1,241 research outputs found
Mechanical performance and fracture behavior of FeââCoâCrââ MoââYâCââ Bâ bulk metallic glass
The mechanical properties of a new FeââCoâCrââ
MoââYâCââ
Bâ bulk glassy alloy were studied by impact bending, compression, and hardness tests carried out at room temperature. The compressive fracture strength, elastic strain to fracture, Youngâs modulus and Vickers hardness were measured to be 3.5 GPa, 1.5%, 265 GPa, and 1253 kg mmâ»ÂČ, respectively. The fracture mode of the glassy alloy under uniaxial compression is different from those of other bulk metallic glasses in that this fracture mode causes the samples to be broken, in an exploding manner, into a large number of micrometer-scale pieces. The fracture mechanisms of this bulk glassy alloy under bending and uniaxial compression are discussed based on the observation of the fracture surfaces. Vickers indentation tests indicate that the structure of the glassy ingot may be inhomogeneous
Evolution and instabilities of disks harboring super massive black holes
The bar formation is still an open problem in modern astrophysics. In this
paper we present numerical simulation performed with the aim of analyzing the
growth of the bar instability inside stellar-gaseous disks, where the star
formation is triggered, and a central black hole is present. The aim of this
paper is to point out the impact of such a central massive black hole on the
growth of the bar. We use N-body-SPH simulations of the same isolated
disk-to-halo mass systems harboring black holes with different initial masses
and different energy feedback on the surrounding gas. We compare the results of
these simulations with the one of the same disk without black hole in its
center. We make the same comparison (disk with and without black hole) for a
stellar disk in a fully cosmological scenario. A stellar bar, lasting 10 Gyrs,
is present in all our simulations. The central black hole mass has in general a
mild effect on the ellipticity of the bar but it is never able to destroy it.
The black holes grow in different way according their initial mass and their
feedback efficiency, the final values of the velocity dispersions and of the
black hole masses are near to the phenomenological constraints.Comment: 10 pages, 8 figures, accepted for pubblication in "Astrophysics and
Space Science
Synthesis of titanate nanofibers co-sensitized with ZnS and Bi2S3 nanocrystallites and their application on pollutants removal
The synthesis of nanocomposite materials combining titanate nanofibers (TNF)
with nanocrystalline ZnS and Bi2S3 semiconductors is described in this work.
The TNF were produced via hydrothermal synthesis and sensitized with the
semiconductor nanoparticles, through a single-source precursor decomposition
method. ZnS and Bi2S3 nanoparticles were successfully grown onto the TNF's
surface and Bi2S3-ZnS/TNF nanocomposite materials with different layouts were
obtained using either a layer-by-layer or a co-sensitization approach. The
samples' photocatalytic performance was first evaluated through the production
of the hydroxyl radical using terephthalic acid as probe molecule. All the
tested samples show photocatalytic ability for the production of this oxidizing
species. Afterwards, the samples were investigated for the removal of methylene
blue. The nanocomposite materials with best adsorption ability for the organic
dye were the ZnS/TNF and Bi2S3ZnS/TNF. The removal of the methylene blue was
systematically studied, and the most promising results were obtained
considering a sequential combination of an adsorption-photocatalytic
degradation process using the Bi2S3ZnS/TNF powder as a highly adsorbent and
photocatalyst material.Comment: 26 pages, 10 figure
Algebraic Quantization, Good Operators and Fractional Quantum Numbers
The problems arising when quantizing systems with periodic boundary
conditions are analysed, in an algebraic (group-) quantization scheme, and the
``failure" of the Ehrenfest theorem is clarified in terms of the already
defined notion of {\it good} (and {\it bad}) operators. The analysis of
``constrained" Heisenberg-Weyl groups according to this quantization scheme
reveals the possibility for new quantum (fractional) numbers extending those
allowed for Chern classes in traditional Geometric Quantization. This study is
illustrated with the examples of the free particle on the circumference and the
charged particle in a homogeneous magnetic field on the torus, both examples
featuring ``anomalous" operators, non-equivalent quantization and the latter,
fractional quantum numbers. These provide the rationale behind flux
quantization in superconducting rings and Fractional Quantum Hall Effect,
respectively.Comment: 29 pages, latex, 1 figure included with EPSF. Revised version with
minor changes intended to clarify notation. Acepted for publication in Comm.
