8,352 research outputs found
Mechanical properties of wood-derived silicon carbide aluminum-alloy composites as a function of temperature
The mechanical behavior [i.e., stiffness, strength, and toughness (K_(IC))] of SiC Al–Si–Mg metal–ceramic composites (50:50 by volume) was studied at temperatures ranging from 25 to 500 °C. The SiC phase was derived from wood precursors, which resulted in an interconnected anisotropic ceramic that constrained the pressure melt-infiltrated aluminum alloy. The composites were made using SiC derived from two woods (sapele and beech) and were studied in three orthogonal orientations. The mechanical properties and corresponding deformation micromechanisms were different in the longitudinal (LO) and transverse directions, but the influence of the precursor wood was small. The LO behavior was controlled by the rigid SiC preform and the load transfer from the metal to the ceramic. Moduli in this orientation were lower than the Halpin–Tsai predictions due to the nonlinear and nonparallel nature of the Al-filled pores. The LO K_(IC) agreed with the Ashby model for the K_(IC) contribution of ductile inclusions in a brittle ceramic
Large Scale Instrumental Test Embankment on Uranium Tailings
The remediation of an inactive uranium mill tailings pile at the town of Andujar (Spain) has provided an opportunity to investigate the settlement characteristics of hydraulically-deposited uranium mill tailings. A test embankment was constructed on top of the existing tailings deposit and total stresses, settlements and pore pressures were measured. Settlements and pore pressure data were compared with the results obtained using an elastoplastic numerical model which allows the simulation of two dimensional consolidation processes. Backcalculated consolidation parameters were derived to provide agreement between the calculated and measured settlements and pore pressures. These parameters could then be used to predict the post-construction settlement of the remediated pile
Exciton Gas Compression and Metallic Condensation in a Single Semiconductor Quantum Wire
We study the metal-insulator transition in individual self-assembled quantum
wires and report optical evidences of metallic liquid condensation at low
temperatures. Firstly, we observe that the temperature and power dependence of
the single nanowire photoluminescence follow the evolution expected for an
electron-hole liquid in one dimension. Secondly, we find novel spectral
features that suggest that in this situation the expanding liquid condensate
compresses the exciton gas in real space. Finally, we estimate the critical
density and critical temperature of the phase transition diagram at
cm and K, respectively.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
Non mean-field behavior of the contact process on scale-free networks
We present an analysis of the classical contact process on scale-free
networks. A mean-field study, both for finite and infinite network sizes,
yields an absorbing-state phase transition at a finite critical value of the
control parameter, characterized by a set of exponents depending on the network
structure. Since finite size effects are large and the infinite network limit
cannot be reached in practice, a numerical study of the transition requires the
application of finite size scaling theory. Contrary to other critical phenomena
studied previously, the contact process in scale-free networks exhibits a
non-trivial critical behavior that cannot be quantitatively accounted for by
mean-field theory.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, published versio
Surface phase transitions in one-dimensional channels arranged in a triangular cross-sectional structure: Theory and Monte Carlo simulations
Monte Carlo simulations and finite-size scaling analysis have been carried
out to study the critical behavior in a submonolayer lattice-gas of interacting
monomers adsorbed on one-dimensional channels arranged in a triangular
cross-sectional structure. The model mimics a nanoporous environment, where
each nanotube or unit cell is represented by a one-dimensional array. Two kinds
of lateral interaction energies have been considered: , interaction
energy between nearest-neighbor particles adsorbed along a single channel and
, interaction energy between particles adsorbed across
nearest-neighbor channels. For and , successive planes are
uncorrelated, the system is equivalent to the triangular lattice and the
well-known
ordered phase is found at low temperatures and a coverage, , of 1/3
. In the more general case ( and ), a
competition between interactions along a single channel and a transverse
coupling between sites in neighboring channels allows to evolve to a
three-dimensional adsorbed layer. Consequently, the and structures "propagate" along the
channels and new ordered phases appear in the adlayer. The Monte Carlo
