Atomic packing and short-to-medium range order evolution of Zr-Pd metallic glass

A larger-scale Zr₇₀Pd₃₀ alloy system has been simulated using molecular dynamics (MD) to investigate structure evolution in Zr₇₀Pd₃₀ metallic glass. The simulated pair distribution function of Zr₇₀Pd₃₀ metallic glass agrees well with the experimental results. Voronoi polyhedron analysis indicates that the icosahedra are not randomly distributed in space, but form characteristic intercrossed icosahedral clusters with medium-range order. Intercrossed icosahedral clusters are the dominant local configurations in Zr₇₀Pd₃₀ metallic glass and probably cause the quasicrystalline phase discovered in Zr₇₀Pd₃₀ metallic glass.     

Surface pollen assemblages of human-disturbed vegetation and their relationship with vegetation and climate in Northeast China

Pollen assemblages of 53 surface pollen samples from farmlands and wastelands in Northeast China were analyzed. Tree pollen percentages were usually higher than 30%, with Pinus (26.9%), Quercus (0.9%), Betula (0.9%) and Populus (0.7%) as the major types, and herb pollen percentages were usually higher than 50%, with weedy Poaceae (8.7%), Chenopodiaceae (7.1%), Artemisia (1.9%) and Compositae (3.5%) as the major taxa. Thus, the pollen assemblages were consistent with the regional vegetation compositions. However, there were differences in pollen assemblages among regions, especially among different geomorphological units. For example, in the mountains, there were more types of tree pollen and higher total percentages (average 42%) than in other areas, while cereal pollen percentages were lowest (11.2%). In the hills and high plains, herbs made up more than 60% of the pollens, with cereals (average 53.6%) the dominant type. In the low plains, pollen types were similar to those in the hills and high plains, but total pollen concentrations and the proportion of Concentricystes were much higher, while cereal pollen percentages were slightly lower (average 41.6%). Pollen assemblages in different land use types also differed. For example, in farmland, cereal pollen percentages were more than 40% and Chenopodiaceae was usually less than 2.5%, while in wasteland, weedy Poaceae was usually less than 10% and Chenopodiaceae was usually higher than 25%. Total pollen concentrations in farmland (average 3909 grains/g) were much lower than in wasteland (average 15074 grains/g). Redundancy analysis revealed that pollen assemblages were significantly negatively correlated with mean annual temperature (-0.73) and July mean temperature (-0.81) and significantly positively correlated with mean annual precipitation (0.48), indicating that pollen assemblages in the artificial or human-disturbed vegetation reflect regional climate well. Comparison of pollen assemblages in different areas of northern China showed that pollen concentrations reflect the intensities of human impact to some degree. For example, pollen concentrations decrease as human impacts increase in intensity. The cereal pollen proportions in farmland differed by area. In Northeast China, cereal pollen proportions were distinctly higher than in most other areas of northern China, suggesting differences in planting habits and climate.     

Statistical inference for simple tree order in the means of stochastic order on stratified contingency tables

In this paper, we consider testing the hypothesis that all multinomial populations in the stratified contingency table are identically distributed against the alternative that all these popula-tions are in simple tree order. We provide an asymptotic represen-tation of the order-restricted maximum likelihood estimate of the unknown parameters. The resulting estimators are proven to be n-consistent and asymptotically normal under appropriate con-ditions. A chi-squared test method is used for this hypothesis t...     

A novel numerical method for infinite domain potential problems

The infinite domain potential problems arise in many branches of scientific and engineering fields, which by now still pose a great challenge to scientific computing community.This study proposes a novel meshless singular boundary method (SBM) to solve infinite domain potential problems.The SBM is mathematically simple, easy-to-program, meshless and integration-free.To guar-antee the uniqueness of numerical solutions, this article adds a constant term into the SBM approximate representation.The effi-ciency ...     

Sedimentation processes and sedimentary characteristics of tidal bores along the north bank of the Qiantang Estuary

