Detecting MoS2 and MoSe2 with optical contrast simulation

Optical imaging is a promising method to identify and locate 2D materials efficiently and non-invasively. By putting a 2D material on a substrate, the nanolayer will add to an optical path and create a contrast to the case when the nanolayer is absent. This optical contrast imaging can be used to identify the 2D material and its number of layers. To make the optical imaging process in the laboratories an effective tool, Fresnel Law as a model was used to simulate the optical imaging results of 2D materials(graphene, Mo S2 and MoSe_2) on top of different thickness of SiO_2 and Si wafer in the present investigation. The results provide the details of the optimal conditions(optimal light wavelength and optimal SiO_2 thickness) to identify and locate single to few 2D nanolayers, which can be used directly in laboratories. The optical contrasts of 1–5 layers of molybdenum disulfide(MoS_2) and molybdenum diselenide(MoSe_2) were simulated. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time that the optical contrast results of MoSe_2 have been reported. In particular, this work highlights the sensitivity of the model on the accuracy of the refractive indices used. It is demonstrated that through computational modeling that optical contrast can allow effective determination of number of layers in few layer 2D materials.     

Isothermal grain growth of reactive spray formed 7075 alloys in semi-solid state

The grain growth behavior in reactive spray formed 7075+2.91vol%TiC Al alloy was studied and compared with that of spray formed 7075 Al alloy at semi-solid state. The effects of in-situ TiC particles on the microstructure of spray formed 7075 Al alloy were also investigated. The specimens were heat-treated isothermally at various temperatures between the solidus and liquidus of 7075 Al alloy for times in the range of 10-60 min, then quenched in water. The microstructure of reheated specimens was characterized using scanning electron microscopy and optical microscopy. The grain size was measured using a mean linear intercept method.Results show that the in-situ TiC particles can effectively retard grain growth and refine the grain at a limited size. The grain growth exponent in Arrhenius equation increases from 2 to 3, which indicates that the in-situ TiC particles have the significant pinning effect on grain coarsening in the semi-solid state.     

Chemical,mechanical, and thermal expansion properties of a carbon nanotube-reinforced aluminum nanocomposite

In the present study, the chemical and mechanical properties and the thermal expansion of a carbon nanotube (CNT)-based crystalline nano-aluminum (nano Al) composite were reported. The properties of nanocomposites were tailored by incorporating CNTs into the nano Al matrix using a physical mixing method. The elastic moduli and the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the nanocomposites were also estimated to understand the effects of CNT reinforcement in the Al matrix. Microstructural characterization of the nanocomposite reveals that the CNTs are dispersed and embedded in the Al matrix. The experimental results indicate that the incorporation of CNTs into the nano Al matrix results in the increase in hardness and elastic modulus along with a concomitant decrease in the coefficient of thermal expansion. The hardness and elastic modulus of the nanocomposite increase by 21% and 20%, respectively, upon CNT addition. The CTE of CNT/Al nanocomposite decreases to 70% compared with that of nano Al.     

The specific contribution of object''''s origin on artifacts categorization

Gelman and Bloom found that adults and children's object naming was sensitive to how an object was created (man-made or not), but they did not reveal on which specific level of conceptual system this effect was. Using a free-naming task and a force-choice task, two experiments were conducted to test a hypothesis that this effect was specifically on domain level ("artifact/non-artifact" distinction). In Experiment 1, participants were asked to name shortly-depicted objects, rate their confidence, and report their reasons for each naming response. Results showed that most of the naming responses in "man-made" condition were in artifact domain, and most in "natural" condition were in non-artifact domain, although in both conditions names were very divergent on basic level. In Experiment 2, another group of participants were asked to choose one from two names (one in artifact domain and the other in non-artifact domain) to match the same shortly-depicted objects presented in the first experiment. Re-sults of Experiment 1 on domain level were replicated in Experiment 2. These convergent findings supported the hypothesis that the effect of object's origin is specifically on domain level of conceptual system of objects. Reasons explicitly reported for naming responses in Experiment 1 suggested that participants might automatically infer objects' functions in "man-made" condition but not in "natural" condition. Here the function-based hypothesis of artifacts classification is discussed.     

Effect of melting temperature on microstructural evolutions,behavior and corrosion morphology of Hadfield austenitic manganese steel in the casting process

In this study, the effect of melting temperature on the microstructural evolutions, behavior, and corrosion morphology of Hadfield steel in the casting process is investigated. The mold was prepared by the sodium silicate/CO₂ method, using a blind riser, and then the desired molten steel was obtained using a coreless induction furnace. The casting was performed at melting temperatures of 1350, 1400, 1450, and 1500℃, and the cast blocks were immediately quenched in water. Optical microscopy was used to analyze the microstructure, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffractrometry (XRD) were used to analyze the corrosion morphology and phase formation in the microstructure, respectively. The corrosion behavior of the samples was analyzed using a potentiodynamic polarization test and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) in 3.5wt% NaCl. The optical microscopy observations and XRD patterns show that the increase in melting temperature led to a decrease of carbides and an increase in the austenite grain size in the Hadfield steel microstructure. The corrosion tests results show that with increasing melting temperature in the casting process, Hadfield steel shows a higher corrosion resistance. The SEM images of the corrosion morphologies show that the reduction of melting temperature in the Hadfield steel casting process induced micro-galvanic corrosion conditions.     

