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This research explored the development of composite systems using konjac gum (KGM) and soy lecithin at concentrations of 1% KGM–0.01% lecithin and 1% KGM–0.2% lecithin. The study investigated the influence of both oral and artificial saliva on the rheological and tribological properties of these systems, as well as the lubrication on different friction surfaces with varying characteristics. It has been found that different friction surfaces exhibited distinct morphological features and roughness values, significantly impacting surface wettability when treated with saliva. The viscosity of KGM–lecithin composite systems increased slightly compared to KGM hydrogel. However, adding oral or artificial saliva led to a noticeable decrease in viscosity. Lecithin did not significantly alter the viscoelastic properties of KGM gel, but the incorporation of artificial and oral saliva introduced some changes. CLSM images showed that the stability and distribution of lecithin within the composite system varied with lecithin concentration and saliva type, with artificial saliva ensuring a stable and even distribution, while oral saliva caused aggregation and irregular distribution. Furthermore, the study found that the lubrication performance of the KGM‐lecithin system was influenced by the properties of the friction surface, with hydrophilic rough surfaces providing superior lubrication compared to rough surfaces. The addition of lecithin enhanced lubrication across all tested surfaces, and artificial saliva surpassed oral saliva in reducing friction coefficients. These findings offer valuable insights into the potential use of KGM‐lecithin composite systems as fat mimetics, particularly in enhancing lubrication for various applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Beijing University of Civil Engineering & Architecture is the property of Journal of Beijing University of Civil Engineering & Architecture Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Metal borohydrides exhibit remarkable hydrogen storage capabilities. Nevertheless, the practical application of metal borohydrides as onboard hydrogen storage materials is constrained owing to their elevated hydrogen release temperatures, limited reversibility, and sluggish kinetics. This paper presents an overview of the current research advancements concerning the hydrogen storage capacity of metal borohydrides and the measures employed to improve their properties, encompassing ionic substitution, nano-methods, catalytic doping, and the construction of composite systems. Lastly, this article scrutinizes the challenges and prospects associated with metal borohydrides, proposes methodologies to augment their hydrogen storage capabilities, and furnishes guidelines for further research on metal borohydrides and the broader hydrogen storage domain. • Hydrogen storage is the major barrier to the widespread adoption of hydrogen energy. • Storage via metal borohydrides results in high capacities. • Borohydrides face difficulty in stability and reversibility. • Storage targets must be achieved through various modification methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fascinating 3D shapes arise when a thin planar sheet is folded without stretching, tearing or cutting. The elegance amplifies when the fold/crease is changed from a straight line to a curve, due to the association of plastic deformation via folding and elastic deformation via bending. This results in the curved crease working as a hinge support providing deployability to the surface which is of significant interest in industrial engineering and architectural design. Consequently, finding a stable form of curved crease becomes pivotal in the development of deployable structures. This work proposes a novel way to evaluate such curves by taking inspiration from biomimicry. For this purpose, growth mechanism in plants was observed and an analogous model was developed to create a discrete curve of fold. A parametric model was developed for digital construction of the folded models. Test cases were formulated to compare the behavior of different folded models under various loading conditions. A simplified way to visualize the obtained results is proposed using visual programming tools. The models were further translated into physical prototypes with the aid of 3D printing, hybrid and cured-composite systems, where different mechanisms were adopted to achieve the folds. The prototypes were further tested under constrained boundary and compressive loading conditions, with results validating the analytical model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We set up a general theory leading to a quantum Wasserstein distance of order 1 between channels in an operator algebraic framework. This