Fast multilevel implementation of recursive spectral bisection for partitioning unstructured problems

If problems involving unstructured meshes are to be solved efficiently on distributed-memory parallel computers, the meshes must be partitioned and distributed across processors in a way that balances the computational load and minimizes communication. The recursive spectral bisection method (RSB) has been shown to be very effective for such partitioning problems compared to alternative methods, but RSB in its simplest form is expensive. Here a multilevel version of RSB is introduced that attains about an order-of-magnitude improvement in run time on typical examples.     

现代过滤器清洁技术必须增加效益和避免环境问题

介绍了Schwing公司用于聚合物纺丝过滤系统组件的清洁工艺和设备,技术要点是采用水解或热解原理,具有增加效益和避免环境问题的优点。     

Acylierung von Heterocyclen mit Kohlensäurederivaten. I. Kinetik und Mechanismus der Reaktion von 2-Aminobenzimidazolen mit Arylcyanaten

Acylation of Heterocycles with Carbonic Acid Derivatives. I. Kinetics and Mechanism of the Reaction of 2-Aminobenzimidazoles with Aryl Cyanates The second order rate constants for the reaction of 2-amino-benzimidazoles (2-ABI) with aryl cyanates forming 2-amino-benzimidazole aryl ester imide 3 have been determined in dependence on substituent effects by u. v. measurements. The results are interpreted by a six-membered cyclic transition state in which the electrophilic attack of the cyanate on the endocyclic N atom is catalyzed by an H bridge interaction of the exocyclic amino group of 2-ABI with the OCN group.     

Effects of Vitamin D3‐Enriched Diet on Egg Yolk Vitamin D3 Content and Yolk Quality

A 40‐wk experiment was conducted using Hy‐Line W‐36 laying hens (19‐wk old) to investigate the impact of feeding cholecalciferol‐enriched diets on egg yolk quality. Feeds were enriched with 4 cholecalciferol levels, 9700 (diet 2), 17200 (diet 3), 24700 (diet 4), and 102200 (diet 5) IU/kg feed. The control (diet 1) contained 2200 IU cholecalciferol/kg feed. Eggs from each replicate group of enriched diets were collected daily and the yolks were pooled into 2‐d period during the first 2 wk. During weeks 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, 20, 24, 28, 32, 36, and 40, pooled samples were generated by daily collection of 3 consecutive days of egg production. The cholecalciferol content of egg yolk from the enriched diets increased rapidly during the first 3 wk. The peak cholecalciferol concentrations in egg yolk that occurred at week 3 were 865, 1641, 2411, and 34815 IU/100 g egg yolk (wet basis) from diet 2 to 5. The average cholecalciferol concentration in yolk during weeks 3 to 40 and the deposition rate of cholecalciferol during the first 3 wk were both linearly increased with the dietary cholecalciferol level when the feed contained no more than 24700 IU/kg cholecalciferol. Egg yolk lipid profile (total lipid content, fatty acid composition, phospholipid composition, and unsaponifiables), physical and functional properties (yolk viscosity and emulsifying property), and sensory quality of hard‐boiled egg yolk were not affected by the cholecalciferol enrichment in the feed. Practical Application: A linear dose‐response relationship between dietary vitamin D₃ level and egg yolk vitamin D₃ content was established at relatively low enrichment levels. Such relationship can be used to formulate feed to achieve a target egg vitamin D level. High vitamin D yolk showed no difference from the conventional yolk in other compositional, functional, and sensory properties.     

Nutrient balance of shifting cultivation by burning or mulching in the Eastern Amazon – evidence for subsoil nutrient accumulation