Structural,morphological, and optical properties of tin(IV) oxide nanoparticles synthesized using <Emphasis Type="Italic">Camellia sinensis</Emphasis> extract: a green approach

Tin oxide (SnO₂) nanoparticles were cost-effectively synthesized using nontoxic chemicals and green tea (Camellia sinensis) extract via a green synthesis method. The structural properties of the obtained nanoparticles were studied using X-ray diffraction, which indicated that the crystallite size was less than 20 nm. The particle size and morphology of the nanoparticles were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The morphological analysis revealed agglomerated spherical nanoparticles with sizes varying from 5 to 30 nm. The optical properties of the nanoparticles' band gap were characterized using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy. The band gap was found to decrease with increasing annealing temperature. The O vacancy defects were analyzed using photoluminescence spectroscopy. The increase in the crystallite size, decreasing band gap, and the increasing intensities of the UV and visible emission peaks indicated that the green-synthesized SnO₂ may play future important roles in catalysis and optoelectronic devices.     

Fabrication of TiO2 nanoparticles/nanorod composite arrays via a two-step method for efficient dye-sensitized solar cells

Ti O2nanoparticles/nanorod composite arrays were prepared on the F-doped tin oxide(FTO)substrate through a two-step method of hydrothermal and d.c.magnetron sputtering.The microstructure and optical properties of the samples were characterized respectively by means of X-ray diffraction(XRD),field-emission scanning electron microscopy(FESEM)and UV–vis spectrometer.The results showed that the Ti O2composite nanorod arrays possess the nature of high surface area for more dye molecule absorption and the strong light scattering effects.The dye sensitized solar cells(DSSCs)based on Ti O2composite nanorod arrays exhibited a 80%improvement in the overall energy conversion efficiency compared with the pure Ti O2nanorod arrays photoanode.     

Textural changes in metallurgical coke prepared with polyethylene

The effect of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) on the textural features of experimental coke was investigated using polarized-light optical microscopy and wavelet-based image analysis. Metallurgical coke samples were prepared in a laboratory-scale furnace with 2.5%, 5.0%, 7.5%, 10.0%, and 12.5% HDPE by mass, and one sample was prepared by 100% coal. The amounts and distribution of textures (isotropic, mosaic and banded) and pores were obtained. The calculations reveal that the addition of HDPE results in a decrease of mosaic texture and an increase of isotropic texture. Ethylene formed from the decomposition of HDPE is considered as a probable reason for the texture modifications. The approach used in this study can be applied to indirect evaluation for the reactivity and strength of coke.     

Quantification of Aromatic Amino Acids in Cordyceps fungi by Micellar Electrokinetic Capillary Chromatography

A facile micellar electrokinetic chromatography(MEKC) method was developed for quantification of aromatic amino acids in Cordyceps fungi. The proposed MEKC method had linear calibration curves and detection limits at the μmol/L level. Contents of aromatic amino acids in Cordyceps were found in the range from 0.004 9 % to 0.028 0% for tryptophan(Trp), 0.036 6% to 0.078 1% for tyrosine(Tyr), and 0.029 1% to 0.136 2% for phenylalanine(Phe). Levels of amino acids in cultivated Cordyceps militaris were found higher than those in natural Cordyceps sinensis. Interestingly, the ratio of Tyr to its precursor, Phe, in C. sinensis(1.20 ± 0.091, n=3) was significantly higher than that in cultivated C. militaris(0.54 ± 0.170, n=3). This is likely because the enzyme-catalyzed in vivo biotransformation of Phe to Tyr is much more effective in natural C. sinensis, a biological hybrid of larva and parasitic fungus, than in cultivated C. militaris.     