gives a metric on the set of channels from one composite system to another, which is deeply connected to reductions of the channels. The additivity and stability properties of this metric are studied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite materials with carbon and glass fibers in an epoxy matrix are widely used systems due to their excellent mechanical parameters, and machining is a standard finishing operation in their manufacture. Previous studies focused exclusively on the characteristics of the fibers released into the air. This work aimed to analyze the nature of the material waste that remains on the work surface after machining. The dust on the work surface is made up of fibers and a polymer matrix, and due to its dimensions and chemical stability, it is a potentially dangerous inhalable material currently treated as regular waste. The smallest sizes of destroyed carbon fibers were generated during drilling and grinding (0.1 μm), and the smallest glass fiber particles were generated during milling (0.05 μm). Due to their nature, carbon fibers break by a tough fracture, and glass fibers by a brittle fracture. In both cases, the rupture of the fibers was perpendicular to or at an angle to the longitudinal axis of the fibers. The average lengths of destroyed carbon fibers from the tested processes ranged from 15 to 20 µm and 30 to 60 µm for glass fibers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work we consider the master equations for composite open quantum systems. We provide purely algebraic formulae for terms of perturbation series defining such equations. We also give conditions under which the Bogolubov–van Hove limit exists and discuss some corrections to this limit. We present an example to illustrate our results. In particular, this example shows, that inhomogeneous terms in time-convolutionless master equations can vanish after reservoir correlation time, but lead to renormalization of initial conditions at such a timescale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The receding globalization has reshaped the logistics industry, while the additional pressure of the COVID-19 pandemic has posed new difficulties and challenges as has the pressure towards sustainable development. Achieving the synergistic development of economic, social, and environmental benefits in the logistics industry is essential to achieving its high-quality development. Therefore, we propose a data-driven calculation, evaluation, and enhancement method for the synergistic development of the composite system of economic, social, and environmental benefits (ESE-B) of the logistics industry. Based on relevant data, the logistics industry ESE-B composite system sequential parametric index system is then constructed. The Z-score is applied to standardize the original index data without dimension, and a collaborative degree model of logistics industry ESE-B composite system is constructed to estimate the coordinated development among the subsystems of the logistics industry's ESE-B system. The method is then applied to the development of the logistics industry in Anhui Province, China from 2011 to 2020. The results provide policy recommendations for the coordinated development of the logistics industry. This study provides theoretical and methodological support for the sustainable development aspects of the logistics industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite materials made of fiber-reinforced plastic laminates are highly susceptible to surface damage caused by wear during contour milling, especially with inappropriate tool and cutting material properties. Improper choice of tools and cutting conditions lead to delamination between applied layers, thermal damage of materials in the polymer matrix, and reduction of the edge quality of cutting tools. The study was devoted to circumferential milling of twill-bonded CFRP (carbon-fiber-reinforced polymer) sheets with a focus on cutting forces and tool flank face wear, including their effect on the machined surface structure, roughness, and topography of the laminate. The main objective of the study is to investigate the feasibility of applying conventional coated tools, which are not primarily designed for milling CFRP, in comparison to a dedicated DLC (diamond-like carbon) coated tool, due to economic and distribution availability and the possibility of providing suitable cutting conditions during milling. The study provides results confirming the possibility of using conventional tools for machining CFRP and provides relevant experimental results that can be implemented for optimal tool selection, tool life criteria, cutting conditions, and machining strategies including low energy consumption. The best values of the investigated parameters were obtained when using the ECSSF (instrument designation) tool with DLC coating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Development of efficient, low cost and multifunctional electrocatalysts for water splitting to harvest hydrogen fuels is a challenging task, but the combination of carbon materials with transition metal-based compounds is providing a unique and attractive strategy. Herein, composite systems based on cobalt ferrite oxide-reduced graphene oxide (Co 2 FeO 4) @(rGO) using simultaneous hydrothermal and chemical reduction methods have been prepared. The proposed study eliminates one step associated with the conversion of GO into rGO as it uses direct GO during the synthesis of cobalt ferrite oxide, consequently rGO based hybrid system is achieved in-situ significantly, the optimized Co 2 FeO 4 @rGO composite has revealed an outstanding multifunctional applications related to both oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and hydrogen counterpart (HER). Various metal oxidation states and oxygen vacancies at the surface of Co 2 FeO 4 @rGO composites guided the multifunctional surface properties. The optimized Co 2 FeO 4 @rGO composite presents excellent multifunctional properties with onset potential of 0.60 V for ORR, an overpotential of 240 mV at a 20 mAcm−2 for OER and 320 mV at a 10 mAcm−2 for HER respectively. Results revealed that these multifunctional properties of the optimized Co 2 FeO 4 @ rGO composite are associated with high electrical conductivity, high density of active sites, crystal defects, oxygen vacancies, and favorable electronic structure arisinng from the substitution of Fe for Co atoms in binary spinel oxide phase. These surface features synergistically uplifted the electrocatalytic properties of Co 2 FeO 4 @rGO composites. The multifunctional properties of the Co 2 FeO 4 @ rGO composite could be of high interest for its use in a wide range of applications in sustainable and renewable energy fields. Illustration of multifunctional surface properties of Co 2 FeO 4 @rGO composite. [Display omitted] • In situ rGO and cobalt ferrite oxide (Co 2 FeO 4 @rGO) composite is prepared. • The synthesized composite exhibited tri-functional water catalysis. • Composite shows an overpotential of 240 mV at a 20 mAcm−2 for OER. • A long term durability of 48 h was also demonstrated by composite material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Glass fibers are often used as reinforcing fibers in reinforced polymers. Composites reinforced with glass fibers (GFRP) stand out with excellent mechanical and physical properties applicable to industrial practice. Machining these composites requires the correct choice of tools and cutting conditions so that the machined surface shows good properties, there is no fiber delamination, thermal stress on the workpiece and the tool, or excessive tool wear. The study was devoted to circumferential milling of fabric-bonded GFRP plates, in which attention was paid to the influence of the abrasive effect of glass fibers on wear and tool life. Attention was also paid to surface roughness after machining, material delamination, and forces during machining were measured. Three end mills of the same diameter with different coatings, number of teeth, and geometry were selected for the study. This choice of tools was intended to achieve various accompanying and subsequent phenomena that were investigated. Milling was performed on a CNC milling center under preselected cutting conditions. The paper summarizes information on fiber delamination and machined laminate damage after milling, tool wear, and surface roughness parameters as a function of tool wear. This paper provides an opportunity for researchers to increase their knowledge of specific aspects of milling GFRP composites, whether with a tool specifically designed for this or not. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite systems are widely used in many engineering applications for new structures and strengthening of existing ones. Within the structural rehabilitation of civil constructions, the plating technique of beams with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) represents a quick and optimal intervention with respect to traditional ones. The failure of these composite systems usually occurs due to the FRP debonding, which corresponds to a mode II fracture of concrete specimens. In this paper, a new experimental setup for investigating the mode II fracture behavior of FRP-concrete composite structures is presented. The test equipment consists of both conventional equipment and a non-contact optical technique, Digital Image Correlation (DIC), and the test system was realized at the Design Machine Laboratory of the University of Salerno. A preliminary test was performed and the corresponding results are shown and discussed.

