Miguez, 2018). De acuerdo a lo anterior, la presente investigación pretende determinar si el contexto influye en la ocurrencia del efecto de bloqueo en estudiantes de psicología de la universidad Santo Tomás - sede Villavicencio. The blocking effect is a phenomenon that changed the idea of learning for the traditional idea of its occurrence by means of a CS and a US with a space-time contiguity, and adds a new alternative force to classical conditioning known as 'surprise' (Beckers et al, 2016). This effect consists of a failure in conditioning, by adding a second CS to a previously established CS-US association, which can demonstrate a competition of signals or the attention paid to different conditioned stimuli (Sanderson, Jones & amp; Austen, 2016 ). On the other hand, the context or an occasion setter (OS) is considered as the strength of a stimulus to modulate the response to a CS (Alfaro, Mallea, Laborda, Cañete, & Miguez, 2018). According to the above, this research aims to determine if the context influences the occurrence of the blocking effect in psychology students at the Santo Tomás University - Villavicencio campus. Psicólogo http://www.ustavillavicencio.edu.co/home/index.php/unidades/extension-y-proyeccion/investigacion Pregrado

We study magnon transmission in the sandwich structure of ferromagnetic insulators (FMIs), antiferromagnetic insulators (AFMI), and ferromagnetic insulators (FMI) by atomistic spin-model simulations. Magnon junction effects (MJEs), which have been reported in magnon junction (MJ) experiments, can be reproduced in this work, demonstrating the importance of spin-dependent magnon blocking effects (MBEs) in a MJ structure. Moreover, AFMI spacers with various structures are investigated. We show that the MJE is sensitive to the characteristics of the AFMI spacer such as orientation of N\'eel vector, types of AFMI spin configuration, and intrinsic exchange interaction. It is found that these phenomena are rooted in the magnon selection rules between two FMIs of different magnonic polarization. Based on the mechanism studied above, we further propose an in-plane MJE and give a feasible experimental prediction using nonlocal magnon-mediated current-drag measurement. Our work provides insight into magnon transmission in MJ and serves as a promising tool for future magnon circuits.

In recent years, single image dehazing methods based on Atmospheric Scattering Model (ASM) have achieved state-of-the-art results. But the dehazing outputs of those methods suffer from color shift and blocking effect. Our preliminary experiments show that the negative bias of the estimated transmission and the bias of tiny transmission value will cause serious color shift. Therefore, in this study, a new loss function (TransLoss) and a new natural activation function (NAF) are proposed to restrain negative bias of transmission and avoid tiny transmission value from being activated, respectively. Moreover, it is noted that the block effect is caused by patch-level transmission estimation mechanism in existing dehazing models. To address this issue, a new pixel-level transmission estimation module (ETM) is dedicated designed to avoid blocking effect. In the end, an end-to-end CNN dehazing network avoiding color shift and blocking effect is developed, termed as ABC-Net. Experimental results indicate that the ABC-Net outperforms four comparison methods on both synthetic and real-world images.

The discovery of the Kamin blocking effect suggested that surprise or prediction errors are necessary for associative learning. This suggestion led to the development of a new theoretical framework for associative learning relying on prediction error rather than just temporal contiguity between events. However, many recent studies have failed to replicate the blocking effect, questioning the central role of blocking in associative learning theory. Here, we test the expression of Kamin blocking in rats that either approach and interact with the conditioned cue (sign trackers) or approach and interact with the reward location (goal trackers) during appetitive classical conditioning. The behavioral task involved three phases: classical conditioning of a lever cue, conditioning of a compound of the lever cue plus an auditory cue, and testing response to presentation of the auditory cue in extinction. The results show that only sign trackers express the blocking effect. Thus, groups that include goal trackers are less likely to be able to replicate the blocking effect. Our findings support the idea that sign and goal tracking responses arise as a result of distinct parallel learning processes. Psychological theories of learning that incorporate these parallel learning processes and their interactions will provide a better framework for understanding the blocking effect and related associative learning phenomena.

