NANOTECHNOLOGY APPLICATION IN COMPOSITE REBAR PRODUCTION

The paper deals with the influence of metal/carbon nanocomposite additives on the physical properties of composite polymer reinforcement samples. Novel methods of composite rebar production have been suggested and tested. The overall positive effect of polymer composite material modification by selected additives has been found and analyzed

STRUCTURE AND MECHANICAL PROPERTIES OF POLYMERIC COMPOSITES WITH CARBON NANOTUBES

Experimental investigations of single-wall carbon nanotubes (CNT) effect on the mechanical properties of polymeric composite materials based on epoxy matrix have been carried out. It has been found that addition of CNT at low concentration dramatically increases tensile strength (20 – 30 per cent growth) and Young’s modulus of the samples under study. Structure of polymeric composites with CNT was characterized by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). AFM images of the samples under study confirm strong interaction between polymeric matrix and nano-additives, demonstrating intimate contact between CNT and epoxy surroundings which is of great importance for composite material reinforcement. Dependences of tensile strength and those of Young’s modulus on CNT concentration are discussed using micromechanics models for nanocomposites

EFFECT OF CARBON NANOTUBES ON THE ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF THE POLYMERIC COMPOSITES

Experimental study of single-wall carbon nabotubes (CNT) effect on the electrical properties of polymeric composite materials based on epoxy matrix has been carried out. Direct-current (DC) as well as alternating-current (AC) electrical conductivity of nanocomposites with different CNT concentrations have been investigated in the temperature interval from 293 K to 373 K. Measurements of Seebeck coefficient confirm n-type conductivity of composite with CNTs. Percolation threshold of the composite material under study has been estimated. It has been found that addition of single-wall CNT at low concentration causes hysteresis of current-voltage characteristics and the temperature dependences of electrical conductivity as well as its anisotropy in the samples under study. No noticeable frequency dependence of the AC electrical conductivity has been found in the frequency range from 100 Hz to 300 kHz

Island model with genetic algorithm for solution of crystal structure from X-ray powder diffraction data

In this paper, we consider the problem of the study of polycrystalline substances: restoration of a substance atomic structure by full-profile analysis of powder diffraction data. This task is specific since it is not necessary to find very good solutions on average, but it is necessary to find the best one at least sometimes. To solve this problem, it is proposed to use an evolutionary algorithm based on the cooperative island model. The article describes the main stages and features of the algorithm and notes the qualitative advantages of this model in comparison with other methods (including evolutionary). The description of innovations proposed and the results of computational experiments are given. Conclusions from the experimental results are given, and further prospects for improving the efficiency of this method were noted

Liquid Argon Instrumentation and Monitoring in LEGEND-200

LEGEND is the next-generation experiment searching for the neutrinoless double beta decay in $^{76}$Ge. The first stage, LEGEND-200, takes over the cryogenic infrastructure of GERDA at LNGS: an instrumented water tank surrounding a 64 m$^{3}$ liquid argon cryostat. Around 200 kg of Ge detectors will be deployed in the cryostat, with the liquid argon acting as cooling medium, high-purity passive shielding and secondary detection medium. For the latter purpose, a liquid argon instrumentation is developed, based on the system used in GERDA Phase II. Wavelength shifting fibers coated with TPB are arranged in two concentric barrels. Both ends are read out by SiPM arrays. A wavelength shifting reflector surrounds the array in order to enhance the light collection far from the array. The LLAMA is installed in the cryostat to permanently monitor the optical parameters and to provide in-situ inputs for modeling purposes. The design of all parts of the LEGEND-200 LAr instrumentation is presented. An overview of the geometry, operation principle, and off-line data analysis of the LLAMA is shown

An asymptotic model in acoustics : acoustic drift equations

A rigorous asymptotic procedure with the Mach number as a small parameter is used to derive the equations of mean flows which coexist and are affected by the background acoustic waves in the limit of very high Reynolds number

Axial tubule junctions control rapid calcium signaling in atria.

