The effect of temper carbon nodule number on the physical properties of a malleable iron

It is known that the number of temper carbon nodules per unit volume of malleable iron has an effect on both the rate of anneal and on the resulting physical properties, but neither have been clearly worked out quantitatively. The purpose of this investigation is to ascertain the effect of temper carbon nodule number on certain of the physical properties of a commercial malleable iron. Quantitative determinations of the effect of temper carbon nodule number would be essential from a theoretical viewpoint in working out the mechanism of graphtization, and would be useful in commercial practice in showing the most desirable nodule count and matrix structure to have in order to produce optimum mechanical and physical properties. The metallurgical potentialities of malleable iron will not be fully realized until the graphite formation during the annealing cycle and the resulting physical properties due to this formation are fully understood and controlled --Introduction, page 1

Ferrite measurement in austenitic and duplex stainless steel castings

Practical and accurate non-destructive means for the measurement of the ferrite content of duplex stainless steel castings is a necessity from the specification and service performance consideration standpoints. The ability to determine ferrite rapidly,accurately and directly on a finished casting, in the solution annealed condition, can enhance the acceptance, save on manufacturing costs and ultimately improve service performance of duplex stainless steel cast products. If the suitability of a non-destructive ferrite determination methodology can be demonstrated for standard industrial measurement instruments, the production of cast secondary standards for calibration of these instruments is a necessity. With these concepts in mind, a series of experiments were carried out to demonstrate, in a non-destructive manner, the proper methodology for determining ferrite content. The literature was reviewed, with regard to measurement techniques and vagaries, an industrial ferrite measurement round-robin was conducted,the effects of casting surface finish, preparation of the casting surface for accurate measurement and the evaluation of suitable means for the production of cast secondary standards for calibration were systematically investigated.It was found that surface finish effects can induce significant differences in measured ferrite content. Several finishes were identified, which when applied(Feritscope® method), resulted in a significant decrease in measured ferrite content on anomaly 74 FN sample (\u3e 10 FN and well outside the 2σ variation of ± 0.5) defined fora polished surface.An interlaboratory round-robin test series revealed that cast secondary calibration standards can be produced from castings. It was found that for both Magne Gage and Feritscope®, the repeatability ferrite measurement of centrifugal castings surpassed that of statically cast materials. Reproducibility was also unaffected by ferrite measurement technique.Additional characterization of ferrite content, as a function of depth below a cast surface, revealed that the ferrite content immediately below a cast surface is not indicative of the bulk casting. At least 0.125 of material must be removed to ensure that the measured ferrite content is representative of the bulk casting. Analysis of operatorand instrument error, for the Feritscope® showed that error induced by the operator exceeds that of the instrument alone.Additional tests characterized the Feritscope® by establishing its probe interaction volume (0.050 ). Considering instrument repeatability and reproducibility,the Feritscope® was clearly identified as the superior instrument for ferrite measurement.The data obtained from this research program provides recommendations to ensure accurate, repeatable and reproducible ferrite measurement and qualifies the Feritscope® for field use on production castings

Collective excitations of atomic Bose-Einstein condensates

We apply linear-response analysis of the Gross-Pitaevskii equation to obtain the excitation frequencies of a Bose-Einstein condensate confined in a time-averaged orbiting potential trap. Our calculated values are in excellent agreement with those observed in a recent experiment.Comment: 11 pages, 2 Postscript figures, uses psbox.tex for automatic figure inclusion. More info at http://amo.phy.gasou.edu/bec.htm

Moisture - Gravity Wave Interactions in a Multiscale Environment

Starting from the conservation laws for mass, momentum and energy together with a three species, bulk microphysic model, a model for the interaction of internal gravity waves and deep convective hot towers is derived by using multiscale asymptotic techniques. From the resulting leading order equations, a closed model is obtained by applying weighted averages to the smallscale hot towers without requiring further closure approximations. The resulting model is an extension of the linear, anelastic equations, into which moisture enters as the area fraction of saturated regions on the microscale with two way coupling between the large and small scale. Moisture reduces the effective stability in the model and defines a potential temperature sourceterm related to the net effect of latent heat release or consumption by microscale up- and downdrafts. The dispersion relation and group velocity of the system is analyzed and moisture is found to have several effects: It reduces energy transport by waves, increases the vertical wavenumber but decreases the slope at which wave packets travel and it introduces a lower horizontal cutoff wavenumber, below which modes turn into evanescent. Further, moisture can cause critical layers. Numerical examples for steady-state and time-dependent mountain waves are shown and the effects of moisture on these waves are investigated

Holistic Data Centres: Next Generation Data and Thermal Energy Infrastructures

Digital infrastructure is becoming more distributed and requiring more power for operation. At the same time, many countries are working to de-carbonise their energy, which will require electrical generation of heat for populated areas. What if this heat generation was combined with digital processing

Spatiotemporal changes to low flow and catchment storage following a step change rainfall decline in Southwest Western Australia