It was found that composite systems with succinic acid, in which a significant part of the acid is in the voids between the particles of silica while the acid is in the form of nano- and microcrystalites, can be obtained from hydrophilic and hydrophobic silicas and their mixtures by the method of dosing mechanical loading. The textural characteristics of the composites depend on their composition, the mechanical load, and the humidity during their creation. Both hydrophilic and hydrophobic systems can be transferred to an aqueous medium and used in medicine and biotechnology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CaZrO3 mono-phase and (1-x)CaZrO3-xCaTiO3 composite systems, where x = 0.2, 0.25, and 0.3, were synthesized by a conventional solid-state method. XRD patterns of the synthesized composites reveal the formation of both phases, and no secondary phase was detected. The analysis of the internal stress in the composites systems by the William-Hall equation indicates that tensile stress is applied to the CaZrO3 grains, while compressive stress is applied to CaTiO3 grains. TEM analyses show that the CaTiO3 grain is surrounded by CaZrO3 grains, confirming the presence of the CaZrO3/CaTiO3 hetero-interfaces and confirming the results obtained by the William-Hall equation. Impedance spectra were well modelled by introducing electrical equivalent circuits. The obtained results show that the incorporation of the CaTiO3 phase favors the ionic conductivity in the composite and that the 0.75CaZrO3-0.25CaTiO3 composite exhibits the highest oxide ion conductivity among all the samples, where its total conductivity value is about 1.23 × 10−4 s cm−1 at 500 °C, which is higher than that of the CZO mono-phase (1.01 × 10−6 s cm−1 at 500 °C), and than that of the CTO mono-phase (2.1 × 10−7s cm−1 at 500 °C). The conductivity enhancement was explained based on the variation of the hetero-interface CaZrO3/CaTiO3 surface area. Furthermore, the frequency and temperature dependence of dielectric constant ( ε r ′ ) and dielectric loss tangent (tanδ) were investigated in detail and the dielectric response improvement was attributed to the improvement of the space charge polarization in the hetero-interfaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A complex of physicochemical methods was used to study the morphology and structure of the surface of methylsilica AM-1. Hydration of methylsilica was carried out by mechanochemical activation in the presence of water. The structure of the hydrate layer was studied using low-temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy. It has been established that adsorbed water is present in the form of nanosized clusters with a radii R = 0.4–20 nm, some of which are in a strongly associated state (SAW), and the other in a weakly associated state (WAW). The properties of the weakly associated state of water are similar to the supercritical state, which exists at high temperatures and pressures in the form of nanosized surface clusters. A method has been developed for the formation of a hydrated composite system AM-1/Betulin, which provides it possible for a significant amount of weakly associated water forms to exist in the surface layer. The contact of composite particles with a liquid hydrophobic medium (modeling hydrophobic areas of the gastrointestinal mucosa) further increases the amount of WAW even more. The binding energy of water and the size of adsorbed water clusters depend on the method of hydration. In the case of soft hydration by shaking with water, large clusters of SAW are formed on the surface, localized on the molecules of adsorption-fixed Betulin. During hard hydration (grinding with water in a porcelain mortar), water penetrates into the gaps between hydrophobic particles of methylsilica or methylsilica with immobilized Betulin and forms clusters of WAW, the radii of which can be 0.4–8 nm. This type of interfacial water exists in a wide temperature range, its amount increases with increasing temperature. Thus, a new type of composites has been created, promising for use as antiviral and anticancer drugs. [Display omitted] • The characteristics of wetted hydrophobic nanosilica depend on treatment conditions. • The contact of composite particles with a liquid hydrophobic medium increases WAW. • The E b H 2 O and the size of adsorbed water clusters depend on the mode of hydration. • During hydration immobilized Betulin water forms clusters of weakly associated water. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of sulfate exposure on the mechanical behavior of fresh-to-fresh composite systems (CS), incorporating self-compacting concrete (SCC) in compression and engineered cementitious composites (ECC) in tension. ECCs were designed based on various supplementary cementitious materials (SCM) such as low and high calcium fly ash, slag and reinforcing fibers such as PVA and steel fibers. Repeated cycles of immersion in concentrated sodium sulfate solution were followed by drying at high temperatures (80 °C). After 90 and 180 days of cyclic exposure, the mechanical properties including flexural, compressive and tensile bond strength and mass change were evaluated. To investigate microstructural deterioration and reaction product concentration, SEM-EDS and backscattered electron imaging were used to examine sulfate profiles at the interfacial zone between SCC and ECC. Composite samples demonstrated excellent physico-mechanical resilience. The incorporation of low calcium fly ash and slag was observed to have a beneficial impact on residual mechanical properties in long-term exposures, along with the de-passivation capacity of the reinforcing fibers. No physical de-bonding was observed in any CS, however phase assemblages revealed high concentrations of reaction products in the SCC layers near the interfacial bond with the ECC layers. • Sustainable hot-jointed composite systems were developed using various fibers and SCMs. • The functional additional of ECC layers improved the mechanical and microstructural properties of the proposed CS. • Passivation ability of the interfacial reinforcing fibers was deemed necessary to improve chemical endurance of CS. • High calcium flyash based CS exhibited sensibility to the long-term sulfate exposure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article considers essence of the enterprise’s system of staff management, substantiating the scientific approaches to defining its constituents. The features of the enterprise’s system of staff management are covered. The need to improve the staff labor motivation has been substantiated. The main subprocesses of the enterprise’s system of staff management have been identified, on the basis of which the purpose has been defined and the staff incentive tasks have been formulated. The conditions, providing the efficient management of staff, have been determined. Differences and common features between the scientific approaches have been disclosed. The features of the system of staff management such as consistency and complexity of elements have been defined.

