The functions of an architectural model (1920–1940)

Architectural model making in Europe in 1920s–1940s is overviewed by decade to identify the functions performed by architectural model in addition to those already recognized: representation, working model, and education. Overall, 58 models have been described and analyzed. The following functions have been added to the traditional functions: photo model, modular construction testing, promotion model, and fit demonstration. The functional typology of the mockup thus has been expanded

Modelling the thermodynamic data for hcp Zn and Cu -Zn alloys-an ab initio and calphad approach

The phase diagrams of systems between zinc and elements such as Cu, Ag and Au show two distinct hcp phases on the Zn side of the system. Because of this, it is difficult to model the thermodynamic properties of these phases within a single dataset. As a result it is common to assess the data for these systems with two hexagonal phases, a phase HCP_A3 with a near ideal c/a ratio and the terminal solid solution of Zn with an anomalously high value for this ratio designated as HCP_ZN. We have examined the effect of additions of Cu on the enthalpy of mixing and lattice parameters of HCP_ZN in order to verify, using ab initio calculations, the origin of the above mentioned thermodynamic model for the alloy. The analysis of the calculations allows us to suggest a possible alternative to the state-of-the-art two hcp phases approach akin to the magnetic model used with success within the CALPHAD modelling.Funding Agencies|Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation of NUST "MISiS" [K2-2019-003]; Russian Science FoundationRussian Science Foundation (RSF) [18-12-00492]; Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Wallenberg Scholar Grant) [KAW-2018.0194]</p

Machine Learning-Based Prediction of Elastic Properties Using Reduced Datasets of Accurate Calculations Results

In this paper, the applicability of machine learning for predicting the elastic properties of binary and ternary bcc Ti and Zr disordered alloys with 34 different doping elements is explored. The original dataset contained 3 independent elastic constants, bulk moduli, shear moduli, and Young’s moduli of 1642 compositions calculated using the EMTO-CPA method and PAW-SQS calculation results for 62 compositions. The architecture of the system is made as a pipeline of a pair of predicting blocks. The first one took as the input a set of descriptors of the qualitative and quantitative compositions of alloys and approximated the EMTO-CPA data, and the second one took predictions of the first model and trained on the results of the PAW-SQS calculations. The main idea of such architecture is to achieve prediction accuracy at the PAW-SQS level, while reducing the resource intensity for obtaining the training set by a multiple of the ratio of the training subsets sizes corresponding to the two used calculation methods (EMTO-CPA/PAW-SQS). As a result, model building and testing methods accounting for the lack of accurate training data on the mechanical properties of alloys (PAW-SQS), balanced out by using predictions of inaccurate resource-effective first-principle calculations (EMTO-CPA), are demonstrated

Thermodynamic and electronic properties of ReN2 polymorphs at high pressure

The high-pressure synthesis of rhenium nitride pernitride with a crystal structure that is unusual for transition metal dinitrides and high values of hardness and bulk modulus attracted significant attention to this system. We investigate the thermodynamic and electronic properties of the P2(1)/c phase of ReN2 and compare them with two other polytypes, the C2/m and P4/mbm phases, suggested in the literature. Our calculations of the formation enthalpy at zero temperature show that the former phase is the most stable of the three up to a pressure p = 170 GPa, followed by the stabilization of the P4/mbm phase at higher pressure. The theoretical prediction is confirmed by diamond anvil cell synthesis of the P4/mbm ReN2 at approximate to 175 GPa. Considering the effects of finite temperature in the quasiharmonic approximation at p = 100 GPa we demonstrate that the P2(1)/c phase has the lowest free energy of formation at least up to 1000 K. Our analysis of the pressure dependence of the electronic structure of rhenium nitride pernitride shows the presence of two electronic topological transitions around 18 GPa, when the Fermi surface changes its topology due to the appearance of an electron pocket at the high-symmetry Y-2 point of the Brillouin zone while the disruption of the neck takes place slightly off from the Gamma-A line.Funding Agencies|Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation (Wallenberg Scholar Grant) [KAW-2018.0194]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Areas in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [2009 00971]; SeRC, the Swedish Research Council (VR) [2019-05600]; VINN Excellence Center Functional Nanoscale Materials (FunMat-2) [201605156]; Russian Science FoundationRussian Science Foundation (RSF) [18-12-00492]; Swedish Research CouncilSwedish Research CouncilEuropean Commission [2016-07213]</p

Horizontal Transfer of Virulence Factors by Pathogenic Enterobacteria to Marine Saprotrophic Bacteria during Co-Cultivation in Biofilm

Environmental problems associated with marine pollution and climate warming create favorable conditions for the penetration and survival of pathogenic bacteria in marine ecosystems. These microorganisms have interspecific competitive interactions with marine bacteria. Co-culture, as an important research strategy that mimics the natural environment of bacteria, can activate silent genes or clusters through interspecies interactions. The authors used modern biotechnology of co-cultivation to dynamically study intercellular interactions between different taxa of bacteria&mdash;pathogenic enterobacteria Yersinia pseudotuberculosis and Listeria monocytogenes and saprotrophic marine bacteria Bacillus sp. and Pseudomonas japonica isolated in summer from the coastal waters of the recreational areas of the Sea of Japan. The results of the experiments showed that during the formation of polycultural biofilms, horizontal transfer of genes encoding some pathogenicity factors from Y. pseudotuberculosis and L. monocytogenes to marine saprotrophic bacteria with different secretion systems is possible. It was previously thought that this was largely prevented by the type VI secretion system (T6SS) found in marine saprotrophic bacteria. The authors showed for the first time the ability of marine bacteria Bacillus sp. and P. japonica to biofilm formation with pathogenic enterobacteria Y. pseudotuberculosis and L. monocytogenes, saprophytic bacteria with type III secretion system (T3SS). For the first time, a marine saprotrophic strain of Bacillus sp. Revealed manifestations of hyaluronidase, proteolytic and hemolytic activity after cultivation in a polycultural biofilm with listeria. Saprotrophic marine bacteria that have acquired virulence factors from pathogenic enterobacteria, including antibiotic resistance genes, could potentially play a role in altering the biological properties of other members of the marine microbial community. In addition, given the possible interdomain nature of intercellular gene translocation, acquired virulence factors can be transferred to marine unicellular and multicellular eukaryotes. The results obtained contribute to the paradigm of the epidemiological significance and potential danger of anthropogenic pollution of marine ecosystems, which creates serious problems for public health and the development of marine culture as an important area of economic activity in coastal regions

