A TEM study on the microstructure of spark plasma sintered ZrB_2-based composite with nano-sized SiC dopant

Sintering behavior of ZrB_2 ceramic with nano-sized SiC dopant was studied. ZrB_2-25 vol% nano-sized SiC was selected as the starting mixture to fabricate the composite. The manufacturing process was accomplished at 1800℃ for 5 min under 25 MPa via spark plasma sintering(SPS). The as-sintered sample reached a relative density of 99%. Besides the initial phases, namely ZrB_2 and SiC, the high-resolution X-ray diffraction(HRXRD) was used to study the formation of an in-situ ZrC phase. The possible chemical interactions during the ZrC phase formation were scrutinized. The microstructure of the composite was studied by the field emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy(TEM). Elemental analysis through FESEM evaluations revealed the formation of amorphous phases, rich in Zr, C, Si, B, and O elements, which was in harmony with the thermodynamical assessments. TEM studies endorsed the formation of such phases, containing a glassy bed of Si–B–O with ZrC and C islands dispersed therein.     

三轴压缩与干湿循环作用下灰岩的力学试验研究

南京地铁6号线万寿村站至燕尧路站区间深部主要为灰岩,盾构隧洞贯通后,深部岩体对隧洞维护起至关重要的作用,为了对该地铁深部稳定性提供理论指导,利用MTS815试验机对灰岩在经历干湿循环后进行了常规三轴压缩试验,研究了灰岩在不同次数干湿循环作用下和不同围压下的力学特性,结果表明:(1)受干湿循环作用前后试件的应力—应变曲线较为一致,均经历了较为明显的孔隙微裂隙压密阶段、较长的线弹性阶段、不太明显的屈服阶段和峰后阶段共4个阶段;(2)相同干湿循环次数后的灰岩试件,随着围压的增大,试件的峰值强度和弹性模量逐渐增大,弹性模量增幅不明显.在10次干湿循环后,试件的峰值强度的劣化最高达19.26％.干湿循环次数的增加会使灰岩的弹性模量减小,在10次干湿循环以内减幅较小;(3)围压为0时,试件的破裂模式为拉伸破坏,扩容现象明显;围压为2和4 MPa时,试件主要体现为剪切破坏.相同围压下,破裂模式属于剪切型破坏,随着干湿循环次数的增加,剪切破裂面倾斜度逐渐增大,剪切破坏愈加明显.     

An Economic Model-Based Matching Approach Between Buyers and Sellers Through a Broker in an Open E-Marketplace

A broker in an open e-marketplace enables buyers and sellers to do business with each other. Although a broker plays an important role in e-marketplaces, theory and guidelines for matching between buyers and sellers in multi-attribute exchanges are limited. Therefore, a challenge for a broker’s responsibility is how to maximize a buyer’s total satisfaction degree as its goals under the consideration of trade-off between a buyer’s buying quantity and price paid to a seller, and other attributes. To solve this challenge, this paper proposes an economic model-based matching approach between a buyer’s requirements and a seller’s offers. The major contributions of this paper are that (i) a broker can model a seller’s price policy as per a buyer’s buying quantity through communication between a broker and a seller; (ii) due to each buyer’s different quantity demand, a broker models a buyer’s satisfaction degree as per a buyer’s buying quantity based on communication between a broker and a buyer; and (iii) to carry out a broker’s matching processes, an objective function and a set of constraints are generated to help a broker to maximize a buyer’s total satisfaction degree. Experimental results demonstrate the good performance of the proposed approach.     