Chiral carbon dots have been of unique interest recently for their fascinating structural features and potential better biocompatibility. However, to effectively incorporate them into composite functional materials as well as to further extend their material application remains a challenge. In this work, we reported that well-selected chiral carbon dots can be prepared and doped into a matchable chiral gel system to achieve an optical combination. Three chiral precursors (d-glutamic acid, l-glutamic acid, and l-methionine) were used as raw materials to directly prepare chiral carbon dots (d-Glu-CDs, l-Glu-CDs, and l-Met-CDs) by high-temperature pyrolysis. Their chiroptical signals can be regulated by concentration-dependent dispersion. Upon this foundation, we prepared a composite gel by blending the chiral carbon dots l-Glu-CDs with the chiral gelator N,N′-bis-(octadecyl)-d-aminoglutamic diamide. Not only does the superposition of their chiroptical signals observed on the fibrous structures remain intact, but an optical combination is exhibited. The development of such chiral-carbon-dot-based composite functional materials may provide vision for the further advancement of pertinent material or biological usage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A procedure is developed for bringing hydrophobic nanosilica (neat and modified with succinic acid) into a wet state where the amount of the water bound to the material is comparable to the weight of the silica, and the apparent density is 0.7–1 g/cm3. The obtained composite is studied via low-temperature 1H NMR spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis, and thermogravimetry. It is shown that the bonding of water to hydrophobic silica is more efficient than the bonding of water to a water-based composite with hydrophilic succinic acid. It is concluded that under mechanical loads, small (less than 10 nm) clusters of water form in the intergranular gaps in silica and interact with the hydrophobic surface via van der Waals interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Composite systems are widely used in many engineering applications for new structures and strengthening of existing ones. Within the structural rehabilitation of civil constructions, the plating technique of beams with Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) represents a quick and optimal intervention with respect to traditional ones. The failure of these composite systems usually occurs due to the FRP debonding, which corresponds to a mode II fracture of concrete specimens. In this paper, a new experimental setup for investigating the mode II fracture behavior of FRP-concrete composite structures is presented. The test equipment consists of both conventional equipment and a non-contact optical technique, Digital Image Correlation (DIC), and the test system was realized at the Design Machine Laboratory of the University of Salerno. A preliminary test was performed and the corresponding results are shown and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] Insulin therapy is the mainstay to treat diabetes characterizedd by hyperglycemia. However, its short half-life of only 4–6 min limits its effectiveness in treating chronic diabetes. Advances in recombinant DNA technology and protein engineering have led to several insulin analogue products that have up to 42 h of glycemic control. However, these insulin analogues still require once- or twice-daily injections for optimal glycemic control and have poor patient compliance and adherence issues. To achieve insulin release for more than one day, different injectable delivery systems including microspheres, in situ forming depots, nanoparticles and composite systems have been developed. Several of these delivery systems have advanced to clinical trials for once-weekly insulin injection. This review comprehensively summarizes the developments of injectable insulin analogs and delivery systems covering the whole field of injectable long-lasting insulin technologies from prototype design, preclinical studies, clinical trials to marketed products for the treatment of diabetes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evolution of states of the composition of classical and quantum systems in the groupoid formalism for physical theories introduced recently is discussed. It is shown that the notion of a classical system, in the sense of Birkhoff and von Neumann, is equivalent, in the case of systems with a countable number of outputs, to a totally disconnected groupoid with Abelian von Neumann algebra. The impossibility of evolving a separable state of a composite system made up of a classical and a quantum one into an entangled state by means of a unitary evolution is proven in accordance with Raggio’s theorem, which is extended to include a new family of separable states corresponding to the composition of a system with a totally disconnected space of outcomes and a quantum one.

