157 research outputs found
An Accurate S Method for Solving Static Multigroup Neutron Transport Equations in Slab Geometry
This paper presents an accurate S solver for slab geometry. For constant
cross-section regions, it gives accurate angular fluxes without need of fine
meshes or approximation of solution forms
A Reactive Force Field Approach to Modeling Corrosion of NiCr Alloys in Molten FLiNaK Salts
The interface between NiCr alloys and FLiNaK molten salt exhibits complex
corrosion behavior, mainly driven by intricate chemical interactions involving
Cr and F ions. Understanding these dynamic reactions is crucial
for developing effective corrosion mitigation strategies to ensure the
long-term durability of Ni-based alloy components in molten salt technologies.
However, obtaining molecular-level understanding through experiments is
challenging. To address this, we utilize reactive molecular dynamics
simulations enabled by a reactive force field, ReaxFF, to investigate detailed
reaction dynamics at the atomic level. Since there is currently no available
force field involving fluoride salt and Ni-based alloys, we first present the
development of the ReaxFF parameter set for Ni/Cr/F/Li/Na/K based on extensive
first-principles calculations. With this force field, we achieve a strong
agreement for the structure of FLiNaK molten salt by comparing the pair
distribution functions with experimental and simulation results. Furthermore,
it successfully reproduces the experimental phenomenon of Cr dissolution in
fluoride salt, with the corrosion rate depending on the alloy and salt
compositions. Particularly, it reveals that increasing the concentration of Li
can enhance the formation of a compact double layer, mitigating Cr dissolution.
This work enables a fundamental understanding of the interfacial behavior
between fluoride salt and NiCr alloys
Enhanced soil aggregate stability limits colloidal phosphorus loss potentials in agricultural systems
BackgroundColloid-facilitated phosphorus (P) transport is recognized as an important pathway for the loss of soil P in agricultural systems; however, information regarding soil aggregate-associated colloidal P (Pcoll) is lacking. To elucidate the effects of aggregate size on the potential loss of Pcoll in agricultural systems, soils (0–20 cm depth) from six land-use types were sampled in the Zhejiang Province in the Yangtze River Delta region, China. The aggregate size fractions (2–8 mm, 0.26–2 mm, 0.053–0.26 mm and < 0.053 mm) were separated using the wet sieving method. Colloidal P and other soil parameters in aggregates were analyzed.ResultsOur study demonstrated that 0.26–2 mm small macroaggregates had the highest total P (TP) content. In acidic soils, the highest Pcoll content was observed in the 0.26- to 2-mm-sized aggregates, while the lowest was reported in the < 0.053 mm (silt + clay)-sized particles, the opposite of that revealed in alkaline and neutral soils. Paddy soils contained less Pcoll than other land-use types. The proportion of Pcoll in total dissolved P (TDP) was dominated by < 0.053 mm (silt + clay)-sized particles. Aggregate size strongly influenced the loss potential of Pcoll in paddy soils, where Pcoll contributed up to 83% TDP in the silt + clay-sized particles. The Pcoll content was positively correlated with TP, Al, Fe, and the mean weight diameter. Aggregate-associated total carbon (TC), total nitrogen (TN), C/P, and C/N had significant negative effects on the contribution of Pcoll to potential soil P loss. The Pcoll content of the aggregates was controlled by the aggregate-associated TP and Al content, as well as the soil pH value. The potential loss of Pcoll from aggregates was controlled by its organic matter content.ConclusionWe concluded that management practices that increase soil aggregate stability or its organic carbon content will limit Pcoll loss in agricultural systems
Medical image registration based on PCA and M_PSNR
Medical image registration is not only the premise of medical image fusion, but also the focus of medical image processing. It plays an important role in clinical diagnosis and treatment planning. Aiming at the problem of mutual information value in image registration, a PCA neural network and M_PSNR based method for rigid registration of reference and floating images was proposed. In this method, the centroid of the image needs to be figured out through the image matrix, and the rotation Angle and translation of the image registration can be calculated by PCA method to obtain the optimal rotation transformation and the initial registration value. Finally, M_PSNR method improved by PSNR was used for similarity test to increase the speed and efficiency of registration and simplify the calculation process