The canonical atrial myocyte (AM) is characterized by sparse transverse tubule (TT) invaginations and slow intracellular Ca2+ propagation but exhibits rapid contractile activation that is susceptible to loss of function during hypertrophic remodeling. Here, we have identified a membrane structure and Ca2+-signaling complex that may enhance the speed of atrial contraction independently of phospholamban regulation. This axial couplon was observed in human and mouse atria and is composed of voluminous axial tubules (ATs) with extensive junctions to the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) that include ryanodine receptor 2 (RyR2) clusters. In mouse AM, AT structures triggered Ca2+ release from the SR approximately 2 times faster at the AM center than at the surface. Rapid Ca2+ release correlated with colocalization of highly phosphorylated RyR2 clusters at AT-SR junctions and earlier, more rapid shortening of central sarcomeres. In contrast, mice expressing phosphorylation-incompetent RyR2 displayed depressed AM sarcomere shortening and reduced in vivo atrial contractile function. Moreover, left atrial hypertrophy led to AT proliferation, with a marked increase in the highly phosphorylated RyR2-pS2808 cluster fraction, thereby maintaining cytosolic Ca2+ signaling despite decreases in RyR2 cluster density and RyR2 protein expression. AT couplon "super-hubs" thus underlie faster excitation-contraction coupling in health as well as hypertrophic compensatory adaptation and represent a structural and metabolic mechanism that may contribute to contractile dysfunction and arrhythmias

Effects of frozen soil on soil temperature, spring infiltration, and runoff: results from the PILPS 2(d) experiment at Valdai, Russia

Permission to place copies of these works on this server has been provided by the American Meteorological Society (AMS). The AMS does not guarantee that the copies provided here are accurate copies of the published work. © Copyright 2003 American Meteorological Society (AMS). Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from this work in scientific and educational works is hereby granted provided that the source is acknowledged. Any use of material in this work that is determined to be “fair use” under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act or that satisfies the conditions specified in Section 108 of the U.S. Copyright Act (17 USC §108, as revised by P.L. 94-553) does not require the AMS’s permission. Republication, systematic reproduction, posting in electronic form on servers, or other uses of this material, except as exempted by the above statement, requires written permission or a license from the AMS. Additional details are provided in the AMS Copyright Policy, available on the AMS Web site located at (http://www.ametsoc.org/AMS) or from the AMS at 617-227-2425 or [email protected] Project for Intercomparison of Land-Surface Parameterization Schemes phase 2(d) experiment at Valdai, Russia, offers a unique opportunity to evaluate land surface schemes, especially snow and frozen soil parameterizations. Here, the ability of the 21 schemes that participated in the experiment to correctly simulate the thermal and hydrological properties of the soil on several different timescales was examined. Using observed vertical profiles of soil temperature and soil moisture, the impact of frozen soil schemes in the land surface models on the soil temperature and soil moisture simulations was evaluated. It was found that when soil-water freezing is explicitly included in a model, it improves the simulation of soil temperature and its variability at seasonal and interannual scales. Although change of thermal conductivity of the soil also affects soil temperature simulation, this effect is rather weak. The impact of frozen soil on soil moisture is inconclusive in this experiment due to the particular climate at Valdai, where the top 1 m of soil is very close to saturation during winter and the range for soil moisture changes at the time of snowmelt is very limited. The results also imply that inclusion of explicit snow processes in the models would contribute to substantially improved simulations. More sophisticated snow models based on snow physics tend to produce better snow simulations, especially of snow ablation. Hysteresis of snow-cover fraction as a function of snow depth is observed at the catchment but not in any of the models

Effects of Frozen Soil on Soil Temperature, Spring Infiltration, and Runoff: Results from the PILPS 2(d) Experiment at Valdai, Russia

The Project for Intercomparison of Land-Surface Parameterization Schemes phase 2(d) experiment at Valdai, Russia, offers a unique opportunity to evaluate land surface schemes, especially snow and frozen soil parameterizations. Here, the ability of the 21 schemes that participated in the experiment to correctly simulate the thermal and hydrological properties of the soil on several different timescales was examined. Using observed vertical profiles of soil temperature and soil moisture, the impact of frozen soil schemes in the land surface models on the soil temperature and soil moisture simulations was evaluated. It was found that when soil-water freezing is explicitly included in a model, it improves the simulation of soil temperature and its variability at seasonal and interannual scales. Although change of thermal conductivity of the soil also affects soil temperature simulation, this effect is rather weak. The impact of frozen soil on soil moisture is inconclusive in this experiment due to the particular climate at Valdai, where the top 1 m of soil is very close to saturation during winter and the range for soil moisture changes at the time of snowmelt is very limited. The results also imply that inclusion of explicit snow processes in the models would contribute to substantially improved simulations. More sophisticated snow models based on snow physics tend to produce better snow simulations, especially of snow ablation. Hysteresis of snow-cover fraction as a function of snow depth is observed at the catchment but not in any of the models