Thermal evolution of Fe62.5Co6Ni7.5Zr6Nb2Cu1B15 metallic glass

Thermal evolution of Fe_62.5Co₆Ni_7.5Zr₆Nb₂Cu₁B₁₅ amorphous alloy prepared by one-roll melt-spinning technique was studied by XRD and DTA. The crystallisation process, occurring in several steps, can be summarised as follows: a a + -Fe a + -Fe + -Fe -Fe + -Fe + ZrB₁₂, where a and a are amorphous phases, and a can be indexed as a -Fe (fcc) structure, with a crystalline order on an average distance of 8 Å. The metallic glass demixed on quenching, but component phases tended to mix by exchanging Fe atoms in a temperature range overlapped with the first crystallisation, which yields -Fe nanocrystals (27 Å). Higher temperature exo-peaks correspond mainly to a recrystallisation of the phases formed at lower temperature. It was found that this alloy has nanocrystalline structure also after heating at a well higher temperature than first crystallization. Even after the last exo-peak, the average crystallite size (D) was considerably smaller than that found in the literature for analogous metallic glasses; D values for our alloy were comparable to those of nanocrystalline phases of other systems heat treated below the temperature of exothermal DTA peaks. Extensive oxidation above 600°C, even at a low oxygen content (c _{o 2} 2 ppm), led to a marked modification of the surface layer: two zirconia polymorphs were identified on the surface of the ribbons, and the ratio of -Fe to -Fe content increased with respect to the bulk. Differences in thermal evolution between outer layer and bulk are attributed to a different phase composition and non-uniform distribution since the as-quenched stage.     

Reading the footprints of strained islands

We report on recent advances in the understanding of surface processes occurring during growth and post-growth annealing of strained islands which may find application as self-assembled quantum dots. We investigate the model system SiGe/Si(0 0 1) by a new approach based on “reading the footprints” which islands leave on the substrate during their growth and evolution. Such footprints consist of trenches carved in the Si substrate. We distinguish between surface footprints and footprints buried below the islands. The former allow us to discriminate islands which are in the process of growing from those which are shrinking. Islands with steep morphologies grow at the expense of smaller and shallower islands, consistent with the kinetics of anomalous coarsening. While shrinking, islands change their shape according to thermodynamic predictions. Buried footprints are investigated by removing the SiGe epilayer by means of selective wet chemical etching. Their reading shows that: (i) during post-growth annealing islands move laterally because of surface-mediated Si–Ge intermixing; (ii) a tree-ring structure of trenches is created by dislocated islands during their “cyclic” growth. This allows us to distinguish coherent from dislocated islands and to establish whether the latter are the result of island coalescence.     

Latent Semantic Kernels

Kernel methods like support vector machines have successfully been used for text categorization. A standard choice of kernel function has been the inner product between the vector-space representation of two documents, in analogy with classical information retrieval (IR) approaches.Latent semantic indexing (LSI) has been successfully used for IR purposes as a technique for capturing semantic relations between terms and inserting them into the similarity measure between two documents. One of its main drawbacks, in IR, is its computational cost.In this paper we describe how the LSI approach can be implemented in a kernel-defined feature space.We provide experimental results demonstrating that the approach can significantly improve performance, and that it does not impair it.     

Collaborative learning with the distributed building site metaphor

The authors describe a new approach to interactive and collaborative learning in an industrial training environment. Users learn in the 3D world where multiple instructors can observe, advise, and correct in real time. Our distributed building site metaphor provides distribution services for sharing a virtual world and enables different collaboration styles     

Bayes Nonparametric Estimation of Time-dependent Failure Rate

This paper discusses Bayes nonparametric estimation of time-dependent failure rates. A point and an interval estimate of the quantiles of the failure process are given for both complete and censored samples. The prior degree-of-belief about the failure rate is expressed in the form of a hypothetical sample. A numerical example is discussed.     

Layer‐by‐Layer All‐Inorganic Quantum‐Dot‐Based LEDs: A Simple Procedure with Robust Performance

A novel all‐inorganic electroluminescent device is demonstrated based on highly luminescent CdTe nanocrystals intercalated within a laminar hydrotalcite‐like structure. The laminar scaffold acts to both support and distribute the CdTe nanocrystals. The device is synthesized using simple wet chemical processes at room temperature in ambient conditions. It has high thermal stability, operating continuously up to 90 °C, and a maximum efficiency at J = 0.12 A cm^?2. The device is targeted at the automotive industry.     

Efficient miniature fiber-optic tunable filter based on intracoreBragg grating and electrically resistive coating

An electrically tunable reflection filter based on a platinum-coated single-mode optical fiber that contains an intracore Bragg grating has been demonstrated. The device shows a dc tuning range of 2.15 nm with a corresponding electrical power of 0.54 W. Wavelength modulation (WM) has been observed at frequencies lower than 100 Hz. The wavelength shift depends linearly on the electrical input power. A maximum efficiency of 4.1 nm/W is obtained for dc tuning     

The tensor apparatus in double-orifice mitral valve: interpretation of echocardiographic findings

Carboxylesterases (EC 3.1.1.1) from human liver were purified using Q-Sepharose, Sephadex G-150, isoelectrofocusing and Con A-Sepharose. The calculated molecular mass of the pI 5.3 enzyme was 120 kDa and 61 kDa from the results of Sephadex G-150 gel filtration and SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE), respectively, suggesting that this enzyme is a dimer. On the other hand, carboxylesterase pI 4.5, with a molecular mass of 64 kDa, was a monomer. The activities of both enzymes were inhibited by typical serine enzyme inhibitors. Amino acid sequence analysis of the purified enzymes pI 5.3 and 4.5 showed high homology with rabbit carboxylesterase form 1 and 2, respectively. The results also suggested that carboxylesterase pI 5.3 is identical to the deduced amino acid sequence from cDNA for HU1, and that carboxylesterase pI 4.5 is identical to the deduced amino acid sequence from the cDNA registered as human carboxylesterase (hCE-2) in GenBank. We first purified carboxylesterase pI 4.5 and investigated its hydrolytic activity upon various drugs. The two enzymes differed in substrate specificity. Prodrugs of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors, such as delapril and imidapril, were converted to active metabolites by carboxylesterase pI 5.3, but not by carboxylesterase pI 4.5. The hydrolysis velocity of temocapril by carboxylesterase pI 5.3 was 12-fold faster than by carboxylesterase pI 4.5. In contrast, aspirin, oxybutynin and procaine were hydrolyzed by only carboxylesterase pI 4.5. We also found that an amide-linkage in drugs, except for that in aniracetam, was not a good substrate for the two enzymes. Consequently, carboxylesterases pI 5.3 and 4.5 may be involved in the metabolism of various drugs containing an ester-linkage.