Effect of SrCO3 addition on the dynamic compressive strength of ZTA

Ceramic parts usually experience dynamic load in armor applications. Therefore, studying the dynamic behaviors of ceramics is important. Limited data are available on the dynamic behaviors of ceramics;thus, it is helpful to predict the dynamic strength of ceramics on the basis of their mechanical properties. In this paper, the addition of SrCO3 into zirconia-toughened alumina (ZTA) was demonstrated to improve the fracture toughness of ZTA due to the formation of the SrAl12O19 (SA6) phase. The porosity of ZTA was found to be increased by the addition of SrCO3. These newly formed pores served as the nucleation sites of cracks under dynamic load;these cracks eventually coalesced to form damaged zones in the samples. Although the KIC values of the samples were improved, the dynamic strength was not en-hanced because of the increase in porosity;in fact, the dynamic strength of ZTA ceramics decreased with the addition of SrCO3.     

量子关联研究综述

由EPR佯谬,薛定谔“猫态”等超越直观的纯量子现象产生的量子纠缠理论从其概念提出以来一直被人们认为既是量子理论最为重要的概念之一,也是在量子通讯中实现“稠密编码”和“隐形传态”的关键。然而,最近研究结果显示,量子纠缠并不能够完全解释量子关联所有特性。人们发现,除了纠缠以外,还存在对量子信息和量子计算具有极其重要意义的其它非经典关联,如量子失协是一个纯量子比特确定性量子计算机具有计算效率的原因。这说明,量子失协完全可以成为量子计算新的一种资源。文章介绍了非经典关联（包括量子纠缠）的基本概念及其度量方法,对量子失协在各类模型中表现出的量子关联特性进行分析和与量子纠缠,经典关联比较,从而体现出在各类量子体系中对量子失协进行研究的意义,同时引导理论和实验研究者去研究量子失协的潜在研究价值。     

低秩矩阵恢复模型改进及其在石油测井中的应用

传统的低秩矩阵恢复模型在去噪过程中通过将观测矩阵分解为低秩部分和稀疏部分达到噪声去除的目的,但该模型要求噪声矩阵必须是稀疏的。然而石油测井所获得的数据中噪声来源复杂,并不能完全保证噪声分布满足稀疏性的要求,使该模型在去噪时表现出一定的局限性,去噪效果不稳定,进而导致后续的数据处理准确率降低。为此,提出将加权范数的思想应用于传统的低秩矩阵恢复模型中,并在惩罚项中将F范数与待恢复矩阵的核范数相结合,构造改进的低秩矩阵恢复模型,使其能够在保证解的稳定性的同时,可以更好地挖掘观测矩阵的低秩性以及增强稀疏矩阵的稀疏性。通过非精确的拉格朗日乘子法分别对改进前后的模型进行求解,并对两种模型去噪后的测井数据分别采用支持向量机(SVM)和相关向量机(RVM)进行油气层识别,结果表明经改进的低秩矩阵恢复模型去噪后的测井数据在保证了油气层识别效率的同时,识别准确率上有了明显提升。     

Fabrication,microstructure, and optical properties of nanocrystalline transparent LAST glass ceramics containing CeO2

In the present research, the effect of CeO2 dopant on the fabrication of transparent lithium aluminosilicate titanate （LAST） glass ceramics was investigated. Nanocrystallineβ-quartz solid solution （s.s.） was observed to be the main phase crystallized in this system. Com-parable refractive indices of the glassy matrix andβ-quartz s.s., as well as the incorporation of very fine grains size were determined as the main reasons for retaining the transparency of the glass ceramics. CeO2 was introduced as a suitable optical agent, playing a role as a network modifier in the glass ceramics, because it does not accelerate the growth process and retards the extended growth of crystals. Optical investi-gations indicate that the Fermi energy level, direct and indirect band gaps, and Urbach energy decrease with increasing nanocrystal content in the glassy matrix of specimens, which can be related to the expansion of conduction band, the enhancement of ionic bonds in the crystal lat-tice, and the enhancement of structural arrangement degree, respectively.     

