3,683 research outputs found
High-temperature oxidation of nickel-based alloys and estimation of the adhesion strength of resulting oxide layers
The kinetics of isothermal oxidation (1100°C) of commercial nickel-based alloys with different content of sulfur (0.22–3.2 wt ppm) is studied. The adhesion strength in a metal/oxide system is estimated as a function of sulfur content and duration of high-temperature exposure. The scratch-test technique is proposed to quantitatively estimate the work of adhesion of resulting oxide films. It is found that the film microstructure is composed of an inner α-Al2O3 layer and an outer NiAl2O4 spinel layer, which are separated by discrete inclusions of TiO2. Residual stresses in the oxide film are experimentally determined by X-ray diffraction. spinel layer, which are separated by discrete inclusions of TiO2. Residual stresses in the oxide film are experimentally determined by X-ray diffractio
Reciprocal Recommender System for Learners in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
Massive open online courses (MOOC) describe platforms where users with
completely different backgrounds subscribe to various courses on offer. MOOC
forums and discussion boards offer learners a medium to communicate with each
other and maximize their learning outcomes. However, oftentimes learners are
hesitant to approach each other for different reasons (being shy, don't know
the right match, etc.). In this paper, we propose a reciprocal recommender
system which matches learners who are mutually interested in, and likely to
communicate with each other based on their profile attributes like age,
location, gender, qualification, interests, etc. We test our algorithm on data
sampled using the publicly available MITx-Harvardx dataset and demonstrate that
both attribute importance and reciprocity play an important role in forming the
final recommendation list of learners. Our approach provides promising results
for such a system to be implemented within an actual MOOC.Comment: 10 pages, accepted as full paper @ ICWL 201
THE ACCUSED IS ENTERING THE COURTROOM: THE LIVE-TWEETING OF A MURDER TRIAL.
© 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis GroupThe use of social media is now widely accepted within journalism as an outlet for news information. Live tweeting of unfolding events is standard practice. In March 2014, Oscar Pistorius went on trial in the Gauteng High Court for murder. Hundreds of journalists present began live-tweeting coverage, an unprecedented combination of international interest, permission to use technology and access which resulted in massive streams of consciousness reports of events as they unfolded. Based on a corpus of Twitter feeds of twenty-four journalists covering the trial, this study analyses the content and strategies of these feeds in order to present an understanding of how microblogging is used as a live reporting tool. This study shows the development of standardised language and strategies in reporting on Twitter, concluding that journalists adopt a narrow range of approaches, with no significant variation in terms of gender, location, or medium. This is in contrast to earlier studies in the field (Awad, 2006, Hedman, 2015; Kothari, 2010; Lariscy, Avery, Sweetser, & Howes, 2009 Lasorsa, 2012; Lasorsa, Lewis, & Holton, 2011; Sigal, 1999, Vis, 2013).Peer reviewe
Influence of lattice distortion on the Curie temperature and spin-phonon coupling in LaMnCoO
Two distinct ferromagnetic phases of LaMnCoO having
monoclinic structure with distinct physical properties have been studied. The
ferromagnetic ordering temperature is found to be different
for both the phases. The origin of such contrasting characteristics is assigned
to the changes in the distance(s) and angle(s) between Mn - O - Co resulting
from distortions observed from neutron diffraction studies. Investigations on
the temperature dependent Raman spectroscopy provide evidence for such
structural characteristics, which affects the exchange interaction. The
difference in B-site ordering which is evident from the neutron diffraction is
also responsible for the difference in . Raman scattering
suggests the presence of spin-phonon coupling for both the phases around the
. Electrical transport properties of both the phases have been
investigated based on the lattice distortion.Comment: 9 figure
On Deriving Nested Calculi for Intuitionistic Logics from Semantic Systems
This paper shows how to derive nested calculi from labelled calculi for propositional intuitionistic logic and first-order intuitionistic logic with constant domains, thus connecting the general results for labelled calculi with the more refined formalism of nested sequents. The extraction of nested calculi from labelled calculi obtains via considerations pertaining to the elimination of structural rules in labelled derivations. Each aspect of the extraction process is motivated and detailed, showing that each nested calculus inherits favorable proof-theoretic properties from its associated labelled calculus
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Evolutionary bi-stability in pathogen transmission mode
Many pathogens transmit to new hosts by both infection (horizontal transmission) and transfer to the
