A differential cluster variation method for analysis of spiniodal decomposition in alloys

A differential cluster variation method (DCVM) is proposed for analysis of spinoidal decomposition in alloys. In this method, lattice symmetry operations in the presence of an infinitesimal composition gradient are utilized to deduce the connection equations for the correlation functions and to reduce the number of independent variables in the cluster variation analysis. Application of the method is made to calculate the gradient energy coefficient in the Cahn-Hilliard free energy function and the fastest growing wavelength for spinodal decomposition in Al-Li alloys. It is shown that the gradient coefficient of congruently ordered Al-Li alloys is much larger than that of the disordered system. In such an alloy system, the calculated fastest growing wavelength is approximately 10 nm, which is an order of magnitude larger than the experimentally observed domain size. This may provide a theoretical explanation why spinodal decomposition after a congruent ordering is dominated by the antiphase boundaries.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figure

Synergistic effects of polypropylene and glass fiber on mechanical properties and durability of recycled aggregate concrete

To better understand the synergistic effects of combined fibers on mechanical properties and durability of recycled aggregate concrete (RAC), different types of fibers with various lengths and mass ratios were adopted in this study. Experimental investigations were conducted to study the 28-day compressive strength and strength loss after exposed to salt-solution freeze–thaw cycles and the coupled action of mechanical loading and salt-solution freeze–thaw cycles. The microstructure was also characterized to evaluate the mechanism of this synergistic effect. To determine the effectiveness of the combined fibers on improving the mechanical properties and durability of RAC, the synergistic coefficient was proposed and applied for various combinations of fibers. The results indicate that the incorporation of fibers slightly decreased the 28-day compressive strength of RAC, but combining different sizes and types of fibers can mitigate this negative effect. Moreover, the incorporation of fibers greatly improves the freeze–thaw resistance of RAC. The combining different fibers exhibited a synergistic effect on the enhancement in properties of RAC, which could not be predicted with only one simplistic rule of fibre mixtures. In addition, microstructural characterization shows that the bonding strength of the interfacial transition zone (ITZ) between the fiber and cement matrix is mainly determined by the chemical bonding force which is due to the hydration reaction between fiber surface and cement matrix

Effects of Self-Enhancement on Eye Movements During Reading

Previous studies show that readers’ eye movements are influenced by text properties and readers’ personal cognitive characteristics. In the current study, we further show that readers’ eye movements are influenced by a social motivation of self-enhancement. We asked participants to silently read sentences that describe self or others with positive or negative traits while their eyes were monitored. First-fixation duration and gaze duration were longer when positive words were used to describe self than to describe others, but there was no such effect for negative words. These results suggest that eye movements can be influenced by the motivation of self-enhancement in addition to various stimuli features and cognitive factors. This finding indicates that the eye movement methodology can potentially be used to study implicit social cognition

FIMO: A Challenge Formal Dataset for Automated Theorem Proving

We present FIMO, an innovative dataset comprising formal mathematical problem statements sourced from the International Mathematical Olympiad (IMO) Shortlisted Problems. Designed to facilitate advanced automated theorem proving at the IMO level, FIMO is currently tailored for the Lean formal language. It comprises 149 formal problem statements, accompanied by both informal problem descriptions and their corresponding LaTeX-based informal proofs. Through initial experiments involving GPT-4, our findings underscore the existing limitations in current methodologies, indicating a substantial journey ahead before achieving satisfactory IMO-level automated theorem proving outcomes

An Evil Backstage Manipulator: Psychological Factors Correlated with Health-Related Quality of Life in Chinese Patients with Crohn's Disease

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is recommended as one of essential parameters to evaluate treatment effect and clinical outcome in patients with Crohn's disease (CD). Recent studies reported that psychological factors might play a role in HRQoL in Western and American CD patients. Sufficient evidences in Chinese CD patients are still unavailable. This study is dedicated to investigate the correlation of various psychological factors with HRQoL in Chinese CD patients. We prospectively collected 40 active and 40 quiescent CD patients in China and found that psychological factors, especially neuroticism and anxiety, significantly correlate with and affect HRQoL in both active and quiescent CD groups. This is the first report revealing correlation between psychological factors and HRQoL in Chinese CD patients. Therefore, we assume that our results can contribute to a better understanding of etiology and tailoring of management in Chinese patients with Crohn's disease and are beneficial to our colleagues to compare the heterogeneous characteristics of Crohn's disease in different ethnic groups