A tidal bore is a unique Earth surface process, characterized by its highly destructive energy, predictable periodicities and magni-tudes, and the production of characteristic sedimentary features. Tidal bores and associated rapid flood flows are highly turbulent flows of the upper-flow regime with a velocity over several meters per second. Reynolds (Re) and Froude (Fr) numbers, respectively, are larger than 104 and 1.0, making them significantly different from regular tidal flows but analogous to turbidity currents. Until now, understanding of tidal-bore depositional processes and products has been limited because of the difficulty and hazards involved with gauging tidal bores directly. The Qiantang bore is known as the largest breaking bore in the world. Field surveys were carried out in May 2010, along the north bank of the Qiantang Estuary to observe the occurrence of peak bores, including regular observations of current, water level and turbidity at the main channel. Several short cores were sampled on the intertidal flats to study the characteristic sedimentary features of tidal bores. Hydrodynamic and sedimentological studies show that the processes of sediment resuspension, transport and deposition are controlled primarily by the tidal bores, and the subsequent abruptly accelerated and decelerated flood flows, which only account for one tenth of each semidiurnal tidal cycle in the estuary. Tidal-bore deposits are generally poorly sorted because of rapid sedimentation after highly mixed suspension by intense turbulence. This behavior is characteristic of the absence of tractive-current depositional components in a C-M diagram. It also goes along with well-developed massive bedding, graded bedding, basal erosion structures, convolute bedding and dewatering structures. Together, these sedimentary features can constitute fingerprinting of turbidites, widely distributed in the deep-water environment. However, a tidal bore is triggered by intensely deformed tidal waves propagating into a shallow-water environment, which returns to regular tidal flows rapidly after the passage of the bore head. The tidal-bore deposits are usually bounded by the intertidal-flat deposits with typical tidal beddings at the top and on both flanks. The difference between tidal-bore deposits (TBD) and tidal sandy/muddy deposits (TSD/TMD) is evident not only in sedimentary structures, but also in the grain-size composition. They can be clearly distinguished in grain-size bivariate plots, typically the plot of mean grain size vs. standard deviation (or sorting). Some trend variations generally exist in mean grain size with TBD>TSD>TMD, sorting with TMD>TBD>TSD (larger value indicating poorer sorting), and both skewness and kurtosis with TSD>TBD>TMD. These findings will undoubtedly shed new light on our understanding of tidal-bore sedimentology, ancient tidal-bore sedimentary facies and environments, and related oil-and-gas field prospecting.     

A bioinformatic evaluation of potential allergenicity of 85 candidate genes in transgenic organisms

The potential of genetically modified organisms(GMOs) to increase allergenicity or predispositions to allergies has attracted much attention.An approach that will properly and holistically evaluate the allergenicity of GMOs is yet to be found.Here,85 transgenes that have been reported in both international and domestic studies during recent years are summarized case by case;49 of the transformed genes were from plant sources and 36 were from animal sources.EVALLERTM,a web server for the in silico assessment of potential protein allergenicity,was used to evaluate the potential of the transgenic proteins as allergens.The biomedical journals listed in Highwire(http://highwire.stanford.edu/) were searched and reviewed to decipher whether any of the transformed genes were linked to allergenicity or human health.The EVALLER analysis identified 5 allergenic genes,whilst our literature review found 11 genes that were either related to allergic cases or to clinical adverse events;all 16 of these genes have been used in GMOs.The analysis pathway that we have developed can help guide the selection of genes to be used in genetic modification.The pathway also provides a paradigm for allergenicity analysis of transgene candidates.     

高钙食品中痕量铅的极谱测定

建立了在0.6%碘化钾-0.8%酒石酸钾钠-0.36 mol/L盐酸-0.14 mol/L磷酸-0.6%三乙醇胺-0.1%抗坏血酸底液条件下,用单扫描极谱法测定高钙食品中痕量铅的方法.试验表明,本法的线性范围为5～800 ng/mL,检出限为1.5 ng/mL,样品加标回收率为95%～107%,相对标准偏差为4.3%～8.5%.     

OLAP技术在大学生思想教育中的应用

利用OLAP技术,对大学生思想状况调查问卷的答案数据进行分析,使分散、独立的数据转换为直观、准确的有规律可循的信息。从而可以由多个角度了解大学生的思想状况,对不同类型的大学生有针对性地进行思想政治教育,提高思想政治教育的效果。     

Recognition and sensing of anions through synergistic effects using simple benzimidazolium-urea receptors

Benzimidazolium-based receptors 1-3 were designed and synthesized. On the basis of fluorescence, UV-Vis, and 1H NMR spectroscopic studies, and X-ray single crystal structure analysis, it was confirmed that the receptor 1 displays strong (C-H)+···X, N-H···X hydrogen bonds and charge-charge interactions with anions. More importantly, these investigations demonstrated that the charged (C-H)+ benzimidazolium and urea moieties play a synergistic role in anion recognition.     

Synthesis process of Ba-ferrites from α-FeOOH and γ-FeOOH and investigation of magnetic properties

The claviform BaFe₁₂O₁₉ crystals were synthesized by the precipitation-toptactic reaction method using α-FeOOH and γ-FeOOH as raw materials respectively. The synthesis processes of BaFe₁₂O₁₉, studied by XRD, SEM, EDS, FT-IR, and TG-DTA techniques, included preparations of precursor γ and precursor α, formations of α-Fe₂O₃ and BaFe₂O₄, and production of rod-like BaFe₁₂O₁₉ through dehydroxylation of pod-like FeOOH, followed by reactions of α-Fe₂O₃ with BaCO₃ and BaFe₂O₄. The crystallinity of α-Fe₂O₃ and BaCO₃ from precursor α was better than from precursor γ due to the direct dehydroxylation of α-FeOOH, resulting in a lower nucleation rate and better crystallinity of BaFe₂O₄. BaFe₁₂O₁₉ prepared from precursor α showed lower crystallinity and purity with a higher length-diameter ratio than from precursor γ. The VSM results proved that the appearance of final products had an important influence on magnetic properties.