This study aimed to test whether male and female rats might show differences in cue competition effects in a conditioned taste aversion (CTA) model. Experiment 1 tested for sex differences in overshadowing. After conditioning of a flavored compound AB or only one simple flavor A (being A and B a solution of sugar 10% and salt 1%, counterbalanced), consumption of the A solution at test was larger in the former than in the latter case only in males. Thus, the usual effect of overshadowing was observed in males but not in females. Experiment 2 examined sex differences in blocking with the same stimuli used in Experiment 1. After conditioning of AB, the consumption of B was larger for the animals that previously received a single conditioning trial with A than for those that received unpaired presentations of A and the illness. As observed in Experiment 1, the typical blocking effect appeared only in males but not in females. The present findings thus support the hypothesis that sex dimorphism might be expressed in classical conditioning, or at least, in cue competition effects such as overshadowing and blocking with a taste aversion model.

In this study, the Pauli blocking potential between two colliding nuclei in the density overlapping region is applied to describe the heavy nuclei fusion process. Inspired by the Pauli blocking effect in the -decay of heavy nuclei, the Pauli blocking potential of single nucleon from the surrounding matter is obtained. In fusion reactions with strong density overlap, the Pauli blocking potential between the projectile and target can be constructed using a single folding model. By considering this potential, the double folding model with a new parameter set is employed to analyze the fusion processes of 95 systems. A wider Coulomb barrier and shallower potential pocket are formed in the inner part of the potential between the two colliding nuclei, compared to that calculated using the Akyüz-Winther potential. The fusion hindrance phenomena at deep sub-barrier energies are described well for fusion systems O + Pb and Ni + Ni.

Using the numerically exact multiple sphere T-matrix (MSTM) method, we explored the effects of brown coatings on absorption enhancement (Eabs) of black carbon (BC) at different wavelengths (λ). In addition, the ratio of the absorption of BC coated by brown carbon (BrC) to an external mixture of BrC and BC (Eabs_internal) is also investigated. In this work, thinly coated BC is defined as that with a BC volume fraction over 20 %, and other BC is considered to be thickly coated. Eabs increases with the absorption of coatings, while an opposite trend is observed for Eabs_internal. A much wider range of Eabs is observed for BC with brown coatings compared to that with non-absorbing coatings. As the mass ratio of BrC to BC (MR) is over 13.9, Eabs can exceed 5.4 for BC with brown coatings at λ=0.35 µm under a typical size distribution. Specifically, as MR increases to approximately 13.9, Eabs values of larger than 3.96 can be observed at 0.532 µm, which is a little higher than the commonly measured Eabs of 1.05–3.5 at this wavelength. Previous studies have focused on the lensing effects of coatings but neglected the blocking effects of absorbing coatings. Eabs_internal can be below 1 at an ultraviolet spectral region for BC with brown coatings, which indicates that the absorption of internally mixed BC is less than that of an external mixture of BrC and BC due to the blocking effects of outer coatings, and we named the blocking effect of absorbing coatings the “sunglasses effect”. In addition, the applicability of a core–shell sphere model is also evaluated for BC with brown coatings. The absorption cross section (Cabs) of thickly coated BC is underestimated by the core–shell sphere model for all wavelengths while the underestimation becomes negligible as the imaginary part of the refractive index of brown carbon (kBrC) becomes very large. The lensing effect and the sunglasses effect are clearly defined. Moreover, the effects of composition ratios and the size distribution are explored at different wavelengths. Our findings can improve the understanding of the absorption enhancement of BC with brown coatings.

In this study, molecular insights into NO-promoted SO2 oxidation on model TiO2 with well-defined (001), (010), and (101) facets are investigated in the laboratory. The adsorbed SO2 is significantly promoted to transform into sulfate by the coexisting NO on the three facets. The appearance of active oxygen species indicates an active oxygen species-initiated NO oxidation. The resulting NO2 acts as an oxidant to convert adsorbed sulfite on hydroxyls to sulfate species. The (101) facet presents the best performance in the NO-promoted sulfate formation possibly owing to its desirable structure to accommodate SO32–, NO2, and molecular water. The uptake coefficient (γt) of SO2 increases by the coexistence of NO on the (001) facet at 0% RH and is relative humidity (RH) dependent, which first decreases from 0% RH to 32% RH but then increases in the range of 32%–80% RH. The probable explanation is the combined contribution of the blocking effect of water and the hydration of SO2. The finding in this study provides...

