Stress corrosion cracking of X80 pipeline steel exposed to high pH solutions with different concentrations of bicarbonate

Susceptibilities to stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of X80 pipeline steel in high pH solutions with various concentrations of HCO₃? at a passive potential of ?0.2 V vs. SCE were investigated by slow strain rate tensile (SSRT) test. The SCC mechanism and the effect of HCO₃? were discussed with the aid of electrochemical techniques. It is indicated that X80 steel shows enhanced susceptibility to SCC with the concentration of HCO₃? increasing from 0.15 to 1.00 mol/L, and the susceptibility can be evaluated in terms of current density at ?0.2 V vs. SCE. The SCC behavior is controlled by the dissolution-based mechanism in these circumstances. Increasing the concentration of HCO₃? not only increases the risk of rupture of passive films but also promotes the anodic dissolution of crack tips. Besides, little susceptibility to SCC is found in dilute solution containing 0.05 mol/L HCO₃? for X80 steel. This can be attributed to the inhibited repassivation of passive films, manifesting as a more intensive dissolution in the non-crack tip areas than at the crack tips.     

Calibration of the U 37 K′ index of long-chain alkenones with the in-situ water temperature in Lake Qinghai in the Tibetan Plateau

Long-chain alkenones (LCAs) can potentially be used as indicators to understand past variations in lacustrine environments.Previous research has suggested that the relationship between the temperature and the unsaturation index of LCAs should be calibrated individually,because of the possible variations in the alkenone-producing algal species in the lacustrine environment.In this work,we have calibrated U37K’ of water filter samples against the in-situ water temperature in Lake Qinghai,Tibetan Plateau.There are significant relationships between U37K’ and the water temperature,a non-linear relationship was derived.Because the U37K’ values did not respond sensitively at lower temperatures,we suggested that a quadratic regression (U37K’ =0.0011×T2-0.0201×T+0.1959,n=15,r2=0.74) was appropriate than linear regression to represent the relationship between the in-situ temperatures and U37K’.Meanwhile,the U37K correlation relationship was not more significant than U37K’ index in our study.Because of the C37:4 effects by salinity change,we suggest U37K is not as robust as the U37K’ index as a temperature proxy,at least for the salt lake in the Tibetan Plateau.The calibration of the U37K’ index in this work has provided a new understanding of historic climatic changes in the Tibetan Plateau.     

Thermodynamic functions and growth constants of web-like ZnO nanostructures

Web-like ZnO nanostructures have been successfully synthesized using the potassium nitrate route at various temperatures to simplify conventional preparation methods. The structures and morphologies of the as-prepared products were characterized by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). The results showed that the reaction temperature was an important parameter, and that there was a feedback effect between nano-structure and growth parameters, combined with in situ micro-calorimetry, the reaction rate constants of the three systems were found to have been: 2.43×10-6, 2.70×10-8 and 3.12×10-7s-1 respectively. Furthermore, based on the relationship governing the potential differences between nanoand bulk ZnO, thermodynamic functions of nano-ZnO such as standard molar entropy (Sm,ZnO(nano)), standard molar Gibbs free energy of formation (△rGm,ZnO(nano)), and standard molar enthalpy of formation (△rHm,ZnO(nano)) have been calculated by the electrochemical method.     

The preparation and performance of high activity Ni-Cr binary catalysts for direct borohydride fuel cells

Ni-Cr binary anode catalysts used in direct borohydride fuel cells (DBFCs) were prepared using a constant potential electrodepo- sition method. Compared with pure metal Ni catalysts, the electro-oxidation currents of borohydride ions (BH-4) more than doubled when using Ni-Cr binary catalysts under the same conditions. The enhanced activity of the Ni-Cr binary catalysts could be attributed to the change in distribution of BH-4ions on the surface of the Ni electrode. This is due to Cr electrodeposits, which allows a greater number of hydrogen atoms to catalyze from each tetrahedron BH-4 ion. The performance of Ni-Cr binary catalysts could also be improved by optimizing the electrodeposition conditions. The results show that Ni-Cr binary catalysts are optimally prepared using an electrodeposition method of 1s with a Cr3+ concentration of 0.2 mol L-1 and a potential of -0.100 V.     

