Pressure effects on shear deformation of borosilicate glasses

The shear behaviors of two multicomponent borosilicate glasses, Borofloat®33 (Boro33) and N-BK7® (N-BK7), under different pressures are investigated using molecular dynamics simulations. The addition of alkali ions lowers the yield stress and changes the pressure dependence of shear modulus. Shear-induced densification is observed in both glasses. It is found that the decreases of the oxygen-centered bond angle and the coordination number change of B are responsible for the density changes at low pressures, and the increase of 5-coordinated Si is the dominant mechanism for densification at high pressures. The average shear stresses experienced by Si and B decrease with pressure except that the flow stress of Si at the end of shear deformation in N-BK7. Moreover, the average shear stress of B is more sensitive to the applied pressures compared to Si, suggesting that B is able to relax mechanical stress more easily under pressurized-shear. By analyzing the nonaffine displacement of atoms, it is found that N-BK7 exhibits more localized plastic deformation compared to Boro33 at low pressures and the local rearrangements in both glasses become more homogeneous with increasing pressure. The mean squared nonaffine displacement curves show that alkali ions have the highest mobility induced by shear compared to the network formers and B is more mobile than Si for both glasses. We also observed that plastic deformation tends to take place around boron atoms for Boro33, whereas it occurs in the alkali-rich regions for N-BK7, indicating that these two glasses have different atomic-scale deformation mechanisms.     

Piezoelectric glass-ceramics: Crystal chemistry,orientation mechanisms,and emerging applications

Piezoelectric materials have coupled mechanical and electrical energies and have long been used in devices for actuators, sensors, energy harvesters, frequency filters, and various additional applications. Piezoelectricity requires a non-centrosymmetric crystal structure and is therefore confined to materials that possess a periodic crystalline structure. Due to the non-crystalline nature of glass, piezoelectricity is fundamentally forbidden. However, one way to exploit piezoelectric properties in a glassy matrix is by developing glass-ceramics that possess controlled growth of a crystalline phase. Growth and orientation of piezoelectric crystals in a glassy matrix is a non-trivial process that has long been explored to combine the formability of glass with the thermal and mechanical resilience of glass-ceramics. While extensive work has been done in the field of functional glass-ceramics, the results are presented in isolated articles and a comprehensive review pertaining to symmetry breaking methods to exploit anisotropic properties in glass-ceramics has been absent from the literature. Here, we present a global review of the fundamental symmetry requirements for piezoelectricity, the development of polar, piezoelectric glass-ceramic compositions (specifically those with LiNbO₃ and fresnoite-based crystal phases), and various crystal growth and orientation mechanisms, including relevant kinetic and thermodynamic driving forces. Lastly, we discuss the challenges associated with implementing gradients to drive oriented crystal growth to develop non-centrosymmetry, and the need for future modeling work to produce adequate time-temperature-transformation (TTT) diagrams that take into account kinetic and thermodynamic driving forces for oriented crystal growth. Going beyond technical challenges, we conclude with an examination of current and potential applications for piezoelectric glass-ceramics that combine the formability of glass with the symmetry-dependent properties of ceramics.     

Atomic-scale mechanisms of densification in cold-compressed borosilicate glasses

Knowledge of the underlying structural response during deformation processes is essential for understanding the macroscopic mechanical response of glass. Here we present results from cold compression-decompression molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of two multicomponent borosilicate glasses, Borofloat^®33 (Boro33) and N-BK7^® (N-BK7). Our results suggest that the densification of these two borosilicate glasses involves different types of structural changes. The fraction of permanent densification can be correlated to the change in intermediate-range structure. By performing Voronoi analysis, we quantify the contributions to densification from different cation types in these two multicomponent borosilicate glasses, finding that 3-coordinated cations facilitate the densification process. Higher-coordinated cations are relatively stable and can even show a slight expansion in their Voronoi volume.     