technique was combined with the recently reported Free Energy Minimization
Criterion Approach (FEMCA), to predict the critical temperatures of the
order-disorder transformation. The excellent qualitative agreement between
simulated data and FEMCA results allow us to interpret the physical meaning of
the mechanisms underlying the observed transitions.Comment: 24 pages, 6 figure
Extremal dynamics on complex networks: Analytic solutions
The Bak-Sneppen model displaying punctuated equilibria in biological
evolution is studied on random complex networks. By using the rate equation and
the random walk approaches, we obtain the analytic solution of the fitness
threshold to be 1/(_f+1), where _f=/ (=) in the quenched
(annealed) updating case, where is the n-th moment of the degree
distribution. Thus, the threshold is zero (finite) for the degree exponent
\gamma 3) for the quenched case in the thermodynamic limit. The
theoretical value x_c fits well to the numerical simulation data in the
annealed case only. Avalanche size, defined as the duration of successive
mutations below the threshold, exhibits a critical behavior as its distribution
follows a power law, P_a(s) ~ s^{-3/2}.Comment: 6 pages, 2 figure
Load distribution in weighted complex networks
We study the load distribution in weighted networks by measuring the
effective number of optimal paths passing through a given vertex. The optimal
path, along which the total cost is minimum, crucially depend on the cost
distribution function . In the strong disorder limit, where , the load distribution follows a power law both in the
Erd\H{o}s-R\'enyi (ER) random graphs and in the scale-free (SF) networks, and
its characteristics are determined by the structure of the minimum spanning
tree. The distribution of loads at vertices with a given vertex degree also
follows the SF nature similar to the whole load distribution, implying that the
global transport property is not correlated to the local structural
information. Finally, we measure the effect of disorder by the correlation
coefficient between vertex degree and load, finding that it is larger for ER
networks than for SF networks.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, final version published in PR
Std fimbriae-fucose interaction increases Salmonella-induced intestinal inflammation and prolongs colonization
Author summary The intestinal epithelium is a crucial biological interface, interacting with both commensal and pathogenic microorganisms. It’s lined with heavily glycosylated proteins and glycolipids which can act as both attachment sites and energy sources for intestinal bacteria. Fut2, the enzyme governing epithelial α1,2-fucosylation, has been implicated in the interaction between microbes and intestinal epithelial cells. Salmonella is one of the most important bacterial gastrointestinal pathogens affecting millions of people worldwide. Salmonella possesses fimbrial and non-fimbrial adhesins which can be used to adhere to host cells. Here we show that Salmonella expresses Std fimbriae in the gastrointestinal tract in vivo and exploit Std fimbriae to bind fucosylated structures in the mucus and on the intestinal epithelium. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the Std fimbriae-fucose interaction is necessary for bacterial colonization of the intestine and for triggering intestinal inflammation. These data lend new insights into bacterial adhesion-epithelial interactions which are essential for bacterial pathogenesis and key factors in determining tissue tropism and host susceptibility to infectious disease
Contact tracing and epidemics control in social networks
A generalization of the standard susceptible-infectious-removed (SIR)
stochastic model for epidemics in sparse random networks is introduced which
incorporates contact tracing in addition to random screening. We propose a
deterministic mean-field description which yields quantitative agreement with
stochastic simulations on random graphs. We also analyze the role of contact
tracing in epidemics control in small-world networks and show that its
effectiveness grows as the rewiring probability is reduced.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Slow dynamics and rare-region effects in the contact process on weighted tree networks
We show that generic, slow dynamics can occur in the contact process on
complex networks with a tree-like structure and a superimposed weight pattern,
in the absence of additional (non-topological) sources of quenched disorder.
The slow dynamics is induced by rare-region effects occurring on correlated
subspaces of vertices connected by large weight edges, and manifests in the
form of a smeared phase transition. We conjecture that more sophisticated
network motifs could be able to induce Griffiths phases, as a consequence of
purely topological disorder.Comment: 12 pages, 10 figures, final version appeared in PR
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