Characterization and Inference of Gene Gain/Loss Along Burkholderia Evolutionary History
A comparative analysis of 60 complete Burkholderia genomes was conducted to obtain insight in the evolutionary history behind the diversity and pathogenicity at species level. A concatenated multiprotein phyletic pattern and a dataset with Burkholderia clusters of orthologous genes (BuCOGs) were constructed. The extent of horizontal gene transfer (HGT) was assessed using a Markov based probabilistic method. A reconstruction of the gene gains and losses history shows that more than half of the Burkholderia genes families are inferred to have experienced HGT at least once during their evolution. Further analysis revealed that the number of gene gain and loss was correlated with the branch length. Genomic islands (GEIs) analysis based on evolutionary history reconstruction not only revealed that most genes in ancient GEIs were gained but also suggested that the fraction of the genome located in GEIs in the small chromosomes is higher than in the large chromosomes in Burkholderia. The mapping of coexpressed genes onto biological pathway schemes revealed that pathogenicity of Burkholderia strains is probably mainly determined by the gained genes in its ancestor. Taken together, our results strongly support that gene gain and loss especially in ancient evolutionary history play an important role in strain divergence, pathogenicity determinants of Burkholderia and GEIs formation
Structural basis for arginine glycosylation of host substrates by bacterial effector proteins
The bacterial effector proteins SseK and NleB glycosylate host proteins on arginine residues, leading to reduced NF-κB-dependent responses to infection. Salmonella SseK1 and SseK2 are E. coli NleB1 orthologs that behave as NleB1-like GTs, although they differ in protein substrate specificity. Here we report that these enzymes are retaining glycosyltransferases composed of a helix-loop-helix (HLH) domain, a lid domain, and a catalytic domain. A conserved HEN motif (His-Glu-Asn) in the active site is important for enzyme catalysis and bacterial virulence. We observe differences between SseK1 and SseK2 in interactions with substrates and identify substrate residues that are critical for enzyme recognition. Long Molecular Dynamics simulations suggest that the HLH domain determines substrate specificity and the lid-domain regulates the opening of the active site. Overall, our data suggest a front-face SNi mechanism, explain differences in activities among these effectors, and have implications for future drug development against enteric pathogens
Sciences for The 2.5-meter Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST)
The Wide Field Survey Telescope (WFST) is a dedicated photometric survey
facility under construction jointly by the University of Science and Technology
of China and Purple Mountain Observatory. It is equipped with a primary mirror
of 2.5m in diameter, an active optical system, and a mosaic CCD camera of 0.73
Gpix on the main focus plane to achieve high-quality imaging over a field of
view of 6.5 square degrees. The installation of WFST in the Lenghu observing
site is planned to happen in the summer of 2023, and the operation is scheduled
to commence within three months afterward. WFST will scan the northern sky in
four optical bands (u, g, r, and i) at cadences from hourly/daily to
semi-weekly in the deep high-cadence survey (DHS) and the wide field survey
(WFS) programs, respectively. WFS reaches a depth of 22.27, 23.32, 22.84, and
22.31 in AB magnitudes in a nominal 30-second exposure in the four bands during
a photometric night, respectively, enabling us to search tremendous amount of
transients in the low-z universe and systematically investigate the variability
of Galactic and extragalactic objects. Intranight 90s exposures as deep as 23
and 24 mag in u and g bands via DHS provide a unique opportunity to facilitate
explorations of energetic transients in demand for high sensitivity, including
the electromagnetic counterparts of gravitational-wave events detected by the
second/third-generation GW detectors, supernovae within a few hours of their
explosions, tidal disruption events and luminous fast optical transients even
beyond a redshift of 1. Meanwhile, the final 6-year co-added images,
anticipated to reach g about 25.5 mag in WFS or even deeper by 1.5 mag in DHS,
will be of significant value to general Galactic and extragalactic sciences.