High Pressure Investigation of the S–N2 System up to the Megabar Range: Synthesis and Characterization of the SN2 Solid

Sulfur and nitrogen represent one of the most studied inorganic binary systems at ambient pressure on account of their large wealth of metastable exotic ring-like compounds. Under high pressure conditions, however, their behavior is unknown. Here, sulfur and nitrogen were compressed in a diamond anvil cell up to about 120 GPa and laser-heated at regular pressure intervals in an attempt to stabilize novel sulfur–nitrogen compounds. Above 64 GPa, an orthorhombic (space group Pnnm) SN2 compound was synthesized and characterized by single-crystal and powder X-ray diffraction as well as Raman spectroscopy. It is shown to adopt a CaCl2-type structure—hence it is isostructural, isomassic, and isoelectronic to CaCl2-type SiO2—comprised of SN6 octahedra. Complementary theoretical calculations were performed to provide further insight into the physicochemical properties of SN2, notably its equation of state, the bonding type between its constitutive elements, and its electronic density of states. This new solid is shown to be metastable down to about 20 GPa, after which it spontaneously decomposes into S and N2. This investigation shows that despite the many metastable S–N compounds existing at ambient conditions, none of them are formed by pressure

Electronic and optical properties of crystalline nitrogen versus black phosphorus: A comparative first-principles study

Crystalline black nitrogen (BN) is an allotrope of nitrogen with the black phosphorus (BP) structure recently synthesized at high pressure by two independent research groups [Ji et al., Sci. Adv. 6, eaba9206 (2020); Laniel et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 124, 216001 (2020)]. Here, we present a systematic study of the electronic and optical properties of BN focusing on its comparison with BP. To this end, we use the state-of-the-art quasiparticle self-consistent $GW$ approach with vertex corrections in both the electronic and optical channels. Despite many similarities, the properties of BN are found to be considerably different. Unlike BP, BN exhibits a larger optical gap (2.5 vs 0.26 eV), making BN transparent in the visible spectral region with a highly anisotropic optical response. This difference can be primarily attributed to a considerably reduced dielectric screening in BN, leading to enhancement of the effective Coulomb interaction. Despite relatively strong Coulomb interaction, exciton formation is largely suppressed in both materials. Our analysis of the elastic properties shows exceptionally high stiffness of BN, comparable to that of diamond.Comment: Final version; 10 pages, 9 figures, 6 table

Stabilization of Polynitrogen Anions in Tantalum-Nitrogen Compounds at High Pressure

The synthesis of polynitrogen compounds is of great importance due to their potential as high-energy-density materials (HEDM), but because of the intrinsic instability of these compounds, their synthesis and stabilization is a fundamental challenge. Polymeric nitrogen units which may be stabilized in compounds with metals at high pressure are now restricted to non-branched chains with an average N-N bond order of 1.25, limiting their HEDM performances. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of a novel polynitrogen compound TaN5 via a direct reaction between tantalum and nitrogen in a diamond anvil cell at circa 100 GPa. TaN5 is the first example of a material containing branched all-single-bonded nitrogen chains [N-5(5-)](infinity). Apart from that we discover two novel Ta-N compounds: TaN4 with finite N-4(4-) chains and the incommensurately modulated compound TaN2-x, which is recoverable at ambient conditions.Funding Agencies|Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation [K2-2020-026]; SFO in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [200900971]; DOE Office of ScienceUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-AC02-06CH11357]; National Science Foundation - Earth SciencesNational Science Foundation (NSF) [EAR-1634415]; Department of Energy, GeosciencesUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-FG02-94ER14466]</p

Stabilization of Polynitrogen Anions in Tantalum–Nitrogen Compounds at High Pressure

The synthesis of polynitrogen compounds is of great importance due to their potential as high-energy-density materials (HEDM), but because of the intrinsic instability of these compounds, their synthesis and stabilization is a fundamental challenge. Polymeric nitrogen units which may be stabilized in compounds with metals at high pressure are now restricted to non-branched chains with an average N-N bond order of 1.25, limiting their HEDM performances. Herein, we demonstrate the synthesis of a novel polynitrogen compound TaN5 via a direct reaction between tantalum and nitrogen in a diamond anvil cell at circa 100 GPa. TaN5 is the first example of a material containing branched all-single-bonded nitrogen chains [N-5(5-)](infinity). Apart from that we discover two novel Ta-N compounds: TaN4 with finite N-4(4-) chains and the incommensurately modulated compound TaN2-x, which is recoverable at ambient conditions.Funding Agencies|Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation [K2-2020-026]; SFO in Materials Science on Functional Materials at Linkoping University (Faculty Grant SFO-Mat-LiU) [200900971]; DOE Office of ScienceUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-AC02-06CH11357]; National Science Foundation - Earth SciencesNational Science Foundation (NSF) [EAR-1634415]; Department of Energy, GeosciencesUnited States Department of Energy (DOE) [DE-FG02-94ER14466]</p