Characterization and modeling of ductile rupture with relationship to microstructures in 2198 Al-Li alloy for aeronautic application

International audienceDamage and fracture mechanisms of two 2198 Al-Li thin sheet alloys having different thicknesses (2 and 6 mm) are investigated. Two heat treatments are studied: T3 and T8. Mechanical tests are carried out on flat specimens including smooth tensile samples and U-notched specimens (with various notch radii). Test data are used to identify the parameters of constitutive equations describing plastic anisotropy. Crack initiation and stable propagation is studied using Kahn tear tests. The microscopic fracture surface of the different specimens is observed using SEM (Scanning Electron Microscopy). Smooth and notched samples exhibit a slant fracture surface. With increasing notch severity, the fracture mode changes significantly. Failure initiates at the notch root in a small triangular region, outside this zone, slant fracture is observed. Observations show two different failure mechanisms with respect to triangular and slant zones

Optical Properties and Excitation Dynamics in 3d and 2d Systems

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Improved Decoding of Staircase Codes: The Soft-aided Bit-marking (SABM) Algorithm

Staircase codes (SCCs) are typically decoded using iterative bounded-distance decoding (BDD) and hard decisions. In this paper, a novel decoding algorithm is proposed, which partially uses soft information from the channel. The proposed algorithm is based on marking certain number of highly reliable and highly unreliable bits. These marked bits are used to improve the miscorrection-detection capability of the SCC decoder and the error-correcting capability of BDD. For SCCs with $2$-error-correcting Bose-Chaudhuri-Hocquenghem component codes, our algorithm improves upon standard SCC decoding by up to $0.30$~dB at a bit-error rate (BER) of $10^{-7}$. The proposed algorithm is shown to achieve almost half of the gain achievable by an idealized decoder with this structure. A complexity analysis based on the number of additional calls to the component BDD decoder shows that the relative complexity increase is only around $4\%$ at a BER of $10^{-4}$. This additional complexity is shown to decrease as the channel quality improves. Our algorithm is also extended (with minor modifications) to product codes. The simulation results show that in this case, the algorithm offers gains of up to $0.44$~dB at a BER of $10^{-8}$.Comment: 10 pages, 12 figure

Nonlinear analysis of stress and strain for a clay core rock-fill dam with FEM

AbstractBased on the Duncan-Chang hyperbolic nonlinear elastic material model, this paper carried out the stress and strain numerical analysis of a clay core rock-fill dam, which is a certain building reservoir dam in Yunnan province. By loading on each layer step by step and with the static nonlinear finite element simulation of deposition, it obtained the results of the stress and deformation of the clay core rock-fill dam. The calculation showed that the great difference in deformation modulus causes non-smooth variations in deformation, stress and strain between the transition area and the rock-debris fill. From the analysis it can be seen that the present design of the dam is reasonable since no any abnormal stresses and deformations occurred in the dam. Moreover, this also indicated a feasible and provided a valuable evident for the optimization of cross-section zones in a project

MicroRNA-184 downregulates nuclear receptor corepressor 2 in mouse spermatogenesis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There have been increasing attentions on the role of small RNAs, especially microRNAs in post-transcriptional gene regulation during spermatogenesis. MicroRNA-184 (miR-184) has been shown to be mainly expressed in the testis and brain, and that its expression levels are by far the highest in the testis. However, the role of miR-184 in mammalian spermatogenesis remains unclear.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this study, we demonstrated that miR-184 levels were increased during mouse postnatal testis development. Specifically, miR-184 expression was restricted to the germ cells from spermatogonia to round spermatids. Overexpression of miR-184 promoted the proliferation of a germ cell line, GC-1spg. Moreover, miR-184 downregulated <it>nuclear receptor corepressor 2 </it>(<it>Ncor2</it>) by targeting its 3' untranslated region through inhibiting NCOR2 protein translation.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>MiR-184 may be involved in the post-transcription regulation of mRNAs such as <it>Ncor2 </it>in mammalian spermatogenesis.</p

Deletions in the neuraminidase stalk region of H2N2 and H9N2 avian influenza virus subtypes do not affect postinfluenza secondary bacterial pneumonia

We investigated the synergism between influenza virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae, particularly the role of deletions in the stalk region of the neuraminidase (NA) of H2N2 and H9N2 avian influenza viruses. Deletions in the NA stalk (ΔNA) had no effect on NA activity or on the adherence of S. pneumoniae to virus-infected human alveolar epithelial (A549) and mouse lung adenoma (LA-4) cells, although it delayed virus elution from turkey red blood cells. Sequential S. pneumoniae infection of mice previously inoculated with isogenic recombinant H2N2 and H9N2 influenza viruses displayed severe pneumonia, elevated levels of intrapulmonary proinflammatory responses, and death. No differences between the WT and ΔNA mutant viruses were detected with respect to effects on postinfluenza pneumococcal pneumonia as measured by bacterial growth, lung inflammation, morbidity, mortality, and cytokine/chemokine concentrations. Differences were observed, however, in influenza virus-infected mice that were treated with oseltamivir prior to a challenge with S. pneumoniae. Under these circumstances, mice infected with ΔNA viruses were associated with a better prognosis following a secondary bacterial challenge. These data suggest that the H2N2 and H9N2 subtypes of avian influenza A viruses can contribute to secondary bacterial pneumonia and deletions in the NA stalk may modulate its outcome in the context of antiviral therapy. © 2012, American Society for Microbiology.Fil: Chockalingam, Ashok K.. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Hickman, Danielle. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Pena, Lindomar. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Ye, Jianqiang. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Ferrero, Andrea. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Echenique, Jose Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Córdoba. Centro de Investigaciones en Bioquímica Clínica e Inmunología; ArgentinaFil: Chen, Hongjun. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Sutton, Troy. University of Maryland; Estados UnidosFil: Perez, Daniel R.. University of Maryland; Estados Unido