Investigation of the stress rupture behavior of GTD-111 superalloy melted by VIM/VAR

The effects of vacuum induction melting (VIM) and vacuum arc remelting (VAR) processes on the microstructure and stress rupture properties of Ni-based GTD-111 superalloy were investigated. Samples of GTD-111 master alloy were melted in VIM and VAR furnaces and then poured into a preheated ceramic mold for VIM melt or into a water-cooled copper mold for VAR melt. The as-cast samples were examined radiographically to ensure that no casting defects were present in the final castings; the samples were then heat-treated using a standard heat-treatment cycle. The microstructure of the samples was investigated using optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy in conjunction with energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy for microanalysis. On the basis of standard ASTM-E139, stress rupture tests were carried out at 1000℃ under a stress of 300 MPa. The results showed that a γ matrix, fine γ' precipitates, a γ-γ' eutectic structure, carbide particles, and some harmful phases such as σ and η phases were present in the as-cast samples. The γ' precipitates with cubic morphology appeared in the matrix after the standard heat-treatment process. The extent of segregation and the amount of γ-γ' eutectic structure formed in the VAR-prepared sample were less than in the VIM-prepared sample. The results of stress rupture tests showed that the rupture time for the VAR sample was 43% longer than that for the VIM sample.     

Stabilization of Chaotic Time Series by Proportional Pulse in the System Variable Based on Genetic Algorithm

The PPSV (Proportional Pulse in the System Variable) algorithm is a convenient method for the stabilization of the chaotic time series. It does not require any previous knowledge of the system. The PPSV method also has a shortcoming, that is, the determination off. is a procedure by trial and error, since it lacks of optimization. In order to overcome the blindness, GA (Genetic Algorithm), a search algorithm based on the mechanics of natural selection and natural genetics, is used to optimize the λ_i The new method is named as GAPPSV algorithm. The simulation results show that GAPPSV algorithm is very efficient because the control process is short and the steady-state error is small.     

Fabrication of plain carbon steel/high chromium white cast iron bimetal by a liquid-solid composite casting process

High-chromium white cast iron (HCWCI) is one of the most widely used engineering materials in the mining and cement indus-tries. However, in some components, such as the pulverizer plates of ash mills, the poor machinability of HCWCI creates difficulties. The bimetal casting technique is a suitable method for improving the machinability of HCWCI by joining an easily machined layer of plain car-bon steel (PCS) to its hard part. In this study, the possibility of PCS/HCWCI bimetal casting was investigated using sand casting. The inves-tigation was conducted by optical and electron microscopy and non-destructive, impact toughness, and tensile tests. The hardness and chemical composition profiles on both sides of the interface were plotted in this study. The results indicated that a conventional and low-cost casting technique could be a reliable method for producing PCS/HCWCI bimetal. The interfacial microstructure comprised two distinct lay-ers:a very fine, partially spheroidized pearlite layer and a coarse full pearlite layer. Moreover, characterization of the microstructure revealed that the interface was free of defects.     

Application of multi-scale feature extraction to surface defect classification of hot-rolled steels

Feature extraction is essential to the classification of surface defect images. The defects of hot-rolled steels distribute in different directions. Therefore, the methods of multi-scale geometric analysis (MGA) were employed to decompose the image into several directional subbands at several scales. Then, the statistical features of each subband were calculated to produce a high-dimensional feature vector, which was reduced to a lower-dimensional vector by graph embedding algorithms. Finally, support vector machine (SVM) was used for defect classification. The multi-scale feature extraction method was implemented via curvelet transform and kernel locality preserving projections (KLPP). Experiment results show that the proposed method is effective for classifying the surface defects of hot-rolled steels and the total classification rate is up to 97.33%.     

Utilization of waste vehicle tires in concrete and its effect on the corrosion behavior of reinforcing steels

The mechanical and physical properties of concrete specimens obtained from replacing natural coarse aggregate with waste vehicle rubber tires at levels of 2vol%, 5vol%, 7vol%, and 10vol% were studied, and the corrosion behavior of reinforcing steels was investigated in these specimens. Corrosion rates were determined by measuring the galvanic current between steel-reinforced concrete specimens both with and without chloride addition. The change in electrode potential of reinforcing steels in these concrete specimens was measured daily for a period of 60 d in accordance with the testing method in ASTM C876. The results show that the use of waste vehicle tires in concrete instead of coarse aggregate decreases the mechanical strength of the specimens, and increases the corrosion rates of the reinforcing steels embedded in the concretes.     

fMRI time series analysis based on stationary wavelet and spectrum analysis

The low signal to noise ratio (SNR) of functional MRI (fMRI) prefers more sensitive data analysis methods. Based on stationary wavelet transform and spectrum analysis, a new method with high detective sensitivity was developed for analyzing fMRI time series, which does not require any prior assumption of the characteristics of noises. In the proposed method, every component of fMRI time series in the different time-frequency scales of stationary wavelet transform was discerned by the spectrum analysis, then the components from noises were removed using the stationary wavelet transform, finally the components of real brain activation were detected by cross-correlation analysis. The results obtained from both simulated and in vivo visual experiments illustrated that the proposed method has much higher sensitivity than the traditional cross-correlation method.     