Cellular prion protein imaging analysis with aptamer-labeled Ru（bpy）32＋-doped silica nanoparticles

A new type of highly selective aptamer-labeled fluorescent silica nanoparticles [Apt-tris（2,2＇-bipyri- dyl）ruthenium（II）@SiO2 NPs] were prepared through the reverse microemulsion method by using prolonged fluorescence lifetime ruthenium complexes of tris（2,2＇-bipyri- dyl）ruthenium（II） （Ru（bpy）2＋） as the source of the fluorescence for cellular prion protein imaging. Investigations showed that the newly prepared Ru（bpy）32＋@Si02 NPs possessed superior advantages of strong fluorescence, low toxicity, and easy surface modification for bioconjugation. Cell imaging experiments indicated that Apt- Ru（bpy）32＋@SiO2 NPs had great tendency to human bone marrow neuroblastoma cells （SK-N-SH cells）, since they can express large amount of prion protein on the surface of the cell, while in HeLa cells this phenomenon disappeared for the reason that HeLa cells cannot express prion proteins.     

Thermodynamics and density functional theory study of potassium dichromate interaction with galena

The adsorption heat and reaction rate constant of potassium dichromate on the surface of galena were studied. The results indicate that potassium dichromate tends to adsorption on the galena surface. The reaction order is only 0.08385, suggesting that the concentration of potassium dichromate has little influence on its adsorption on the galena surface. In addition, the simulation of CrO₄2? adsorption on the PbS (100) surface in the absence and presence of O₂ was carried out by density functional theory (DFT). The calculated results show that CrO₄2? species adsorb energetically at the Pb-S bond site, and the presence of O₂ can enhance this adsorption.     

On convergence of singular integral operators with respect to path of integration

Givenf being Hölder continuous in a regionG?C. For the Cauchy principal integral $$I(\Gamma ,f) = \frac{1}{{\pi i}} \int_\Gamma {\frac{{f(\zeta )}}{{\zeta - \zeta _0 }}d\zeta , \zeta _0 \in \Gamma } $$ where Γ?G is a smooth closed contour, it is established that, if a sequence of smooth closed contours Γn?G(n∈N) smoothly convergent to Γ, then the corresponding sequenceI(Γ _n, f)is convergent to I(Γ, f). Furthermore, when Γ is approximated by a sequence of complex cubic splines $S_{\Delta _n } (\Gamma )$ interpolatory to Γ, the error $|I(\Gamma ,f)--I(S_{\Delta _n } (\Gamma ,f)|$ is estimated.     

Induced temperature-dependent DNA degradation by C60 without photoactivation

This study shows that C₆₀ can degrade pBR322 plasmid DNA at room temperature without photoactivation. The degradation was enhanced by increasing incubation temperature, reaction time or C₆₀ concentration. We also found that superoxide radical anions (O ₂ ^?· ) were formed in the C₆₀ solution. Superoxide dismutase significantly inhibited DNA cleavage and O ₂ ^?· generation induced by C₆₀. These results suggest that DNA cleavage was caused by the formation of reactive oxygen species induced by C₆₀ at room temperature. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the DNA degradation was significantly inhibited by acid amide chemicals such as formamide, and by increased ionic strength of the reaction solution. These results indicate that the DNA conformation stability and the surface properties of C₆₀ are important factors regulating DNA degradation. We propose that C₆₀ can bind DNA, decrease DNA conformation stability, and induce the formation of reactive oxygen species and DNA cleavage at room temperature. Our results provide a possible explanation for the genotoxicity of C₆₀, which should be considered in future use of this particular nano-material.     

Super-Edge-Connectivity of G(k,d,s)(s≥k/2)

A graph G is super-edge-connected,for short super-λ,if every minimum edge-cut consists of edges adjacent to a vertex of minimum degree.Alphabet overlap graph G(k,d,s)is undirected,simple graph with vertex set V={v|v=1()kv…v;vi∈{1,2,…,d},i=1,…,k}.Two vertices u=(u1…uk)and v=(v1…vk)are adjacent if and only if us+i=vi or vs+i=ui(i=1,…,k-s).In particular G(k,d,1)is just an undirected de Bruijn graph.In this paper,we show that the diameter of G(k,d,s)is k s,the girth is 3.Finally,we prove that G(k,d,s)(s≥k/2)is super-λ.     

The impact of nanoporous SiN x interlayer growth position on high-quality GaN epitaxial films

The impact of nanoporous SiN x interlayer growth position on high-quality GaN epitaxial film was elucidated from the behavior of dislocations. The best quality GaN film was achieved when a nanoporous SiN x interlayer was grown on a rough layer, with the high-resolution X-ray diffraction rocking curve full width at half maximum for ( 1102 ) reflection decreasing to 223 arcs, and the total dislocation density reduced to less than 1.0×10 8 cm 2 . GaN films were grown on sapphire substrates by metal organic chemical vapor deposition. The quality of these films was investigated with high-resolution X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy. A preference for the formation of half-loops to reduce threading dislocations was observed when an SiN x interlayer was grown on a rough layer. A growth mechanism is proposed to explain this preference.     