Effects of acid leaching treatment of soda-lime silicate glass on crack initiation and fracture

Water or acid soaking surface treatments have been shown to increase the mechanical strength of soda-lime silicate (SLS) glasses. This increase in strength has traditionally been attributed to effects related to residual stress or changes in fracture resistance. In this work, we report experimental data that cannot be explained based on the existing knowledge of glass surface mechanics. In dry environments, annealed and acid-leached SLS surfaces have comparable crack initiation stress and fracture stress as measured by Hertzian indentation and biaxial bending tests, respectively. Yet, in the presence of humidity, acid-leached surfaces have higher failure stress than the annealed surfaces. This apparent enhancement in the crack resistance of the acid-leached surface of SLS glass in humid environments supports the hypothesis that acid-leached surface chemistry can lower the transport kinetics of molecular water to critical flaws.     

Portfolio approaches for constraint optimization problems

Within the Constraint Satisfaction Problems (CSP) context, a methodology that has proven to be particularly performant consists of using a portfolio of different constraint solvers. Nevertheless, comparatively few studies and investigations have been done in the world of Constraint Optimization Problems (COP). In this work, we provide a generalization to COP as well as an empirical evaluation of different state of the art existing CSP portfolio approaches properly adapted to deal with COP. The results obtained by measuring several evaluation metrics confirm the effectiveness of portfolios even in the optimization field, and could give rise to some interesting future research.     

The Influence of the Internet on European Journalism

This study investigates how European journalists evaluate the changes that have occurred in their profession since the Internet has been integrated in newsrooms. How do journalists perceive the features and innovations associated with the Internet? What are the principal changes in the profession? Do practitioners believe that the quality of journalism has been raised or lowered? To answer to these research questions, we carried out a survey across 11 European countries–Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, United Kingdom, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden–of 239 journalists, working for 40 of the most‐read print/online news outlets in these countries. The survey shows that the opportunity to use the Internet to reinforce the social functions of journalism has not been fully recognised.     

New results in 2D optimal control theory

The infinite horizon optimal control problem is solved for 2D systems described by the Fornasini-Marchesini model. An ₂-approach permits us to reduce the optimal control problem to a norm minimization one in Hilbert spaces. Both necessary and sufficient conditions for solvability and the structure of the solution are established. Moreover, a comparison with known results is presented, and the singularities of the 2D Riccati equation are examined in order to characterize suboptimal control laws that apply whenever the solvability conditions are not satisfied.     

Interpretation time of serial chest CT examinations with stacked-metaphor workstation versus film alternator

PURPOSE: Interpretation time of serial staging chest CT cases, which each contained current and previous examinations, with a simple prototype workstation called filmstack was experimentally compared with interpretation time with a film alternator. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The filmstack displayed a "stack" of sections for each examination; user controls allowed rapid selection of preset attenuation windows and both synchronized and unsynchronized scrolling. Eight radiologists were timed as they used the filmstack and the film alternator to interpret four ergonomically complex serial CT cases. RESULTS: All reports dictated on the basis of findings with filmstack and film were of acceptable clinical accuracy. The time to examine a case with filmstack was significantly faster than the time with film, including the time to load and unload the alternator (99% confidence [P = .01]). There was no statistically significant difference in interpretation time between filmstack and prehung film. CONCLUSION: Use of a low-cost stacked CT workstation with a single 1,024 x 1,024 monitor is an effective means of interpreting cases that require comparison of multiple CT examinations.     

Tracking social provenance in chains of retweets

Knowledge and Information Systems - In the era of massive sharing of information, the term social provenance is used to denote the ownership, source or origin of a piece of information which has...     

Travel time models for deep-lane unit-load autonomous vehicle storage and retrieval system (AVS/RS)

Autonomous vehicle storage and retrieval systems use vehicles that move horizontally along rails within the storage racks, while vertical movements are provided by lifts. The solution proposed in this paper addresses a particular system configuration that works with multiple deep storage lanes that are widely used in the food and beverage industry, characterised by large volumes of products of limited variety. The generic deep lane is single item, i.e. one stock keeping unit, and single batch, i.e. one production lot, thereby affecting the performance of the system in terms of storage capacity utilisation and throughput. Determining the number and depth of the lanes is crucial to aid the design and control of such a storage system. The aim of this paper was to support the design of AVS/RSs though a set of original analytic models for the determination of the travelled distance and time for single-command and dual-command cycles given alternative layout configurations. The models are validated by simulation and exemplified with a real-warehousing case study. The paper presents useful guidelines for the configuration of the system layout including the determination of the optimal shape ratio and the length of the lanes.