Understanding how summer low flows in a Mediterranean climate are influenced by climate and land use is critical for managing both water resources and in-stream ecohydrological health. The Eucalyptus forest ecosystems of southwestern Australia are experiencing a drying and warming climate, with a regional step decline in rainfall in the mid-1970s. Reductions in catchment water storage may be exacerbated by the deep rooting habit of key overstorey species (>30 m has been reported), which can buffer against drought during dry years. Root exploitation of deep soil moisture reserves and/or groundwater can accelerate the long term decline in summer low flows, with a trend towards more ephemeral flow regimes. In contrast, conversion of forests to agricultural land in some catchments can lead to counter-trends of increased low flows due to a rise in groundwater pressure. These are invariably associated with an increase in stream salinity as regolith stores of salt are mobilized. There has also been extennsive reforestation of farmland in some catchments. In this study we perform a detailed analysis of changes to annual summer seven day low flow trends in perennial catchments and flow duration curves in ephemeral catchments across 39 catchments in south-western Australia that have long term records of runoff, rainfall and land cover. Results showed that 15% of catchments exhibited increased low flows and 85% decreased flows or decreased flow days since the 1970s. Significant downward step changes in low flows were observed in 17 catchments (44%). The earliest downward step changes occurred in three catchments between 1981-82 (a lag of one decade after the rainfall decline), with the most recent step changes for five catchments occurring in 2001-2004 (three decades after rainfall decline). Eleven catchments were already ephemeral in the 1970s, but exhibited continued declines in the number of annual flow days over subsequent decades. Step changes occur when groundwater becomes disconnected or reconnected to the stream invert, with disconnection associated with rainfall decline and vegetative water use. The statistical methods we used in this study can be applied to any catchment in order to aid land and water managers assess the impact of climate change and land cover manipulation on low flow response

Modulation of Variation by Response-Reward Spatial Proximity

There has been a recent surge in the experimental investigation of the control of behavioral variability. Currently, it is understood that variability in behavior is predictably modulated by reinforcement parameters (e.g., a probability of reward delivery and reward magnitude). In two experiments, we investigated how spatial proximity between response and reward locations impacts the production of behavioral variability in both response rate and lever press duration. Rats were trained to lever press on two levers in a standard operant chamber that only differed from one another in their proximity to a food niche (i.e., Near vs. Far); a second experimental factor, the probability of reward, was signaled by an auditory cue. In Experiment 1, trials with a high-probability stimulus terminated with reward on 100% of trials, while trials with a low-probability stimulus terminated with reward 25% of the time. We used a similar procedure in Experiment 2, but reduced the likelihood of reward on low-probability trials to 10% and collected data in a post-acquisition extinction test. Overall, proximity and probability were inversely related to variation of response rate, whereas only the probability factor affected variation in lever press duration. Proximity also interacted with probability to influence variation in response rate. These findings extend the factors modulating behavioral variability to include the spatial proximity between a response and reward

Relations of low contrast visual acuity, quality of life and multiple sclerosis functional composite: a cross-sectional analysis

Background: Although common and often disabling in multiple sclerosis (MS), visual dysfunction is currently not adequately accounted for in both clinical routine and MS trials. Sloan low contrast letter acuity (SLCLA) is a standardised chart-based measure of visual function particular at low contrast and has been suggested as additional visual component to the Multiple Sclerosis Functional Composite (MSFC). Here, we evaluate the relations between SLCLA, retinal integrity, MSFC, and quality of life (QoL) in MS patients. Methods: Cross-sectional analysis of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness, MSFC, SLCLA (2.5% and 1.25% contrast levels), visual evoked potentials, and QoL (Short Form (SF) 36, National Eye Institute Visual Functioning Questionnaire (NEIVFQ)) using baseline data of 92 MS patients from an ongoing prospective longitudinal trial. Relations between RNFL thickness or P100 latency and SLCLA were analysed using generalised estimating equations (GEE) accounting for intra-individual inter-eye dependencies and corrected for age, gender, and history of optic neuritis. Pearson’s correlations were used to assess relations between SLCLA, MSFC, and QoL. Results: SLCLA reflected RNFL thickness (p = 0.021) and P100 latency (p = 0.004) and predicted vision-related QoL, reflected by the NEIVFQ39 subscores “general vision” and “near activities” (p < 0.008 for both). SLCLA did not predict general QoL reflected by SF36. Implementing SLCLA into MSFC, thus creating a four-dimensional MSFC4, captured aspects of disability reflected by the NEIVFQ39 subscores “general vision” (r = 0.42, p < 0.0001) and “near activity” (r = 0.3, p = 0.014) which were not captured by standard MSFC3. Conclusions: SLCLA at 2.5% and 1.25% contrast levels correlates with retinal morphology and P100 latency and predicts some aspects of vision-related QoL in MS. More importantly, using a prospective cross-sectional approach we provide evidence that extending the MSFC by SLCLA as an additional visual component increases the performance of MSFC to capture MS-related disability. Longitudinal data on the relation between SLCLA, MSFC, and QoL will be available in the near future