APPLICATION OF MODIFYING ALLOYING ALLOY CONTAINING NANOSIZED POWDERS OF ACTIVE ELEMENTS IN PRODUCTION OF HIGH-STRENGTH CAST IRON WITH GLOBULAR GRAPHITE

Scientific and practical interest is the application of alloying alloy-modifiers for secondary treatment of high-strength cast iron to stabilize the process of spheroidization graphite and achieving higher physical-mechanical properties of castings. The peculiarity of the high-strength cast irons manufacturing technology is their tendency to supercooling during solidification in the mold. This leads to the formation of shrinkage defects and structurally free cementite, especially in thin-walled sections of the finished castings. To minimize these effects in foundry practice during production of ductile iron the secondary inoculation is widely used. In this regard, the question of the choice of the additives with effective impact not only on the graphitization process but also on the formation of the metallic base of ductile iron is relevant. The aim of the present work is to study the peculiarities of structure formation in cast iron with nodular graphite when alloying alloy-modifier based on tin with additions of nanoparticles of titanium carbide, yttrium oxide and graphite nano-pipes is used for secondary treatment. Melting of iron in laboratory conditions was performed in crucible induction furnace IST-006 with an acid lining held. Spheroidizing treatment of melt was realized with magnesium containing alloying alloy FeSiMg7 by means of ladle method. Secondary treatment of high strength cast iron was carried out by addition of alloying alloy-modifier in an amount of 0.1% to the bottom of the pouring ladle. Cast samples for chemical composition analysis, study of microstructure, technological and mechanical properties of the resultant alloy were made. Studies have shown that the secondary treatment of high strength cast iron with developed modifier-alloying alloy results in formation of the perlite metallic base due to the tin impact and nodular graphite with regular shape under the influence of titanium carbide, yttrium oxide and graphite nano-pipes. The tendency of high strength cast iron to «white cast iron» formation has been minimized, and the mechanical properties of the alloy produced correspond to HSCI80

The Critical Coupling Likelihood Method: A new approach for seamless integration of environmental and operating conditions of gravitational wave detectors into gravitational wave searches

Any search effort for gravitational waves (GW) using interferometric detectors like LIGO needs to be able to identify if and when noise is coupling into the detector's output signal. The Critical Coupling Likelihood (CCL) method has been developed to characterize potential noise coupling and in the future aid GW search efforts. By testing two hypotheses about pairs of channels, CCL is able to identify undesirable coupled instrumental noise from potential GW candidates. Our preliminary results show that CCL can associate up to $\sim 80$ of observed artifacts with $SNR \geq 8$, to local noise sources, while reducing the duty cycle of the instrument by $\lesssim 15$. An approach like CCL will become increasingly important as GW research moves into the Advanced LIGO era, going from the first GW detection to GW astronomy.Comment: submitted CQ

Feasibility, limits and problems of clinical studies in Intensive Care Unit

In critical care medicine there is still a paucity of evidence on how to manage most of the clinical problems commonly encountered in critically ill patients. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) are the most powerful instruments to evaluate the efficacy of a therapeutic intervention and to generate evidence for clinical practice. Unfortunately, the design and conduct of RCTs in our field are particularly complicated, because of some intrinsic and structural problems (e.g. lack of reliable nosography, concomitant use of different therapies, problems in the definition of end-points besides mortality) that will be discussed in this review. Further challenges are represented by the lack of tradition of large ICU networks, difficulties in linking or integrating physiologic and therapeutic objectives in designing clinical protocols, scarcity of independent or non-profit funds. A particularly stimulating opportunity of development is represented also by the relationship of critical care to EBM. Because of the above problems, metanalyses could be less informative than in other areas of medicine, as they are based on few trials which are often contradictory and of unsatisfactory quality. Few suggestions are formulated which could help looking forward

Methods for Reducing False Alarms in Searches for Compact Binary Coalescences in LIGO Data

The LIGO detectors are sensitive to a variety of noise transients of non-astrophysical origin. Instrumental glitches and environmental disturbances increase the false alarm rate in the searches for gravitational waves. Using times already identified when the interferometers produced data of questionable quality, or when the channels that monitor the interferometer indicated non-stationarity, we have developed techniques to safely and effectively veto false triggers from the compact binary coalescences (CBCs) search pipeline

Security against individual attacks for realistic quantum key distribution

I prove the security of quantum key distribution against individual attacks for realistic signals sources, including weak coherent pulses and downconversion sources. The proof applies to the BB84 protocol with the standard detection scheme (no strong reference pulse). I obtain a formula for the secure bit rate per time slot of an experimental setup which can be used to optimize the performance of existing schemes for the considered scenario.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure

ИССЛЕДОВАНИЕ ПРОЦЕССА ПОЛУЧЕНИЯ МОЛИБДЕНСОДЕРЖАЩЕЙ ЛИГАТУРЫ МЕТОДОМ ВНЕПЕЧНОЙ МЕТАЛЛУРГИИ

The paper considers some technologies pertaining to manufacturing ferromolybdenum preliminary alloy. It has been shown that the reduction melting method based on the aluminium thermal metallurgy presents practical interest for manufacturing the given alloy. Compositions of mixture for melting the preliminary alloy have been determined on the basis of thermodynamic reactions running during the reduction.It has been established that metallurgical preliminary alloy output depends on intensity of reaction mode and the output is equal to 97 % for optimal conditions with molybdenum content of  about 51 %. Industrial tests have proved effectiveness of the developed technology for  obtaining  ferromolybdenum which is used for subsequent alloying of low alloy steels.Рассмотрены некоторые технологии получения ферромолибденовой лигатуры. Показано, что для ее производства представляет практический интерес метод восстановительной плавки на основе алюминотермической металлургии. Определены составы смеси для плавки лигатуры на основе термодинамических реакций, протекающих при восстановлении.Установлено, что металлургический выход лигатуры зависит от интенсивности протекания реакции и для оптимальных условий составлял 97 % при содержании молибдена около 51 %. Промышленные испытания подтвердили эффективность разработанной технологии получения ферромолибдена для последующего легирования малолегированных сталей.

Mean first-passage time of surface-mediated diffusion in spherical domains

We present an exact calculation of the mean first-passage time to a target on the surface of a 2D or 3D spherical domain, for a molecule alternating phases of surface diffusion on the domain boundary and phases of bulk diffusion. The presented approach is based on an integral equation which can be solved analytically. Numerically validated approximation schemes, which provide more tractable expressions of the mean first-passage time are also proposed. In the framework of this minimal model of surface-mediated reactions, we show analytically that the mean reaction time can be minimized as a function of the desorption rate from the surface.Comment: to appear in J. Stat. Phy

Search for Neutrinoless Double-Beta Decay in 136^{136}Xe with EXO-200

We report on a search for neutrinoless double-beta decay of $^{136}$Xe with EXO-200. No signal is observed for an exposure of 32.5 kg-yr, with a background of ~1.5 x 10^{-3} /(kg yr keV) in the $\pm 1\sigma$ region of interest. This sets a lower limit on the half-life of the neutrinoless double-beta decay $T_{1/2}^{0\nu\beta\beta}$($^{136}$Xe) > 1.6 x 10$^{25}$ yr (90% CL), corresponding to effective Majorana masses of less than 140-380 meV, depending on the matrix element calculation

Enhanced reaction kinetics in biological cells

The cell cytoskeleton is a striking example of "active" medium driven out-of-equilibrium by ATP hydrolysis. Such activity has been shown recently to have a spectacular impact on the mechanical and rheological properties of the cellular medium, as well as on its transport properties : a generic tracer particle freely diffuses as in a standard equilibrium medium, but also intermittently binds with random interaction times to motor proteins, which perform active ballistic excursions along cytoskeletal filaments. Here, we propose for the first time an analytical model of transport limited reactions in active media, and show quantitatively how active transport can enhance reactivity for large enough tracers like vesicles. We derive analytically the average interaction time with motor proteins which optimizes the reaction rate, and reveal remarkable universal features of the optimal configuration. We discuss why active transport may be beneficial in various biological examples: cell cytoskeleton, membranes and lamellipodia, and tubular structures like axons.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figure

New result for the neutron β\beta-asymmetry parameter A0A_0 from UCNA

The neutron $\beta$-decay asymmetry parameter $A_0$ defines the correlation between the spin of the neutron and the momentum of the emitted electron, which determines $\lambda=\frac{g_{A}}{g_{V}}$, the ratio of the axial-vector to vector weak coupling constants. The UCNA Experiment, located at the Ultracold Neutron facility at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, is the first to measure such a correlation coefficient using ultracold neutrons (UCN). Following improvements to the systematic uncertainties and increased statistics, we report the new result $A_0 = -0.12054(44)_{\mathrm{stat}}(68)_{\mathrm{syst}}$ which yields $\lambda\equiv \frac{g_{A}}{g_{V}}=-1.2783(22)$. Combination with the previous UCNA result and accounting for correlated systematic uncertainties produces $A_0=-0.12015(34)_{\mathrm{stat}}(63)_{\mathrm{syst}}$ and $\lambda\equiv \frac{g_{A}}{g_{V}}=-1.2772(20)$.Comment: 9 pages, 7 figures, updated to as-published versio