The effect of transcranial electromagnetic stimulation on immobilization stress-induced damage to rat brain cells was studied. Electromagnetic stimulation was performed by microwave (λ = 5.6 mm) electromagnetic radiation with a power density of 0.67, 1.3, and 2.0 W/cm2 modulated by low-frequency pulses with a repetition rate of 78 Hz. A statistically significant blocking effect of electromagnetic stimulation on the process of stress-induced damage to brain cells (neurons) was detected in all three cases as the state of the neural network cells before and after stress exposure was compared. The most pronounced anti-stress effect was observed when electromagnetic stimulation with a power of 1.3 W/cm2 was used. A biophysical model of the anti-stress effect is proposed: according to the model, microwave radiation causes a globule–tangle phase transition in albumin, the major protein of the cerebrospinal fluid, and the tryptophan molecule fixed inside the globule is released. Free tryptophan enters the brain with the cerebrospinal fluid flow and enhances serotonin production, which blocks the stress effect, in the neural network of the brain.

A self-designed vertical dust combustion pipeline platform was used to study the explosion of wheat starch dust along with the different characteristic parameters of metal meshes and to highlight the influence of the metal mesh on the flame propagation of wheat starch dust. The temperature and pressure of flames were measured using a micro-thermocouple and pressure sensors, and spontaneous images of flames under different working conditions were captured by a high-speed photography system. It was observed that the metal meshes damaged the structural characteristics of flame propagation and the flame front surfaces, which led to the distortion and prevention of flame spread. This blocking effect increased with an increase in the number of metal meshes and layers. When the metal mesh had a smaller aperture, there was an increased suppression of the flame propagation. The presence of metal meshes in flame propagation also quenched a large portion of the flame, with the decrease in flame temperature being large and inversely proportional to the number of meshes and layers. The metal mesh also moderately inhibited the propagation of the combustion pressure wave. The inhibitory effect on pressure wave propagation was more evident and the combustion pressure decreased with an increase in the number of metal meshes and layers.

An occasion setter (OS) is a stimulus or context with the capacity to disambiguate an ambiguous conditioned stimulus (CS). Previous research has shown that OSs share some features with regular Pavlovian CSs. Amongst them, research has shown that OSs are subject to blocking; that is, a new OS exerts reduced behavioral control after training in compound with a previously established OS. Of additional interest, in Pavlovian blocking, it has been reported that a blocked CS comes to elicit conditioned responding after the extinction of the blocking CS. This is an example of retrospective revaluation, a family of phenomena in which the response to a specific stimulus is modified by training a related cue. Here, three experiments sought to extend the analogies between OS and Pavlovian conditioning by examining the blocking of OSs and its retrospective revaluation. In all experiments, an OS was established by pairing a CS with food in the presence of the OS, but not in its absence (i.e., positive OS). Blocking was then trained by presenting the OS in compound with a novel OS. Experiment 1 showed blocking of the second OS, but direct exposure to the blocking OS did not enhance responding to the second OS. Experiment 2 replicated the blocking effect but subsequent training of the blocking OS with a reversed contingency showed no retrospective revaluation. Experiment 3 examined whether blocking of the OS occurred with a novel CS during the compound phase. In this experiment blocking was again observed, but only when subjects were tested with the original CS. These results are discussed focusing on the underlying links at work in occasion setting.

Random amino-alcohol-based poly(ester amide)s were synthesized using adipic acid and differently substituted amino-alcohols, namely 2-amino-ethan-1-ol, 1-amino-propan-2-ol, 2-amino-butan-1-ol and 2-amino-2-methyl-propan-1-ol. The effect of substitution on the yield and fine structure was investigated using residual functional group analysis, SEC and NMR. The functional group analysis and SEC proved the blocking effect of small substituents on direct polycondensation. The NMR data suggested a sequenced structure that could cause the formation of different crystalline phases in linear amino-alcohol-based poly(ester amide)s. Three different crystalline phases with different thermal stability and crystallization rate were observed with DSC and WAXS. The crystalline nature of the poly(ester amide)s proves the sequenced organization along the backbone.