Optical turbulence profiling with single star SCIDAR technique

In order to characterize optical turbulence, we have developed a single star SCIDAR （SSS） for measurement of the distribution of Cn^2 with height. The SSS consists of a 40 cm telescope and a CCD camera for fast sampling of stellar scintillation pattern. Spatio- temporal auto and cross-correlation functions of the single star images are computed, providing vertical profiles of optical turbulence intensity C2（h） and wind speed V（h）. Using this new SSS experiment, profiles of turbulence can be obtained from the ground to the top of atmosphere, allowing the determination of seeing, isoplanatic angle and coherence time. Detailed characteristics of atmospheric optical turbulence are important for active and passive imaging, astronomical site testing, adaptive optics, laser communications, target tracking and designation, and laser beam control. We plan to improve the robotization of the SSS to be able to use it routinely even under harsh weather and altitude conditions that we expect to encounter on the high Tibetan plateau or at Dome A in Antarctica. SSS will also be applied for the site testing campaign of the future Chinese extremely large telescope.     

The loop effects on the chargino decays ～χ±1→～χ0 1ff ′in the MSSM

The lighter chargino three body decays ～χ±1→～χ0 1ff ′ via the W^± boson and the charged Higgs boson H^± were studied in the R-parity conserved Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model （MSSM）. We treat ～χ±1 decays as production and decay of W^± and H^± i.e.,～χ±1→～χ01W^±（H^±） → χ0 1ff ′. Both higgsino- like and wino-like ～χ±1 decays were well investigated. These decays are calculated at 1-loop level and the loop corrections are found to be less than three percent. The signal of the charged Higgs H^± production from ～χ±1 decays is discussed. It will offer important information about the chargino and neutralino sector, as well as the charged Higgs sector in the MSSM.     

Texture evolution of commercial pure Ti during cold rolling and recrystallization annealing

X-ray diffraction (XRD) was employed to analyze the texture evolution of commercial pure (CP) Ti during cold rolling and recrystallization annealing. The texture components were measured by electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) after recrystallization annealing. The CP Ti tends to form a texture with the basal pole tilted 30°-40° away from the normal direction toward the transverse direction. The texture of the initial hot-rolled plate can be classified into three kinds, i.e., the pyramid texture (1013)[5230] and (2021)[1015], the basal plane texture (0001)[2110], and the stronger prism texture (1120)[0001]. After cold rolling and annealing (700℃, 60 min), the main texture components are the cold-rolled texture (1125)[1123] and the recrystallized texture (1013)[5230]. The texture (2021)[1015] is inherited from the texture of the initial hot-rolled plate with the decrease of orientation density gradually. The volume contents of the cold-rolled texture {2115} <0110> and the recrystallized texture {1013} <1210> are calculated by EBSD. After recrystallization annealing, the specimen is rich in the recrystallized texture and inherits some of texture components from the cold-rolled texture. When the annealing time is prolonged, the anisotropic value decreases.     

The Distribution of a CP-asymmetric quantity in the decay channelJ/Ψ→π + π − π 0

The distribution of a CP-asymmetric quantityA in the decay channelJ/ψ→π ⁺ π ^? π ⁰ is investigated. This dimensionless quantityA is constructed from the momenta of the π-meson final states, namely A=P _x ^{π +} P _y ^{π ?} -P _x ^{π ?} P _y ^{π ?}, whereP _h,P _x ^h andP _y ^h are the module of the momentum of a hadron h, the x- and y-components of that momentum respectively, theJ/ψ particle is produced by e⁺ e^? collision, and the direction of the momentum of e⁺ is taken to be the positive direction ofz axis. There would exists the violation under the combined transformation of charge conjugation and space reflection (CP violation) when the average ofA among a lot of events, 〈A〉, be examined to be nonzero clearly from data. In this way, 748 events are selected from the BES experimental data, and analyzed. The corresponding averageA-value is measured to be 〈A〉 = 0.010 39 ± 0.014 61 ± 0.015 2. Further, some discussion of our result, the size of the data sample being need for further attempt and a possible perspective are given.     