For over a hundred years shifting cultivation with slash-and-burn land preparation has been the predominant type of land use by smallholders in the Bragantina region of the Brazilian Eastern Amazon. This study contrasts the nutrient balance of slash-and-burn agriculture with a fire-free cultivation. Therefore, one half of a 3.5-year-old (28.7 t DM ha^–1) and a 7-year-old woody fallow vegetation (46.5 t DM ha^–1) was burnt and the other half mulched, leaving the biomass as a surface residue. Subsequently, a sequence of maize, beans and cassava was cropped for 1.5 year. Burning the 3.5- and 7-year-old fallow removed 97 and 94% of the C, 98 and 96% of the N, 90 and 63% of the P-stocks, and between 45 and 70% of the cations K, Mg and Ca of the aboveground biomass by volatilization or ash-particle transfer. These losses were avoided with the slash-and-mulch land preparation. Mulching did not increase the losses of nutrients by leaching, despite the high amount of rapidly decomposing surface mulch. Also the length of preceding fallow had no significant influence on leaching losses. At a depth of 3 m, leached nutrients were quantitatively negligible in both treatments. Comparing the nutrient fluxes at soil depths of 0.9 m, 1.8 m and 3 m, the amounts of all mobile nutrients, and also of chloride and sodium were markedly reduced during percolation and must have been retained. It is likely that nutrient retention in the subsoil layer is only temporary, emphasizing the need for a rapid re-establishment of the naturally deep-rooting secondary vegetation after abandonment of sites to enable uptake of these nutrients. The overall nutrient balance was highly negative for slash-and-burn. 291 and 403 kg N ha^–1, 21 and 18 kg P ha^–1, and 70 and 132 kg K ha^–1 were removed from the burnt plots with a preceding fallow of 3.5 and 7 years, respectively. A reduced fallow period (3.5 years), which is a common trend in the region, resulted in a higher mean annual rate of nutrient loss averaged over the duration of the cycle than a fallow period of 7 years. Eliminating the burning losses by mulching brought the agricultural system back to an equilibrated or even slightly positive nutrient balance, even after a reduced fallow period. Thus, slash-and-mulch is a viable alternative to maintain agricultural productivity and ecosystem functioning.     

Multiyear Performance of a Pervious Concrete Infiltration Basin BMP

The use of infiltration storm-water best management practices (BMPs) has become a more commonly used approach as a means of reducing postdevelopment runoff volumes in many areas throughout the United States. Although studies regarding the performance of infiltration BMPs are emerging, much remains to be learned about their design, construction, and operation. The increase in knowledge will improve the performance and longevity of these BMPs. The performance of one such infiltration basin over a 2-year cycle is presented in this paper. The study site is a pervious concrete infiltration basin BMP built in 2002 in a courtyard common area at Villanova University. The system consists of three linked infiltration beds lined with geotextile filter fabric, filled with coarse aggregate, and overlaid with pervious concrete. The natural soil beneath the infiltration BMP is a silty sand. The BMP is extensively instrumented to facilitate water quantity and quality research. Both water-quantity and -quality results are presented. The water-quantity analysis showed that the performance of the basin was directly related to its infiltration characteristics. The infiltration rate of the silty sand is cyclic, with higher rates during warmer periods and lower rates during colder periods. The water quality analysis investigated the pollutant reduction for chloride, copper, nitrogen, and phosphorus from the inlet to the surface-water outlet of the structure, as well as differences in pollutant concentration levels between the basin, surrounding ground, and varying soil layer elevations beneath the basin. In general, the pollutant reduction to the surface waters was greater than 90% from inlet to outlet, primarily influenced by the infiltration of the storm water into the natural soils below the BMP. The pollutant concentration of the infiltrating runoff was found to be higher than expected in the area adjacent to the bed when compared to concentration levels found at a similar depth beneath the infiltration bed. Comparison of pollutant concentration levels, as the water moved from within the storage bed to the soil beneath the bed, were shown to vary, with statistical differences found for mean concentration levels of both pH and copper levels; and no statistical differences were found for conductivity, total phosphorous, and chloride at each elevation.     

Impact of selective oxidation during inline annealing prior to hot-dip galvanizing on Zn wetting and hydrogen-induced delayed cracking of austenitic FeMnC steel

The present study discusses the impact of selective oxidation during in-line annealing of Fe–23%Mn–0.6%C–0.3%Si steel on surface and sub-surface properties and is focused on hot-dip galvanizability and susceptibility to hydrogen-induced delayed cracking. Annealing temperature (700–1100 °C) and dewpoint DP (? 15/?30/?50 °C) of the 5%H₂–N₂ annealing atmosphere were varied in order to investigate Zn wetting in dependence on selective oxidation of Mn and Si. Sub-surface microplasticity (hardness, pop-in frequency, pop-in activation load) was examined by electrochemical nanoindentation in-situ to hydrogen charging (ECNI) to assess hydrogen/material interactions. Zn wetting fails if external Mn and Si oxidation is not avoided by performing high reductive bright annealing (1100 °C/DP ? 50 °C). Zn wetting will however turn to increase if a roughly globular MnO layer appears and Si is internally oxidized (700–900 °C/DP ? 15 °C). Selective oxidation further affects hydrogen/material interactions by influencing the local distribution of solid-soluted Mn: ECNI results indicate hydrogen-induced dislocation demobilization (HEDE mechanism) or dislocation mobilization (HELP mechanism) in dependence on the local amount of solid-soluted Mn within the sub-surface. Macroscopic delayed cracking seems to occur earlier if HELP is predominating. The gained results benefit understanding the impact of selective oxidation on galvanizability and susceptibility to hydrogen-induced failure of austenitic FeMnC steel and advance further developments in processing high Mn alloyed steels.