The specific contribution of object’s origin on artifacts categorization

Gelman and Bloom found that adults and children＇s object naming was sensitive to how an object was created （man-made or not）, but they did not reveal on which specific level of conceptual system this effect was. Using a free-naming task and a force-choice task, two experiments were conducted to test a hypothesis that this effect was specifically on domain level （＂artifact/non-artifact＂ distinction）, in Experiment 1, participants were asked to name shortly-depicted objects, rate their confidence, and report their reasons for each naming response. Resuits showed that most of the naming responses in ＂man-made＂ condition were in artifact domain, and most in ＂natural＂ condition were in non-artifact domain, although in both conditions names were very divergent on basic level. In Experiment 2, another group of participants were asked to choose one from two names （one in artifact domain and the other in non-artifact domain） to match the same shortly-depicted objects presented in the first experiment. Results of Experiment 1 on domain level were replicated in Experiment 2. These convergent findings supported the hypothesis that the effect of object＇s origin is specifically on domain level of conceptual system of objects. Reasons explicitly reported for naming responses in Experiment 1 suggested that participants might automatically infer objects＇ functions in ＂man-made＂ condition but not in ＂natural＂ condition. Here the function-based hypothesis of artifacts classification is discussed.     

A data-mining approach to biomarker identification from protein profiles using discrete stationary wavelet transform

Objective： To develop a new bioinformatic tool based on a data-mining approach for extraction of the most informative proteins that could be used to find the potential biomarkers for the detection of cancer. Methods： Two independent datasets from serum samples of 253 ovarian cancer and 167 breast cancer patients were used. The samples were examined by surfaceenhanced laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry （SELDI-TOF MS）. The datasets were used to extract the informative proteins using a data-mining method in the discrete stationary wavelet transform domain. As a dimensionality reduction procedure, the hard thresholding method was applied to reduce the number of wavelet coefficients. Also, a distance measure was used to select the most discriminative coefficients. To find the potential biomarkers using the selected wavelet coefficients, we applied the inverse discrete stationary wavelet transform combined with a two-sided t-test. Results： From the ovarian cancer dataset, a set of five proteins were detected as potential biomarkers that could be used to identify the cancer patients from the healthy cases with accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity of 100%. Also, from the breast cancer dataset, a set of eight proteins were found as the potential biomarkers that could separate the healthy cases from the cancer patients with accuracy of 98.26%, sensitivity of 100%, and specificity of 95.6%. Conclusion： The results have shown that the new bioinformatic tool can be used in combination with the high-throughput proteomic data such as SELDI-TOF MS to find the potential biomarkers with high discriminative power.     

Proteomics of a toxic dinoflagellate Alexandrium catenella DH01: Detection and identification of cell surface proteins using fluorescent labeling

Alexandrium catenella DH01 is a toxic dinoflagellate species that is able to not only produce paralytic shellfish toxins,but also cause harmful algal blooms along the coast of China.In this study,we presented a new protocol for specific labeling and detection of the cell surface proteins(CSPs) of A.catenella DH01 cells using CyDye difference gel electrophoresis(DIGE) fluor minimal dyes.CSPs were identified using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis(2-DE) and MALDI TOF-TOF mass spectrometry(MS).The results showed that the fluorescent cyanine dye Cy3 could specifically label the CSPs of A.catenella DH01,with minimal labeling of intracellular proteins.Among three protein extraction methods evaluated,the Trizol method was the most efficient to extract CSPs with respect to protein spot number and resolution.Forty-one CSPs were separated and identified from A.catenella DH01 by 2-DE,in which 14 were identified in the protein database using MALDI TOF-TOF MS analysis.This work represents the first attempt to investigate the CSPs of A.catenella using the CyDye DIGE fluor dyeing method that provides a potentially important tool for future comprehensive characterization of CSPs and elucidation of the physiological functions of CSPs in dinoflagellates.     

Removal of NO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">x</Emphasis></Subscript> by radical injection

Removal of NOx(DeNOx, NOx is the total of NO and NO2) from flue gas by radical injection has been investigated .the discharge characteristics were examined and the steady streamer corona was acquired hy adjusting the nozzle gases properly. It was Found that an increase in the voltage resulted in a decrease in the NO concentration and the concentration of the NO2 increased at tow voltages but decreased as the voltage rose to a certain level. The DeNOx efficiency increased as the applied voltage rose and reached a maximum of 70% when the voltage approached the breakdown voltage. The hypothetical mechanism of NOx removal suggested that the radicals formed in the discharge process converted the NO and NO2 into acidic species. The Monte Carlo method was used to calculate the rate coefficients and the productivity of the radicals, and then the concentrations of both NO and NO2 and the DeNOx effielencies were calculated with chemical kinetics. The calculated DeNOx efficiencies were coalparable with the experimental DeNOx efficiencies at low voltages, but were lower at high voltages.