First-principle study on the surface atomic relaxation properties of sphalerite

The surface properties of sphalerite (ZnS) were theoretically investigated using first principle calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT). DFT results indicate that both the (110) and the (220) surfaces of sphalerite undergo surface atom relaxation after geometry optimization, which results in a considerable distortion of the surface region. In the normal direction, i.e., perpendicular to the surface, S atoms in the first surface layer move outward from the bulk (d₁), whereas Zn atoms move toward the bulk (d₂), forming an S-enriched surface. The values of these displacements are 0.003 nm for d₁ and 0.021 nm for d₂ on the (110) surface, and 0.002 nm for d₁ and 0.011 nm for d₂ on the (220) surface. Such a relaxation process is visually interpreted through the qualitative analysis of molecular mechanics. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis provides the evidence for the S-enriched surface. A polysulphide (S_n2-) surface layer with a binding energy of 163.21 eV is formed on the surface of sphalerite after its grinding under ambient atmosphere. This S-enriched surface and the S_n2- surface layer have important influence on the flotation properties of sphalerite.     

Form factors for B meson weak decays in QCD light cone sum rules with a chiral current correlator

We report some applications of QCD light cone sum rules (LCSR) to \(B\) meson weak decays. Special emphasis is on estimates of the form factors for \(B\) decays into a pseudoscalar ( \(P\) )/vector ( \(V\) ) meson, with a certain chiral current correlator. The main new ingredient, as compared with the case of the standard correlators, is that in the operator product expansion calculations, the contributions due to the twist-3 distribution amplitudes of the related light mesons, which are less known and would bring a larger uncertainty to the calculations with the standard correlators, cancel out fully in the \(B\rightarrow P\) case and do out partially in the \(B\rightarrow V\) one. An important observation, which is similar to that in soft collinear effective theory, is made in twist-3 approximation: whereas only one independent form factor is needed for parameterizing the hadronic matrix elements for a \(B\rightarrow P\) transition induced by all the relevant heavy-light quark currents, there exist two independent form factors under the condition of neglecting the terms suppressed by a factor of \(m_V^2\) , for the \(B\rightarrow V\) transition. Therefore, the improved LCSR approach could be of stronger predictive power for the weak form factors. Also, this approach is employed to understand the \(B\rightarrow D\) transitions by introducing a leading twist-2 DA for an energetic \(D\) meson, combined with some of other QCD-based approaches. A detailed QCD next-to-leading order calculation of the \(B\rightarrow \pi \) form factors is presented for an illustrative purpose, and the sum rule results are used to extract the Cabibbo–Kobayashi–Maskawa matrix element \(|V_{ub}|\) from the latest BaBar data.     

Gracefulness of several unconnected graphs with wheel

In the paper, we study the gracefulness of several unconnected graphs related to wheel. For natural number p ≥1,t ≥1, let n =2t +3, 2t +4, which proved W_n∪K_(p,t)~(1)∪K_(p,t)~(2) is graceful; for p ≥1, t ≥1,let n=2t+3,2t+4, then W_(n,2n+1)∪K_(p,t)~(1)∪K_(p,t)~(2) is graceful and for m≥1,r ≥1, let n =2m +5, W_(n,2n+1) ∪( C_3∨K m) U St( r)is graceful.     

The semileptonic decays of B/B s meson in the perturbative QCD approach: a short review

In this short review, we present the current status about the theoretical and experimental studies for some important semileptonic decays of \(B/B_s\) mesons. We firstly gave a brief introduction for the experimental measurements for \(B/B_s \rightarrow P (l^+l^-, l^-\bar{\nu }_l, \nu \bar{\nu })\) decays, the BaBar’s \(R(D)\) and \(R(D^*)\) anomaly, the \(P_5^\prime \) deviation for \(B^0 \rightarrow K^{*0} \mu ^+ \mu ^-\) decay. We then made a careful discussion about the evaluations for the relevant form factors in the light-cone QCD sum rule, the heavy quark effective theory, and the perturbative QCD factorization approach. By using the form factors calculated in the perturbative (pQCD) approach, we then calculate and show the pQCD predictions for the decay rates of many semileptonic decays of \(B/B_s\) mesons. We also made careful phenomenological analysis for these pQCD predictions and found, in general, the following points: (a) For all the considered \(B/B_s\) semileptonic decays, the next-to-leading order pQCD predictions for their decay rates agree well with the data and those from other different theoretical methods; (b) For \(R(D)\) and \(R(D^*)\) , the pQCD predictions agree very well with the data, the BaBar’s anomaly of \(R(D^{(*)})\) are therefore explained successfully in the standard model by employing the pQCD approach; and (c) We defined several new ratios \(R_D^{l,\tau }\) and \(R_{D_s}^{l,\tau }\) , they may be more sensitive to the QCD dynamics which controls the \(B/B_s \rightarrow (D^{(*)},D_s^{(*)} )\) transitions than the old ratios, we therefore strongly suggest LHCb and the forthcoming Super- \(B\) experiments to measure these new ratios.