The highly uniform legacy surveys of WFST will also serve as an indispensable
complement to those of LSST which monitors the southern sky.Comment: 46 pages, submitted to SCMP
Recommended from our members
Comparative transcriptomics of 5 high-altitude vertebrates and their low-altitude relatives
Abstract Background: Species living at high altitude are subject to strong selective pressures due to inhospitable environments (e.g., hypoxia, low temperature, high solar radiation, and lack of biological production), making these species valuable models for comparative analyses of local adaptation. Studies that have examined high-altitude adaptation have identified a vast array of rapidly evolving genes that characterize the dramatic phenotypic changes in high-altitude animals. However, how high-altitude environment shapes gene expression programs remains largely unknown. Findings: We generated a total of 910 Gb of high-quality RNA-seq data for 180 samples derived from 6 tissues of 5 agriculturally important high-altitude vertebrates (Tibetan chicken, Tibetan pig, Tibetan sheep, Tibetan goat, and yak) and their cross-fertile relatives living in geographically neighboring low-altitude regions. Of these, ∼75% reads could be aligned to their respective reference genomes, and on average ∼60% of annotated protein coding genes in each organism showed FPKM expression values greater than 0.5. We observed a general concordance in topological relationships between the nucleotide alignments and gene expression–based trees. Tissue and species accounted for markedly more variance than altitude based on either the expression or the alternative splicing patterns. Cross-species clustering analyses showed a tissue-dominated pattern of gene expression and a species-dominated pattern for alternative splicing. We also identified numerous differentially expressed genes that could potentially be involved in phenotypic divergence shaped by high-altitude adaptation. Conclusions: These data serve as a valuable resource for examining the convergence and divergence of gene expression changes between species as they adapt or acclimatize to high-altitude environments
Revealing the Strain Effect on Radiation Response of Amorphous–Crystalline Cu-Zr Laminate
Nanocrystalline materials containing amorphous intergranular films (AIFs) exhibit excellent mechanical properties, radiation resistance, and thermal stability and may serve as promising candidate materials for use in advanced nuclear energy systems. The aim of this work is to reveal the effect of mechanical stress on the radiation damage behavior of AIF systems. Based on a bicrystal Cu system with Zr-doped AIFs, molecular dynamics is used to simulate the radiation process and examine the AIF sink efficiency, defect propensity, defect size distribution, and Zr mixing under uniaxial and hydrostatic strain conditions. The results show that the sink efficiency of the glue-like AIFs is not compromised under applied strains. The anisotropy resulting from the intrinsic microstructure and elastic deformation leads to a distinct radiation response, where extension (contraction) of the structure perpendicular to the AIFs increases (decreases) the vacancy density. The strain-dependent defect density, along with the cluster size distributions, can be interpreted based on the variations in the defect formation energy and anisotropic defect diffusion. Finally, the Zr mixing induced by collision cascades is found to be insensitive to the mechanical strains. These findings provide meaningful information towards understanding the stress effect on the radiation response of AIF systems
Single-Machine Parallel-Batch Scheduling with Nonidentical Job Sizes and Rejection
We investigate the single-machine parallel-batch scheduling problem with nonidentical job sizes and rejection. In this problem, a set of jobs with different processing times and nonidentical sizes is given to be possibly processed on a parallel-batch processing machine. Each job is either accepted and then processed on the machine or rejected by paying its rejection penalty. Preemption is not allowed. Our task is to choose the accepted jobs and schedule them as batches on the machine to minimize the makespan of the accepted jobs plus the total rejection penalty of the rejected jobs. We provide an integer programming formulation to exactly solve our problem. Then, we propose three fast heuristic algorithms to solve the problem and evaluate their performances by using a small numerical example
- …