Use of Preplaced Casting Method in Lightweight Aggregate Concrete

This study addresses the use of preplaced casting method in lightweight aggregate concrete (LC) to provide a new perspective to solve the aggregate segregation. In casting preplaced lightweight aggregate concrete (PLC), the lightweight aggregates are cast into formworks and then fresh grout is injected to fill voids. PLC and conventional lightweight aggregate concrete (CLC) with three different mixtures are compared to observe the degree of segregation. The properties of PLC and CLC are characterized by means of cubic and axial compression, splitting tension and flexural tests, static modulus of elasticity, and drying shrinkage measurements. Results show that the mechanical properties of PLC are improved with respect to that of CLC with the same mixture. The increase of shrinkage is approximately 13% for the CLC and 6% for PLC when w/c ratio ranges from 0.4 to 0.5 due to effect on interlocking. PLC shows an increased tendency in elastic modulus by approximately 2.5% of 0.5 w/c ratio, 2.7% of 0.45 w/c ratio, and 3.3% of 0.4 w/c ratio at the age of 28 days compared with CLC. In conclusion, PLC has significant reduction in the weight on the premise that it shows excellent mechanical properties

Novel electronic and magnetic properties of BN sheet decorated with hydrogen and fluorine

First principles calculations based on density functional theory reveal some unusual properties of BN sheet functionalized with hydrogen and fluorine. These properties differ from those of similarly functionalized graphene even though both share the same honeycomb structure. (1) Unlike graphene which undergoes a metal to insulator transition when fully hydrogenated, the band gap of the BN sheet significantly narrows when fully saturated with hydrogen. Furthermore, the band gap of the BN sheet can be tuned from 4.7 eV to 0.6 eV and the system can be a direct or an indirect semiconductor or even a half-metal depending upon surface coverage. (2) Unlike graphene, BN sheet has hetero-atomic composition, when co-decorated with H and F, it can lead to anisotropic structures with rich electronic and magnetic properties. (3) Unlike graphene, BN sheets can be made ferromagnetic, antiferromagnetic, or magnetically degenerate depending upon how the surface is functionalized. (4) The stability of magnetic coupling of functionalized BN sheet can be further modulated by applying external strain. Our study highlights the potential of functionalized BN sheets for novel applications.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, and 1 tabl

Interdimensional degeneracies for a quantum NN-body system in DD dimensions

Complete spectrum of exact interdimensional degeneracies for a quantum $N$-body system in $D$-dimensions is presented by the method of generalized spherical harmonic polynomials. In an $N$-body system all the states with angular momentum $[\mu+n]$ in $(D-2n)$ dimensions are degenerate where $[\mu]$ and $D$ are given and $n$ is an arbitrary integer if the representation $[\mu+n]$ exists for the SO($D-2n$) group and $D-2n\geq N$. There is an exceptional interdimensional degeneracy for an $N$-body system between the state with zero angular momentum in $D=N-1$ dimensions and the state with zero angular momentum in $D=N+1$ dimensions.Comment: 8 pages, no figure, RevTex, Accepted by EuroPhys.Let

Tailoring Li adsorption on graphene

The technological potential of functionalized graphene has recently stimulated considerable interest in the study of the adsorption of metal atoms on graphene. However, a complete understanding of the optimal adsorption pattern of metal atoms on a graphene substrate has not been easy because of atomic relaxations at the interface and the interaction between metal atoms. We present a partial particle swarm optimization technique that allows us to efficiently search for the equilibrium geometries of metal atoms adsorbed on a substrate as a function of adatom concentration. Using Li deposition on graphene as an example we show that, contrary to previous works, Li atoms prefer to cluster, forming four-atom islands, irrespective of their concentration. We further show that an external electric field applied vertically to the graphene surface or doping with boron can prevent this clustering, leading to the homogeneous growth of Li

Intrinsic ferromagnetism in two-dimensional carbon structures: Triangular graphene nanoflakes linked by carbon chains

