On the Soft Power of Sci-tech Culture and Paths to Improve It

As the deepening of economic globalization continuously strengthening the development of sci-tech globalization, international competition gradually evolves into the competition between sci-tech, while, the competition of the soft power of culture also turns into the competition of the soft power of sci-tech culture. There are still a lot of problems existing in the development of sci-tech culture. The basic paths of promoting soft power of sci-tech culture are : to formulate an effective sci-tech system, to devote major efforts to developing sci-tech; to enhance the whole level of the power of sci-tech in China; based on traditional culture, to promote the fusion between traditional culture and scientific culture, thus to establish a new cultural system leading by scientific culture; taking the scientific and cultural diffusion as the breakthrough, to strengthen the popularization of science, and to put forth effort to enhance the quality of the whole nationals on sci-tech.Key words: Soft power of sci-tech culture; Path to improve i

Nanograin Formation within Shear Bands in Cold-Rolled Titanium

Microstructure evolution within the shear localization areas in a commercial titanium plate subjected to cold rolling was systematically investigated. A shear band with a width of approximately 25 μm was formed. The microstructure inside the shear band was mainly equiaxed nanograins with an average size of 70 nm. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) observations revealed that the grain refinement inside the shear band was completely via a shear deformation-induced splitting and breakdown twin lamella process, instead of a nucleation and growth of new grains. The shear localization starts with the formation and multiplication of mechanical twins, which leads to the development of a twin/matrix lamellar structure aligned along the shear direction. The twin/matrix lamellae subsequently undergo gradual splitting and transverse breakdown, giving rise to fine elongated subgrains. The continuing lath breakdown, in combination with grain lateral sliding and lattice rotations, ultimately leads to the formation of a mix of roughly equiaxed, nanosized (sub)grains within the center of macroscopic shear band at large strains

Improving Contact Load-Bearing Resistance of Ultrafine- Grained Materials Through Multilayering and Grading

Structural multilayering and grading has been designed to improve the contact load-bearing resistance of ultrafine-grained materials. The contact load-bearing response and surface damage resistance of multilayered hierarchical structured (MHSed) Ti were evaluated by experimental indentation on the overall loading response in conjunction with detailed computational simulations of local stresses and strain distribution. The combination of a hard outer layer, a gradual transition layer and a compliant core results in reduced indentation depth, but a deeper and more diffuse sub-surface plastic deformation zone, compared to the monolithic nanostructured Ti. The macroscopic indentation resistance of MHSed Ti is controlled by the underlying micromechanics of the multilayered hierarchical structure. The finite element analysis (FEA) revealed the multilayered hierarchical structure offers the effective macroscopic mechanical contact loading resistance, where the indenter increasingly “senses” the more compliant core to bear the deformation as the load increases. The structural multilayering modifies the stress and strain redistribution and effectively reduces the maximum stress concentration within the material. The structural grading provide a transitional junction for stress and plastic deformation redistribution and achieve more gradual stress distributions between component layers which mitigates the interface failure, increases the interfacial toughness, thus providing strong resistance to loading damage

Changes in the Content and Allocation of Carbon and Nitrogen during Forage Regrowth

Regrowth after cutting or grazing perennial grasslands sustains the production potential of forage and the persistence of grassland species. The changes in nature, content and allocation of compounds within plant parts are fundamentally correlated to the forage regrowth process (Lambers et al. 2008). These compounds are sourced from reserves and new assimilates. Carbohydrates and proteins stored mainly in the stem base and the root play an important role at the early stages of regrowth (Meuriot et al. 2004). The newly assimilated compounds include carbon from photosynthesis for the residual leaf and stem, and nitrogen absorbed by the roots from which amino acids and proteins will be produced (Dhont et al. 2003). Assimilates change as the forage regrows, playing a key role in the later stages. This mini-review summarises the changes in the content and allocation of carbon and nitrogen after cutting or grazing

Temporal Variations in the Carbon and Nitrogen Ecological Stoichiometry of Lucerne

Ecological stoichiometry has been of great help in research investigating the coupling between plant and environment (Sterner and Elser 2002). It provides some synchronized evidence to explain the response and adaptability of plants to the environment. Carbon and nitrogen ecological stoichiometry (C/N) also embraces the use efficiency of nitrogen in plants. Previous research has focused on the spatial responses of plant C/N to different environmental factors (Yang and Wang 2011). However, there is still insufficient attention on the temporal variation in C/N, in the hope that such effort will help elucidate the mechanisms underlying plant growth/regrowth. Lucerne (Medicago sativa L) has long been globally utilised. It can be cut 3-4 times annually and lasts for many years. The regrowth process in lucerne is of fundamental importance for the continuous utilisation of the forage and the sustainability of lucerne production. In this study, temporal variations in carbon and nitrogen content and C/N were studied in lucerne leaf, stem and root, as part of an effort to clarify the lucerne growth/regrowth mechanisms from the viewpoint of ecological stoichiometry

Are the Hot IPOs Still Relevant? Evidence from China's Growth Enterprise Market

This paper investigates whether the hot IPO effect persists post-IPO in China's Growth Enterprise Market (GEM) based on the dynamic equicorrelation of trading volume and stock returns. We find that the hot IPO effect ends after two years with the imbalance between demand and supply for GEM stock relieved, which indicates that the rational learning process requires almost two years for most investors. Further, we confirm that returns and volumes are positively correlated at the 1% significance level. This result indicates that the fundamental analysis may not apply to the GEM because the information content of trading volume is capable of forecasting stock returns