In the agro-complex, as well as in other sectors, the use of polymeric materials is one possible way forward in the innovation and development of machines and their parts. However, machine products place high demands on the materials from which they are made. Polymeric materials are currently able to compete in certain areas where metallic material would traditionally be used; however, one of their limiting characteristic is their ability to withstand elevated temperatures. This paper describes the hardness of polymeric materials when influenced by heat, generated during the double body abrasion. The paper also describes the abrasive wear of both polymers and polymeric composite systems, as well as cast iron, used in agricultural production. Heat intensity during the two-body abrasion results in a 28% fall of the composite systems hardness, to 18% fall of the Polyamid 6 hardness and to 13% fall of the Murtfeld hardness.

New issues, derivations, and remarks are presented for the subject of continuum damage mechanics. Emphasis is placed on the fundamental and basic aspects of damage mechanics. This work is a continuation of a previous work of the authors and provides for a complete analysis of the issues discussed previously. The topics discussed include: (1) the true nature of the damage–integrity angle, (2) modeling damaged solids as composite systems, (3) hypothesis of strain equivalence as a special case of the hypothesis of elastic energy equivalence, (4) mechanics of damaged beams, (5) a mean value theorem for damage mechanics, (6) partial damage mechanics characterization, (7) micro-damage or nano-damage, (8) crack and void mechanics, and (9) conceptual modeling of interfacial damage. It is hoped that these new and fundamental concepts will pave the way for new, consistent, and holistic avenues in research in damage mechanics and characterization of materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue d'Orthopédie Dento-Faciale is the property of Parresia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Enterprise interoperability and collaborative work are two aspects to involve in knowledge oriented enterprise collaboration. The first one implies a rather systemic view, the second one a rather activity related view on collaboration of enterprises within their ecosystems. For example, manufacturing or distribution are often dealt with by applying an input-output perspective. Product development or supply maintenance are increasingly organized as a set of networked activities performed by different actors inside and outside the enterprise, and therefore are to be dealt with by applying the perspective of composite practices. Information technology is challenged to support both aspects. However, the predominant approaches in modelling and engineering of systems still permit instantiations with low adaptivity. This interferes with easy take-up in business practice. On this background, the paper suggests enhancing existing structure with additional features to ease adaptivity of enterprise collaboration systems. It reflects work that was done on the subjects of enterprise interoperability and collaborative working environments.

