The microstructure and microtexture of zirconium oxide films studied by transmission electron backscatter diffraction and automated crystal orientation mapping with transmission electron microscopy

A detailed characterization of nanostructured thin zirconium oxide films formed during aqueous corrosion of a nuclear-grade zirconium alloy (Zircaloy-4) has been carried out by means of two novel, ultra-high-spatial-resolution grain mapping techniques, namely automated crystal orientation mapping in the transmission electron microscope (TEM) and transmission electron backscatter diffraction (t-EBSD). While the former provided excellent spatial resolution with the ability to identify tetragonal ZrO<sub>2</sub> grains as small as ∼5 nm, the superior angular resolution and unambiguous indexing with t-EBSD enabled verification of the TEM observations. Both techniques revealed that in a stress-free condition (TEM foil prepared by focused ion beam milling), the oxide consists mainly of well-oriented columnar monoclinic grains with a high fraction of transformation twin boundaries, which indicates that the transformation from tetragonal to monoclinic ZrO<sub>2</sub> is a continuous process, and that a significant fraction of the columnar grains transformed from stress-stabilized tetragonal grains with (0 0 1) planes parallel to the metal–oxide interface. The TEM analysis also revealed a small fraction of size-stabilized, equiaxed tetragonal grains throughout the oxide. Those grains were found to show significant misalignment from the expected (0 0 1) growth direction, which explains the limited growth of those grains. The observations are discussed in the context of providing new insights into corrosion mechanisms of zirconium alloys, which is of particular importance for improving service life of fuel assemblies used in water-cooled reactors

The local dust foregrounds in the microwave sky: I. Thermal emission spectra

Analyses of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation maps made by the Wilkinson Microwave Anisotropy Probe (WMAP) have revealed anomalies not predicted by the standard inflationary cosmology. In particular, the power of the quadrupole moment of the CMB fluctuations is remarkably low, and the quadrupole and octopole moments are aligned mutually and with the geometry of the Solar system. It has been suggested in the literature that microwave sky pollution by an unidentified dust cloud in the vicinity of the Solar system may be the cause for these anomalies. In this paper, we simulate the thermal emission by clouds of spherical homogeneous particles of several materials. Spectral constraints from the WMAP multi-wavelength data and earlier infrared observations on the hypothetical dust cloud are used to determine the dust cloud's physical characteristics. In order for its emissivity to demonstrate a flat, CMB-like wavelength dependence over the WMAP wavelengths (3 through 14 mm), and to be invisible in the infrared light, its particles must be macroscopic. Silicate spheres from several millimetres in size and carbonaceous particles an order of magnitude smaller will suffice. According to our estimates of the abundance of such particles in the Zodiacal cloud and trans-neptunian belt, yielding the optical depths of the order of 1E-7 for each cloud, the Solar-system dust can well contribute 10 microKelvin (within an order of magnitude) in the microwaves. This is not only intriguingly close to the magnitude of the anomalies (about 30 microKelvin), but also alarmingly above the presently believed magnitude of systematic biases of the WMAP results (below 5 microKelvin) and, to an even greater degree, of the future missions with higher sensitivities, e.g. PLANCK.Comment: 33 pages, 9 figures, 1 table. The Astrophysical Journal, 2009, accepte

The monitoring and review process in English regional planning

This study investigates the trajectory of regional planning in England in the light of the reforms to the planning system since 1997. It looks in particular into a key element of these reforms, namely the introduction of what will be called a Plan, Monitor and Manage (PMM) approach to regional planning. The concept of PMM first emerged in regional planning debates in relation to housing but a central argument in this research is that with the revision of PPG11 in the late 1990s/early 2000s a 'mainstreaming' of PMM has occurred insofar as key ideas and elements of PMM have become the formula for regional planning as a whole. In a nutshell, the current PMM approach envisages a continuous planning process of strategy making, implementation, monitoring and review which is to increase the responsiveness of planning, bring about more up-to-date strategies and enhance implementation. Against this backdrop, the research sets out to examine and explain the operation and implications of the PMM approach to regional planning. The investigation is carried out at two interconnected levels. On the one hand, the study examines the 'practical' side of PMM, its functioning and implications as regards technical, organisational and governance matters as well as substantive outcomes. On the other hand, the operation of PMM and its implications are linked to wider theoretical debates about political ideologies, governmental agendas, public sector, planning and state reform. The empirical element of the study combines an overarching analysis of the situation across England with two detailed case studies of the practice of PMM in two English regions, namely the West Midlands and South East of England. The analysis of the operation and implications of PMM in regional planning produces a fairly ambiguous picture. On the one hand, the study shows the progress which has been made so far and identifies potential and concrete benefits of the PMM model, e.g. a planning system which is responsive to change and draws more widely on monitoring. On the other hand, the current PMM model entails major problems and challenges. Some of these could be described as the 'teething problems' of a new system, some are operational problems and others are methodological and conceptual limitations such as the difficulties in achieving responsiveness through strategy review. However, many of the problems which have been identified can be assigned to structural limitations in the way the current PMM model is designed and resourced, inherent tensions and conflicting or essentially incompatible requirements. In the light of these findings, the study develops recommendations for improved national policy and regional practice of PMM

