Experimental Study and Numerical Simulation of the Casting-Forging Complex Near Net Forming of Alternator Claw-pole

As a newly developed precision technology, casting-forging complex near net forming process is utilized to produce complex components with a short lead time, low cost and high precision, thus to accelerate the response speed of the market and enhance the competitive power of products. In this paper, the casting-forging complex near net forming process of alternator claw pole was developed and investigated with a combination of experimental and numerical simulation method. Qualified near net workpiece was manufactured, mechanical parameter and relative field information during the forming process was also obtained. While the alternator claw-pole is processed with this technology, the forming force is small, the process is short and the quality of forgings is perfect. Therefore, the complex casting-forging near net forming process of claw-pole is an energy and material saving technology, which will have a vast developing and application prospect in the future.     

A Theoretical Approach for Estimating Fracture Toughness of Ductile Metals

Fracture toughness is very important when applying Damage Tolerance Design and Assessment Techniques. The traditional testing approach for obtaining fracture toughness values is costly and time consuming. In order to estimate the fracture toughness of ductile metals, the fracture mechanics theory, materials plastic deformation theory and materials constructive relationships are employed here. A series of formulae and a theoretical approach are presented to calculate fracture toughness values of different materials in the plane stress and plane strain conditions. Compared with test results, evaluated values have a good agreement.     

Nanoengineering of amino - functionalized mesoporous silica nanospheres as nanoreactors

Selective functionalization of mesoporous silica nanospheres (MSNs) is crucial for nanoengineering of MSNs. Herein, we have combined “surface-protected etching strategy” and “cationic surfactant assisted etching strategy” to prepare functionalized MSNs with externally attached amino groups. The externally attached NH2 groups endow the catalysts with excellent catalytic performance for nitroaldol reaction between nitromethane and benzaldehyde. In addition, those NH2-MSNs can also be used to support gold nanoparticles, which display very good catalytic performance for reduction of 4-nitrophenol. It can be envisioned that the synthesis protocol developed in this work could also be extended to nanoengineered MSNs, which provides opportunities for nanoreactors design.     

Dynamic Dominating Set and Turbo-Charging Greedy Heuristics

The main purpose of this paper is to exposit two very different, but very general, motivational schemes in the art of parameterization and a concrete example connecting them. We introduce a dynamic version of the DOMINATING SET problem and prove that it is fixed-parameter tractable（FPT）. The problem is motivated by settings where problem instances evolve. It also arises in the quest to improve a natural greedy heuristic for the DOMINATING SET problem.     

Butterflies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea) of Mount Kilimanjaro: Nymphalidae subfamilies Libytheinae,Danainae, Satyrinae and Charaxinae

This paper, which presents an annotated checklist of the ‘lower Nymphalidae’ (Libytheinae, Danainae, Satyrinae, Charaxinae), is the fourth in a series on the butterfly fauna of Mount Kilimanjaro. Four genera of lower Nymphalidae (Danaus, Amauris, Bicyclus, Charaxes), with a total of 11 included species, are known or believed to occur within the main forest zone, from c. 1800 to 2800 m. Of these, only three species of Charaxes (Charaxes berkeleyi, Charaxes ansorgei, Charaxes xiphares) may be restricted locally to this primary forest. The lower slopes fauna, below 1800 m, is considerably richer, with a total of 11 genera and 41 species listed (8 species of which extend into the forest zone). Possible additional species, dubious earlier records, problems with African subspecies of Danaus chrysippus, a need for more work on certain Satyrinae, and classification of the genus Charaxes are discussed. An identification key to the subfamilies of Nymphalidae, and the 19 genera of Libytheinae, Danainae, Satyrinae, Charaxinae that occur in Tanzania, together with a key to the adults of all the species of these four subfamilies considered to occur or have occurred on Kilimanjaro, with 206 colour images, are included as online Supplementary Information.     

A tale of tails: deciphering the contribution of terminal tails to the biochemical properties of two Dps proteins from Streptomyces coelicolor

Dps proteins are members of an extensive family of proteins that oxidise and deposit iron in the form of ferric oxide, and are also able to bind DNA. Ferroxidation centres are formed at the interface of anti-parallel dimers, which further assemble into dodecameric nanocages with a hollow core where ferric oxide is deposited. Streptomyces coelicolor encodes three Dps-like proteins (DpsA, B and C). Despite sharing the conserved four-helix bundle organisation observed in members of the Dps family, they display significant differences in the length of terminal extensions, or tails. DpsA possess both N- and C-terminal tails of different lengths, and their removal affects quaternary structure assembly to varying degrees. DpsC quaternary structure, on the other hand, is heavily dependent on its N-terminal tail as its removal abolishes correct protein folding. Analysis of the crystal structure of dodecamers from both proteins revealed remarkable differences in the position of tails and interface surface area; and provides insight to explain the differences in biochemical behaviour observed while comparing DpsA and DpsC.     

Some surprising facts about (the problem of) surprising facts: (from the Dusseldorf Conference,February 2011)

A common intuition about evidence is that if data x have been used to construct a hypothesis H, then x should not be used again in support of H. It is no surprise that x fits H, if H was deliberately constructed to accord with x. The question of when and why we should avoid such “double-counting” continues to be debated in philosophy and statistics. It arises as a prohibition against data mining, hunting for significance, tuning on the signal, and ad hoc hypotheses, and as a preference for predesignated hypotheses and “surprising” predictions. I have argued that it is the severity or probativeness of the test—or lack of it—that should determine whether a double-use of data is admissible. I examine a number of surprising ambiguities and unexpected facts that continue to bedevil this debate.     

Structural,morphological, and optical properties of tin(Ⅳ) oxide nanoparticles synthesized using Camellia sinensis 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.