infected host's offspring (vertical transmission). These two transmission modes require speci®c adap-
tations of the pathogen that can be mutually exclusive, resulting in a trade-off between horizontal and
vertical transmission. We show that in mathematical models such trade-offs can lead to the simultaneous
existence of two evolutionary stable states (evolutionary bi-stability) of allocation of resources to the two
modes of transmission. We also show that jumping between evolutionary stable states can be induced by
gradual environmental changes. Using quantitative PCR-based estimates of abundance in seed and vege-
tative parts, we show that the pathogen of wheat, Phaeosphaeria nodorum, has jumped between two
distinct states of transmission mode twice in the past 160 years, which, based on published evidence,
we interpret as adaptation to environmental change. The ®nding of evolutionary bi-stability has impli-
cations for human, animal and other plant diseases. An ill-judged change in a disease control
programme could cause the pathogen to evolve a new, and possibly more damaging, combination of
transmission modes. Similarly, environmental changes can shift the balance between transmission
modes, with adverse effects on human, animal and plant health
Small Energy Scale for Mixed-Valent Uranium Materials
We investigate a two-channel Anderson impurity model with a magnetic
and a quadrupolar ground doublet, and a excited triplet. Using
the numerical renormalization group method, we find a crossover to a non-Fermi
liquid state below a temperature varying as the triplet-doublet
splitting to the 7/2 power. To within numerical accuracy, the non-linear
magnetic susceptibility and the contribution to the linear
susceptibility are given by universal one-parameter scaling functions. These
results may explain UBe as mixed valent with a small crossover scale
.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, REVTeX, to appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Virus Replication as a Phenotypic Version of Polynucleotide Evolution
In this paper we revisit and adapt to viral evolution an approach based on
the theory of branching process advanced by Demetrius, Schuster and Sigmund
("Polynucleotide evolution and branching processes", Bull. Math. Biol. 46
(1985) 239-262), in their study of polynucleotide evolution. By taking into
account beneficial effects we obtain a non-trivial multivariate generalization
of their single-type branching process model. Perturbative techniques allows us
to obtain analytical asymptotic expressions for the main global parameters of
the model which lead to the following rigorous results: (i) a new criterion for
"no sure extinction", (ii) a generalization and proof, for this particular
class of models, of the lethal mutagenesis criterion proposed by Bull,
Sanju\'an and Wilke ("Theory of lethal mutagenesis for viruses", J. Virology 18
(2007) 2930-2939), (iii) a new proposal for the notion of relaxation time with
a quantitative prescription for its evaluation, (iv) the quantitative
description of the evolution of the expected values in in four distinct
"stages": extinction threshold, lethal mutagenesis, stationary "equilibrium"
and transient. Finally, based on these quantitative results we are able to draw
some qualitative conclusions.Comment: 23 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables. arXiv admin note: substantial text
overlap with arXiv:1110.336
Sequential bottlenecks drive viral evolution in early acute Hepatitis C virus infection
Hepatitis C is a pandemic human RNA virus, which commonly causes chronic infection and liver disease. The characterization of viral populations that successfully initiate infection, and also those that drive progression to chronicity is instrumental for understanding pathogenesis and vaccine design. A comprehensive and longitudinal analysis of the viral population was conducted in four subjects followed from very early acute infection to resolution of disease outcome. By means of next generation sequencing (NGS) and standard cloning/Sanger sequencing, genetic diversity and viral variants were quantified over the course of the infection at frequencies as low as 0.1%. Phylogenetic analysis of reassembled viral variants revealed acute infection was dominated by two sequential bottleneck events, irrespective of subsequent chronicity or clearance. The first bottleneck was associated with transmission, with one to two viral variants successfully establishing infection. The second occurred approximately 100 days post-infection, and was characterized by a decline in viral diversity. In the two subjects who developed chronic infection, this second bottleneck was followed by the emergence of a new viral population, which evolved from the founder variants via a selective sweep with fixation in a small number of mutated sites. The diversity at sites with non-synonymous mutation was higher in predicted cytotoxic T cell epitopes, suggesting immune-driven evolution. These results provide the first detailed analysis of early within-host evolution of HCV, indicating strong selective forces limit viral evolution in the acute phase of infection
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