A Study on the Curriculum Setting and Characteristics of the Undergraduate Philosophy Major at Oxford University

The philosophy faculty at Oxford University is ancient and stately, with profound cultural background and a good tradition of philosophical concept of education and training target, which influences the philosophical education in Britain and even in the whole world. By cultivating the students’ ability of reading, logical thinking and critical thinking, it encourages students to correctly understand the world and use the knowledge effectively to solve various practical problems. This article tries to sort out the development of undergraduates’ education of philosophy at Oxford University, to analyze the curriculum setting of philosophy in the latest ten years, and to summarize the characteristics of philosophy education

Dynamics characteristics of a rotary table motorized spindle with externally pressurized air bearings

The face grinding process depends on high-precision rotary table spindle with a large axial load capacity. This paper develops an ultra-precision rotary table spindle with externally pressurized air bearings consisting of a double-pad thrust bearing and a journal bearing; a vacuum clamp system is designed to locate and hold the workpiece. The dynamic model for the rotor-bearing system has been established by using the Reynolds equation and the rigid-body dynamic theory considering five degrees of freedom (DOF). The effects of static and dynamic behaviors of the spindle with the bearing’s key parameters are analyzed systematically. Finally, an experiment study is conducted to verify the theoretical model

Research on parameter identification of nonlinear friction on cantilever beam

Free section friction on cantilever beam is the object in this paper. Practical experiment and virtual simulation are combined to gain understanding of the whole mechanical system. The classical Tustin model cannot provide perfect description of the actual friction process. Friction compensation model 1 is established through introducing time-varying compensation into the classical Tustin model based on the classical friction model and the theory of Fourier transform. A modified genetic algorithm is proposed by introducing self-adaptive strategy. The parameter identification based on the time-varying friction compensation model is performed by using the modified genetic algorithm. Friction compensation model 2 is established by introducing the improved time-varying compensation strategies which are more in line with the friction process. The numerical results demonstrate the high iterative search capability and computation efficiency of friction compensation model 2

Effect of Al alloying on cavitation erosion behavior of TaSi2 nanocrystalline coatings

To broaden the scope of non-aerospace applications for titanium-based alloys, both hexagonal C40 binary TaSi2 and ternary Al alloyed TaSi2 nanocrystalline coatings were exploited to enhance the cavitation erosion resistance of Ti-6Al-4V alloy in acidic environments. To begin with, the roles of Al addition in influencing the structural stability and mechanical properties of hexagonal C40 Ta(Si1-xAlx)2 compounds were modelled using first-principles calculations. The calculated key parameters, such as Pugh\u27s index (B/G ratio), Poisson\u27s ratio, and Cauchy pressures, indicated that there was a threshold value for Al addition, below which the increase of Al content would render the Ta(Si1-xAlx)2 compounds more ductile, but above which no obvious change would occur. Subsequently, the TaSi2 and Ta(Si0.875Al0.125)2 coatings were prepared and their microstructure and phase composition were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Both the two coatings exhibited a uniform thickness of 15 μm and a densely packed structure mainly composed of spherically shaped nanocrystallites with an average diameter of about 5 nm. Nanoindentation measurements revealed that Al alloying reduced the hardness (H) and elastic modulus (E) values of the TaSi2 coating. Ultrasonic cavitation erosion tests were carried out by immersing coated and uncoated samples in a 0.5 M HCl solution. The cavitation-erosion analysis of the tested samples was investigated by various electrochemical techniques, mass loss weight and SEM observation. The results suggested that both coated samples provided a better protection for Ti-6Al-4V against the cavitation-erosion damage in acidic environments, but the addition of Al further improved the cavitation-erosion resistance of the TaSi2 coating

Effects of fertilizer application schemes and soil environmental factors on nitrous oxide emission fluxes in a rice-wheat cropping system, east China

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is a potent greenhouse gas (GHG) with agricultural soils representing its largest anthropogenic source. However, the mechanisms involved in the N2O emission and factors affecting N2O emission fluxes in response to various nitrogenous fertilizer applications remain uncertain. We conducted a four-year (2012–2015) field experiment to assess how fertilization scheme impacts N2O emissions from a rice-wheat cropping system in eastern China. The fertilizer treatments included Control (CK), Conventional fertilizer (CF), CF with shallow-irrigation (CF+SI), CF with deep-irrigation system (CF+DI), Optimized fertilizer (OF), OF with Urease inhibitor (OF+UI), OF with conservation tillage (OF+CT) and Slow-release fertilizer (SRF). N2O emissions were measured by a closed static chamber method. N2O emission fluxes ranged from 0.61 μg m-2 h-1 to 1707 μg m-2 h-1, indicating a significant impact of nitrogen fertilizer and cropping type on N2O emissions. The highest crop yields for wheat (3515–3667 kg ha-1) and rice (8633–8990 kg ha-1) were observed under the SRF and OF+UI treatments with significant reduction in N2O emissions by 16.94–21.20% and 5.55–7.93%, respectively. Our findings suggest that the SRF and OF+UI treatments can be effective in achieving maximum crop yield and lowering N2O emissions for the rice-wheat cropping system in eastern China

Revealing the two-dimensional electronic structure and anisotropic superconductivity in a natural van der Waals superlattice (PbSe)1.14_{1.14}NbSe2_2

Van der Waals superlattices are important for tailoring the electronic structures and properties of layered materials. Here we report the superconducting properties and electronic structure of a natural van der Waals superlattice (PbSe)$_{1.14}$NbSe$_2$. Anisotropic superconductivity with a transition temperature $T_c$ = 5.6 $\pm$ 0.1 K, which is higher than monolayer NbSe$_2$, is revealed by transport measurements on high-quality samples. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) measurements reveal the two-dimensional electronic structure and a charge transfer of 0.43 electrons per NbSe$_2$ unit cell from the blocking PbSe layer. In addition, polarization-dependent ARPES measurements reveal a significant circular dichroism with opposite contrast at K and K' valleys, suggesting a significant spin-orbital coupling and distinct orbital angular momentum. Our work suggests natural van der Waals superlattice as an effective pathway for achieving intriguing properties distinct from both the bulk and monolayer samples.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figure