Math. Phy
Andrographolide Inhibits PI3K/AKT-Dependent NOX2 and iNOS Expression Protecting Mice against Hypoxia/Ischemia-Induced Oxidative Brain Injury
This study aimed to explore the mechanisms by which andrographolide protects against hypoxia-induced oxidative/nitrosative brain injury provoked by cerebral ischemic/reperfusion (CI/R) injury in mice. Hypoxia in vitro was modeled using oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) followed by reoxygenation of BV-2 microglial cells. Our results showed that treatment of mice that have undergone CI/R injury with andrographolide (10-100 mu g/kg, i.v.) at 1 h after hypoxia ameliorated CI/R-induced oxidative/nitrosative stress, brain infarction, and neurological deficits in the mice, and enhanced their survival rate. CI/R induced a remarkable production in the mouse brains of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a significant increase in protein nitrosylation; this primarily resulted from enhanced expression of NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and the infiltration of CD11b cells due to activation of nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kappa B) and hypoxia-inducible factor 1-alpha (HIF-1 alpha). All these changes were significantly diminished by andrographolide. In BV-2 cells, OGD induced ROS and nitric oxide production by upregulating NOX2 and iNOS via the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase (PI3K)/AKT-dependent NF-kappa B and HIF-1 alpha pathways, and these changes were suppressed by andrographolide and LY294002. Our results indicate that andrographolide reduces NOX2 and iNOS expression possibly by impairing PI3K/AKT-dependent NF-kappa B and HIF-1 alpha activation. This compromises microglial activation, which then, in turn, mediates andrographolide's protective effect in the CI/R mice
Vertical transport and electroluminescence in InAs/GaSb/InAs structures: GaSb thickness and hydrostatic pressure studies
We have measured the current-voltage (I-V) of type II InAs/GaSb/InAs double
heterojunctions (DHETs) with 'GaAs like' interface bonding and GaSb thickness
between 0-1200 \AA. A negative differential resistance (NDR) is observed for
all DHETs with GaSb thickness 60 \AA below which a dramatic change in the
shape of the I-V and a marked hysteresis is observed. The temperature
dependence of the I-V is found to be very strong below this critical GaSb
thickness. The I-V characteristics of selected DHETs are also presented under
hydrostatic pressures up to 11 kbar. Finally, a mid infra-red
electroluminescence is observed at 1 bar with a threshold at the NDR valley
bias. The band profile calculations presented in the analysis are markedly
different to those given in the literature, and arise due to the positive
charge that it is argued will build up in the GaSb layer under bias. We
conclude that the dominant conduction mechanism in DHETs is most likely to
arise out of an inelastic electron-heavy-hole interaction similar to that
observed in single heterojunctions (SHETs) with 'GaAs like' interface bonding,
and not out of resonant electron-light-hole tunnelling as proposed by Yu et al.
A Zener tunnelling mechanism is shown to contribute to the background current
beyond NDR.Comment: 8 pages 12 fig
Black Hole Lasers Revisited
Contribution to "Quantum Analogues: From Phase Transitions to Black Holes and Cosmology" edited by William G. Unruh and Ralf Schutzhold. (Lecture Notes in Physics Vol. 718)The production of Hawking radiation by a single horizon is not dependent on the high-frequency dispersion relation of the radiated field. When there are two horizons, however, Corley and Jacobson have shown that superluminal dispersion leads to an amplification of the particle production in the case of bosons. The analytic theory of this "black hole laser" process is quite complicated, so we provide some numerical results in the hope of aiding understanding of this interesting phenomenon. Specifically, we consider sonic horizons in a moving fluid. The theory of elementary excitations in a Bose-Einstein condensate provides an example of "superluminal" (Bogoliubov) dispersion, so we add Bogoliubov dispersion to Unruh's equation for sound in the fluid. A white-hole/black-hole horizon pair will then display black hole lasing. Numerical analysis of the evolution of a wave packet gives a clear picture of the amplification process. By utilizing the similarity of a radiating horizon to a parametric amplifier in quantum optics we also analyze the black hole laser as a quantum-optical network
On possible interpretations of the high energy electron-positron spectrum measured by the Fermi Large Area Telescope
The Fermi-LAT experiment recently reported high precision measurements of the
spectrum of cosmic-ray electrons-plus-positrons (CRE) between 20 GeV and 1 TeV.
The spectrum shows no prominent spectral features, and is significantly harder
than that inferred from several previous experiments. Here we discuss several
interpretations of the Fermi results based either on a single large scale
Galactic CRE component or by invoking additional electron-positron primary
sources, e.g. nearby pulsars or particle Dark Matter annihilation. We show that
while the reported Fermi-LAT data alone can be interpreted in terms of a single
component scenario, when combined with other complementary experimental
results, specifically the CRE spectrum measured by H.E.S.S. and especially the
positron fraction reported by PAMELA between 1 and 100 GeV, that class of
models fails to provide a consistent interpretation. Rather, we find that
several combinations of parameters, involving both the pulsar and dark matter
scenarios, allow a consistent description of those results. We also briefly
discuss the possibility of discriminating between the pulsar and dark matter
interpretations by looking for a possible anisotropy in the CRE flux.Comment: 29 pages, 12 figures. Final version accepted for publication in
Astroparticle Physic
Conformational transitions of a semiflexible polymer in nematic solvents
Conformations of a single semiflexible polymer chain dissolved in a low
molecular weight liquid crystalline solvents (nematogens) are examined by using
a mean field theory. We takes into account a stiffness and partial
orientational ordering of the polymer. As a result of an anisotropic coupling
between the polymer and nematogen, we predict a discontinuous (or continuous)
phase transition from a condensed-rodlike conformation to a swollen-one of the
polymer chain, depending on the stiffness of the polymer. We also discuss the
effects of the nematic interaction between polymer segments.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
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