Effects of the deep rolling process on the surface roughness and properties of an Al-3vol%SiC nanoparticle nanocomposite fabricated by mechanical milling and hot extrusion

Deep rolling is one of the most widely used surface mechanical treatments among several methods used to generate compressive residual stress. This process is usually used for axisymmetric components and can lead to improvements of the surface quality, dimensional accuracy, and mechanical properties. In this study, we deduced the appropriate deep rolling parameters for Al-3vol%SiC nanocomposite samples using roughness and microhardness measurements. The nanocomposite samples were fabricated using a combination of mechanical milling, cold pressing, and hot extrusion techniques. Density measurements indicated acceptable densification of the samples, with no porosity. The results of tensile tests showed that the samples are sufficiently strong for the deep rolling process and also indicated near 50% improvement of tensile strength after incorporating SiC nanoparticle reinforcements. The effects of some important rolling parameters, including the penetration depth, rotation speed, feed rate, and the number of passes, on the surface quality and microhardness were also investigated. The results demonstrated that decreasing the feed rate and increasing the number of passes can lead to greater surface hardness and lower surface roughness.     

Development and implementation of a technique for norms-adaptable agents in open multi-agent communities

In open normative multi-agent communities, an agent is not usually and explicitly given the norms of the host agents. Thus, when it is not able to adapt the communities’s norms, it is totally deprived of accessing resources and services from the host. Such circumstance severely affects its performance resulting in failure to achieve its goal. Consequently, this study attempts to overcome this deficiency by proposing a technique that enables an agent to detect the host’s potential norms via self-enforcement and update its norms even in the absence of sanctions from a third-party. The authors called this technique as the potential norms detection technique (PNDT). The PNDT consists of five components: Agent’s belief base; observation process; potential norms mining algorithm (PNMA); verification process; and updating process. The authors demonstrate the operation of the PNMA algorithm by testing it on a typical scenario and analyzing the results on several perspectives. The tests’ results show that the PNDT performs satisfactorily albeit the success rate depends on the environment variables settings.     

Kinetic modeling of copper bioleaching from low-grade ore from the Shahrbabak Copper Complex

The copper recovery from low-grade copper sulfide ore was investigated using microbial leaching. Several parameters substantially affect the bioleaching of copper; among them, pulp density and nutrient media were selected for investigation. The optimum conditions for copper recovery were a pulp density of 5 g/mL, a mixed-mineral salt medium of Acidithiobacillus thiooxidans (70vol%) and Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (30vol%), and 10vol% of inoculum. Under these conditions, the maximum bioleaching capacity of the medium for copper recovery was determined to be approximately 99%. The effect of pulp density on the kinetics of the bioleaching process was surveyed using both da Silva's method and constrained multilinear regression analysis. The kinetics of copper dissolution followed the shrinking core model, and the process was diffusion controlled at a pulp density of 5 g/mL. Nevertheless, at higher pulp densities, the process was controlled by chemical reaction.     

RAF inhibitor resistance is mediated by dimerization of aberrantly spliced BRAF(V600E)

Activated RAS promotes dimerization of members of the RAF kinase family. ATP-competitive RAF inhibitors activate ERK signalling by transactivating RAF dimers. In melanomas with mutant BRAF(V600E), levels of RAS activation are low and these drugs bind to BRAF(V600E) monomers and inhibit their activity. This tumour-specific inhibition of ERK signalling results in a broad therapeutic index and RAF inhibitors have remarkable clinical activity in patients with melanomas that harbour mutant BRAF(V600E). However, resistance invariably develops. Here, we identify a new resistance mechanism. We find that a subset of cells resistant to vemurafenib (PLX4032, RG7204) express a 61-kDa variant form of BRAF(V600E), p61BRAF(V600E), which lacks exons 4-8, a region that encompasses the RAS-binding domain. p61BRAF(V600E) shows enhanced dimerization in cells with low levels of RAS activation, as compared to full-length BRAF(V600E). In cells in which p61BRAF(V600E) is expressed endogenously or ectopically, ERK signalling is resistant to the RAF inhibitor. Moreover, a mutation that abolishes the dimerization of p61BRAF(V600E) restores its sensitivity to vemurafenib. Finally, we identified BRAF(V600E) splicing variants lacking the RAS-binding domain in the tumours of six of nineteen patients with acquired resistance to vemurafenib. These data support the model that inhibition of ERK signalling by RAF inhibitors is dependent on levels of RAS-GTP too low to support RAF dimerization and identify a novel mechanism of acquired resistance in patients: expression of splicing isoforms of BRAF(V600E) that dimerize in a RAS-independent manner.