Discovering Evolutionary Stepping Stones through Behavior Domination

Behavior domination is proposed as a tool for understanding and harnessing the power of evolutionary systems to discover and exploit useful stepping stones. Novelty search has shown promise in overcoming deception by collecting diverse stepping stones, and several algorithms have been proposed that combine novelty with a more traditional fitness measure to refocus search and help novelty search scale to more complex domains. However, combinations of novelty and fitness do not necessarily preserve the stepping stone discovery that novelty search affords. In several existing methods, competition between solutions can lead to an unintended loss of diversity. Behavior domination defines a class of algorithms that avoid this problem, while inheriting theoretical guarantees from multiobjective optimization. Several existing algorithms are shown to be in this class, and a new algorithm is introduced based on fast non-dominated sorting. Experimental results show that this algorithm outperforms existing approaches in domains that contain useful stepping stones, and its advantage is sustained with scale. The conclusion is that behavior domination can help illuminate the complex dynamics of behavior-driven search, and can thus lead to the design of more scalable and robust algorithms.Comment: To Appear in Proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO 2017

Steady, oscillatory, and unsteady subsonic Aerodynamics, production version 1.1 (SOUSSA-P1.1). Volume 2: User/programmer manual

A user/programmer manual for the computer program SOUSSA P 1.1 is presented. The program was designed to provide accurate and efficient evaluation of steady and unsteady loads on aircraft having arbitrary shapes and motions, including structural deformations. These design goals were in part achieved through the incorporation of the data handling capabilities of the SPAR finite element Structural Analysis computer program. As a further result, SOUSSA P possesses an extensive checkpoint/ restart facility. The programmer's portion of this manual includes overlay/subroutine hierarchy, logical flow of control, definition of SOUSSA P 1.1 FORTRAN variables, and definition of SOUSSA P 1.1 subroutines. Purpose of the SOUSSA P 1.1 modules, input data to the program, output of the program, hardware/software requirements, error detection and reporting capabilities, job control statements, a summary of the procedure for running the program and two test cases including input and output and listings are described in the user oriented portion of the manual

Transient transfection induces different intracellular calcium signaling in CHO K1 versus HEK 293 cells

For the controlled production of recombinant proteinsin mammalian cells by transient transfection, it maybe desirable not only to manipulate, but also todiagnose the expression success early. Here, weapplied laser scanning confocal microscopy to monitortransfection induced intracellular Ca2+responses. We compared Chinese hamster ovary (CHO K1)versus human embryo kidney (HEK) 293 cell lines, whichdiffer largely in their transfectability. An improvedcalcium phosphate transfection method was used for itssimplicity and its demonstrated upscale potential.Cytosolic Ca2+ signaling appeared to inverselyreflect the cellular transfection fate. Virtually allCHO cells exhibited asynchronous, cytosolicCa2+ oscillations, which peaked 4 h afteraddition of the transfecting solution. Yet, most ofthe HEK cells displayed a slow and continuousCa2+ increase over the time of transfection. CHOcells, when exposed to a transfection-enhancingglycerol shock, strongly downregulated their Ca2+response, including its oscillations. When treatedwith thapsigargin, a Ca2+ store depleting drug,the number of successfully transfected CHO cells was significantly reduced. Our result points tointracellular store release as a critical componentfor the transfection fate of CHO cells, and its early detection before product visualizatio