Using density functional theory (DFT) we show that intrinsic ferromagnetism in two-dimensional (2D) carbon semiconducting structures can be achieved by linking triangular graphene nanoflakes (GNFs) with carbon chains containing an odd number of carbon atoms. The observed magnetism can be understood from the singlet-triplet rule of C chain, the anti-pattern rule for a magnetic bipartite C structure, and the Lieb-Mattis criterion. Monte Carlo (MC) simulations indicate that the 2D frameworks can display transitions from a high-spin state to a low-spin state and to a paramagnetic state as temperature increases

Tuning magnetic properties of graphene nanoribbons with topological line defects: From antiferromagnetic to ferromagnetic

Zigzag-edged graphene nanoribbons are antiferromagnetic in cross-edge coupling and unsuitable for spintronics applications. Two new strategies of tuning antiferromagnetism (AFM) to ferromagnetism (FM) in graphene nanoribbons are introduced through topological line defects composed of pentagonal and octagonal rings, and their ability to induce magnetic transition is probed by using density functional theory. The resulting exchange energy is found to be large enough for ferromagnetism to be observed at room temperature. Both strategies are experimentally feasible, and the results suggest that defect engineering may provide a novel path to manipulate the magnetic properties of graphene nanoribbons

Exploring Effective Factors for Improving Visual In-Context Learning

The In-Context Learning (ICL) is to understand a new task via a few demonstrations (aka. prompt) and predict new inputs without tuning the models. While it has been widely studied in NLP, it is still a relatively new area of research in computer vision. To reveal the factors influencing the performance of visual in-context learning, this paper shows that prompt selection and prompt fusion are two major factors that have a direct impact on the inference performance of visual context learning. Prompt selection is the process of identifying the most appropriate prompt or example to help the model understand new tasks. This is important because providing the model with relevant prompts can help it learn more effectively and efficiently. Prompt fusion involves combining knowledge from different positions within the large-scale visual model. By doing this, the model can leverage the diverse knowledge stored in different parts of the model to improve its performance on new tasks. Based these findings, we propose a simple framework prompt-SelF for visual in-context learning. Specifically, we first use the pixel-level retrieval method to select a suitable prompt, and then use different prompt fusion methods to activate all the knowledge stored in the large-scale model, and finally ensemble the prediction results obtained from different prompt fusion methods to obtain the final prediction results. And we conduct extensive experiments on single-object segmentation and detection tasks to demonstrate the effectiveness of prompt-SelF. Remarkably, the prompt-SelF has outperformed OSLSM based meta-learning in 1-shot segmentation for the first time. This indicated the great potential of visual in-context learning. The source code and models will be available at \url{https://github.com/syp2ysy/prompt-SelF}

Hepatic angiosarcoma arising in an adult mesenchymal hamartoma

The histogenesis of the hepatic sarcoma and its association with hamartoma is not well understood. We hereby present a Chinese patient with hepatic angiosarcoma arising from an adult mesenchymal hamartoma of liver. A 33-yr-old woman was diagnosed hepatic hamartoma eight years ago and presented with epigastric distention recently. Now she was admitted to our hospital with some unusual features: (a) this patient was diagnosed in mid-twenties, (b) the tumor occupied the whole liver and most importantly (c) the hepatic angiosarcoma appeared 8 years after the diagnosis of hamartoma. Based on this case and some reports, hepatic hamartoma may develop to hepatic angiosarcoma

Coexistence of multiple strange attractors governed by different initial conditions in a deterministic system

Abstract: This paper presents a new four-dimension autonomous system which shows extraordinary dynamical properties . Chaotic attractor and periodic attractor or hyper-chaotic attractor and quasi-periodic attractor, which are governed by different initial conditions instead of the system parameters, can coexist in the deterministic system. These interesting phenomena are verified through numerical simulations and analyses including time series, phase portraits, Poincaré maps, bifurcation diagrams, and Lyapunov exponents

Existence and Iteration of Monotone Positive Solution of BVP for an Elastic Beam Equation

This paper is concerned with the existence of monotone positive solution of boundary value problem for an elastic beam equation. By applying iterative techniques, we not only obtain the existence of monotone positive solution but also establish iterative scheme for approximating the solution. It is worth mentioning that the iterative scheme starts off with zero function, which is very useful and feasible for computational purpose. An example is also included to illustrate the main results