Effects of solute Nb atoms and Nb precipitates on isothermal transformation kinetics from austenite to ferrite

Nb is a very important micro-alloying element in low-carbon steels, for grain size refinement and precipitation strengthening, and even a low content of Nb can result in a significant effect on phase transformation kinetics from austenite to ferrite. Solute Nb atoms and Nb precipitates may have different effects on transformation behaviors, and these effects have not yet been fully characterized. This paper examines in detail the effects of solute Nb atoms and Nb precipitates on isothermal transformation kinetics from austenite to ferrite. The mechanisms of the effects have been analyzed using various microscopy techniques. Many solute Nb atoms were found to be segregated at the austenite/ferrite interface and apply a solute drag effect. It has been found that solute Nb atoms have a retardation effect on ferrite nucleation rate and ferrite grain growth rate. The particle pinning effect caused by Nb precipitates is much weaker than the solute drag effect

Speech perception assessments New Zealand (SPANZ)

[Extract] Speech audiometry is a fundamental and indispensable part of hearing assessment. The assessment of hearing for speech is inevitably influenced by the familiarity of the speech material to the listener. For the assessment to be valid for our New Zealand (NZ) clients, the content of the speech material must reflect the features of New Zealand English (NZE). A new set of speech recordings, the Speech Perception Assessment New Zealand (SPANZ) has become available to NZ audiologists. SPANZ contains recorded speech materials for 15 speech audiometry assessments that are widely used in NZ and internationally. The speech material has been modified and adapted for use with NZ clients and has also been rerecorded by two native NZE speakers. In this article, we first discuss the distinctive features of NZE, compared to other varieties of English, which influence the familiarity of the recorded speech material for our clients. Readers are directed to Hay, Maclagan, and Gordon (2008) for further discussion of NZE. We then officially introduce SPANZ to the New Zealand Audiological Society

Construction and Categories of Codes

. Blakley and Borosh introduced a general theory of codes, encompassing cryptographic and error control codes among others. They explored the properties of such general codes with methods from relational algebra and set theory. We provide a categorical point of view, which leads to new constructions of codes. We also exhibit a JordanH older type theorem and a Schreier refinement technique. 1 Introduction In the late twentieth century a vast proliferation of codes occurred. Many new cardinalities became common, especially large finite or infinite. Many new arithmetics -- infinite as well as finite -- could be found in the newly introduced arithmetic-based codes. Hilbert spaces are as integral to the theory of quantum error control as Hamming spaces to classical error control. But many new codes arose without arithmetic, amounting to mere codebooks or databases. Codes with no encode process, codes with no decode process, codes which encode every plaintext symbol into billions of di#eren..