Early SIV and HIV infection promotes the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis in cDCs

Classical dendritic cells (cDCs) play a pivotal role in the early events that tip the immune response toward persistence or viral control. In vitro studies indicate that HIV infection induces the dysregulation of cDCs through binding of the LILRB2 inhibitory receptor to its MHC-I ligands and the strength of this interaction was proposed to drive disease progression. However, the dynamics of the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis in cDCs during early immune responses against HIV are yet unknown. Here, we show that early HIV-1 infection induces a strong and simultaneous increase of LILRB2 and MHC-I expression on the surface of blood cDCs. We further characterized the early dynamics of LILRB2 and MHC-I expression by showing that SIVmac251 infection of macaques promotes coordinated up-regulation of LILRB2 and MHC-I on cDCs and monocytes/macrophages, from blood and lymph nodes. Orientation towards the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis starts from the first days of infection and is transiently induced in the entire cDC population in acute phase. Analysis of the factors involved indicates that HIV-1 replication, TLR7/8 triggering, and treatment by IL-10 or type I IFNs increase LILRB2 expression. Finally, enhancement of the LILRB2/MHC-I inhibitory axis is specific to HIV-1 and SIVmac251 infections, as expression of LILRB2 on cDCs decreased in naturally controlled chikungunya virus infection of macaques. Altogether, our data reveal a unique up-regulation of LILRB2 and its MHC-I ligands on cDCs in the early phase of SIV/HIV infection, which may account for immune dysregulation at a critical stage of the anti-viral response.     

The Documentary Real: Thinking Documentary Aesthetics

In this article we consider the growing interest in recent years in the use of documentary strategies in the wold of contemporary art, film and performing arts and explore some of the central epistemological assumptions underpinning the persistent idea that the documentary should be equated with ‘non-fiction’. Following Stella Bruzzi we argue that if documentary theory maintains objectivity as the primary measure of value, it will inevitably and continuously arrive at the conclusion that the documentary genre is fundamentally flawed. Instead, we propose to move beyond the ‘realist epistemology’ of documentary theory and focus on the ‘documentary real’, i.e. the specific performativity of the reality constructed in and by the documentary genre. In the last paragraphs, we introduce the various articles that address the “documentary real” in this special issue.     

Heritable changeability: Epimutation and the legacy of negative definition in epigenetic concepts

Epigenetic concepts are fundamentally shaped by a legacy of negative definition, often understood by what they are not. Yet the function and implication of negative definition for scientific discourse has thus far received scant attention. Using the term epimutation as exemplar, we analyze the paradoxical like-but-unlike structure of a term that must simultaneously connect with but depart from genetic concepts. We assess the historical forces structuring the use of epimutation and like terms such as paramutation. This analysis highlights the positive characteristics defining epimutation: the regularity, oxymoronic temporality, and materiality of stable processes. Integrating historical work, ethnographic observation, and insights from philosophical practice-oriented conceptual analysis, we detail the distinctive epistemic goals the epimutation concept fulfils in medicine, plant biology and toxicology. Epimutation and allied epigenetic terms have succeeded by being mutation-like and recognizable, yet have failed to consolidate for exactly the same reason: they are tied simultaneously by likeness and opposition to nouns that describe things that are assumed to persist unchanged over space and time. Moreover, negative definition casts the genetic-epigenetic relationship as an either/or binary, overshadowing continuities and connections. This analysis is intended to assist practitioners and observers of genetics and epigenetics in recognizing and moving beyond the conceptual legacies of negative definition.     

隐私侵犯经历对网络用户自我披露的影响机制

网络用户的自我披露对以用户生成内容为业务基础的互联网企业具有战略意义.然而,隐私侵犯事件层出不穷.如何鼓励有隐私侵犯经历的用户持续披露个人信息对互联网企业至关重要.采用系统性随机分层抽样,结合代理理论和社会契约理论构建模型,研究了隐私侵犯经历对自我披露的作用机制.结果表明,隐私侵犯经历对自我披露意愿具有直接效应和间接效应:隐私侵犯经历与自我披露意愿之间存在强烈负向关系,并通过影响网络用户对隐私政策、隐私保护技术、行业自律和法律执行的有效性感知影响自我披露意愿.本研究阐明了隐私侵犯经历对自我披露的具体作用机制,为互联网企业鼓励有隐私侵犯经历的用户持续披露个人信息提供可操作性建议.     

湖南省鸟类新纪录——棕腹仙鹟(Niltava Sundara)

2014年2月19日,在湖南省小溪国家级自然保护区进行鸟类多样性调查时,拍摄到一组雀形目鸟类照片,经专家鉴定为棕腹仙鹟(Niltava sundara),属湖南省鸟类新纪录.