Taking partial traces (PTrs) for computing reduced density matrices, or related functions, is a ubiquitous procedure in the quantum mechanics of composite systems. In this paper, we present a thorough description of this function and analyze the number of elementary operations (ops) needed, under some possible alternative implementations, to compute it on a classical computer. As we note, it is worthwhile doing some analytical developments in order to avoid making null multiplications and sums, what can considerably reduce the ops. For instance, for a bipartite system with dimensions and and for , while a direct use of PTr definition applied to requires ops, its optimized implementation entails ops. In the sequence, we regard the computation of PTrs for general multipartite systems and describe Fortran code provided to implement it numerically. We also consider the calculation of reduced density matrices via Bloch's parametrization with generalized Gell Mann's matrices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the idea that in both classical and quantum systems all correlations available for composite multipartite systems, e.g., bipartite systems, exist as 'hidden correlations' in indivisible (noncomposite) systems. The presence of correlations is expressed by entropic-information inequalities known for composite systems like the subadditivity condition. We show that the mathematically identical subadditivity condition and the mutual information nonnegativity are available as well for noncomposite systems like a single-qudit state. We demonstrate an explicit form of the subadditivity condition for a qudit with j = 2 or the five-level atom. We consider the possibility to check the subadditivity condition (entropic inequality) in experiments where such a system is realized by the superconducting circuit based on Josephson-junction devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show that the masses of weak and Higgs bosons as composite systems of basic hidden particles, estimated under hypothetical hidden couplings, are consistent with the experimental masses. This coupling can also yield the finite self-energy of the electron and the weak interaction. We predict a charged Higgs boson with a mass of about 113 GeV. The essential boson for producing mass is shown to be the basic hidden scalar boson, which is a constituent of the Higgs boson. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the axial and flexural behavior of square concrete members reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymer (GFRP) bars and embedded with pultruded GFRP structural sections under different loading conditions. The main parameters investigated in this study were the influence of the type of internal reinforcement (steel bars, GFRP bars and pultruded GFRP structural I-sections and C-sections) and magnitude of load eccentricity on the flexural and compressive behavior of square concrete members. To fulfil the objectives of this study, 16 reinforced concrete specimens were tested, of which 12 were tested as columns under compression loading and 4 were tested as beams under flexural loading. The concrete specimens were square in cross section with a side dimension of 210 mm and a height of 800 mm. The experimental results have shown that the steel-reinforced specimens have a higher loadcarrying capacity than specimens reinforced with GFRP bars for all loading conditions. In addition, for concentrically loaded specimens, steel-reinforced specimens have a better ductile performance than specimens reinforced with GFRP bars. In terms of eccentric loading, specimens reinforced with GFRP bars experienced similar ductility as compared to the corresponding steel-reinforced specimens. However, the eventual failure mode of specimens reinforced with GFRP bars was sudden and brittle in nature. However, specimens encased with GFRP structural sections have a higher load-carrying capacity but considerably lower ductility than the steel-reinforced and GFRP bar-reinforced specimens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have been done previously on temperature distribution in inhomogeneous composite systems with perfect interface, having no discontinuities along it. In this paper we have determined steady state temperature distribution in two inhomogeneous composite systems with imperfect interface, having discontinuities in temperature and heat flux using decomposed immersed interface method and performed the numerical simulation on MATLAB.

Increasing the quality of construction works and heat insulation efficiency of building envelope as well as providing additional fire proof and acoustic comfort suppose the use of special construction systems provided with the whole complex of components — composite construction systems. Composite interior systems include structural solutions of dividing walls, floors, suspended ceilings, inner facing of walls and fireproof facing, as well as assembling technology of these constructions. The main components of interior composite systems are gypsum board and gypsum-fiber sheets, gypsum-containing dry mortars. Less often gypsum partition blocks or panels based on Portland cement are used (cement fibrolite plates, aquapanels, etc.). The companies producing these materials are usually the movers of the creation of complex systems of interior facing. The systems are developed by leading Russian design organizations or engineering services of companies-the movers.

Many studies have been done previously on temperature distribution in inhomogeneous composite systems with perfect interface, having no discontinuities along it. In this paper we have determined steady state temperature distribution in two inhomogeneous composite systems with imperfect interface, having discontinuities in temperature and heat flux using decomposed immersed interface method and performed the numerical simulation on MATLAB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current state and prospects for designing new-generation polymer and composite implants intended to replace or improve human organs and tissues are analyzed. An innovative approach to their design combines the surface nanopatterning, formation of the implant matrix as a nanocomposite, and drug encapsulation aimed at ensuring their targeted and programmed delivery. The economic and scientometric situations in the development of composite and hybrid implant systems are briefly described. The major fields in nanoimplantology for the nearest decade are represented, including cardiology, ophthalmology, orthopedy, etc. The prospects for biodegradable polymers, such as poly(α-hydroxy acids) and poly(β-oxyalkanoates), are considered, as well as nanoscale biochips and sensors, miniature electromechanical systems, nanoinjectors, and neurological conduits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]