Inhomogeneous softening during annealing of ultrafine-grained silver processed by HPT

The softening in ultrafine-grained silver processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) was studied during annealing using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Two separate exothermic peaks were observed in the DSC thermogram of the HPT-processed sample. It is shown that the first and the second peaks are related to the recrystallization of the middle volume and the surface regions of the HPT-processed disk, respectively. Therefore, a very inhomogeneous sandwich-like microstructure develops during annealing with a soft interior and hard surface layers. The lower thermal stability of the middle region appears to be related to the stronger twinning activity since the twinned volumes can act as nuclei for recrystallized grains. The higher twin-fault probability in the interior is attributed to the larger strain due to the outflow of material between the anvils of the HPT facility during quasi-constrained processing.     

Distributed high dimensional information theoretical image registration via random projections

Information theoretical measures, such as entropy, mutual information, and various divergences, exhibit robust characteristics in image registration applications. However, the estimation of these quantities is computationally intensive in high dimensions. On the other hand, consistent estimation from pairwise distances of the sample points is possible, which suits random projection (RP) based low dimensional embeddings. We adapt the RP technique to this task by means of a simple ensemble method. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first distributed, RP based information theoretical image registration approach. The efficiency of the method is demonstrated through numerical examples.     

A 2 MV Van de Graaff accelerator as a tool for planetary and impact physics research

Investigating the dynamical and physical properties of cosmic dust can reveal a great deal of information about both the dust and its many sources. Over recent years, several spacecraft (e.g., Cassini, Stardust, Galileo, and Ulysses) have successfully characterised interstellar, interplanetary, and circumplanetary dust using a variety of techniques, including in situ analyses and sample return. Charge, mass, and velocity measurements of the dust are performed either directly (induced charge signals) or indirectly (mass and velocity from impact ionisation signals or crater morphology) and constrain the dynamical parameters of the dust grains. Dust compositional information may be obtained via either time-of-flight mass spectrometry of the impact plasma or direct sample return. The accurate and reliable interpretation of collected spacecraft data requires a comprehensive programme of terrestrial instrument calibration. This process involves accelerating suitable solar system analogue dust particles to hypervelocity speeds in the laboratory, an activity performed at the Max Planck Institut fu?r Kernphysik in Heidelberg, Germany. Here, a 2 MV Van de Graaff accelerator electrostatically accelerates charged micron and submicron-sized dust particles to speeds up to 80 km s(-1). Recent advances in dust production and processing have allowed solar system analogue dust particles (silicates and other minerals) to be coated with a thin conductive shell, enabling them to be charged and accelerated. Refinements and upgrades to the beam line instrumentation and electronics now allow for the reliable selection of particles at velocities of 1-80 km s(-1) and with diameters of between 0.05 μm and 5 μm. This ability to select particles for subsequent impact studies based on their charges, masses, or velocities is provided by a particle selection unit (PSU). The PSU contains a field programmable gate array, capable of monitoring in real time the particles' speeds and charges, and is controlled remotely by a custom, platform independent, software package. The new control instrumentation and electronics, together with the wide range of accelerable particle types, allow the controlled investigation of hypervelocity impact phenomena across a hitherto unobtainable range of impact parameters.     

Development Pathways of Large Housing Estates in Post-socialist Cities: An International Comparison

Large housing estates in former state-socialist countries had been hardly affected by social erosion before the political changes. However, the emergence of new, capitalist forms of housing after 1990 started to endanger the position of large housing estates on the local housing market. The question was repeatedly raised in the literature about whether large housing estates of post-socialist cities would experience physical decay and social downgrading similar to the West. This paper investigates the socio-economic differentiation of large housing estates in the former state-socialist countries using a case study approach. Housing satisfaction and mobility of residents in four post-socialist housing estates were analysed through a standardised household survey. Empirical data confirm that despite their similar physical appearance, the attitude of people towards large housing estates and their position on the local housing market vary significantly. The authors conclude that even though socialist large housing estates are affected by social downgrading, nevertheless they represent relative social stability and can offer affordable housing to people who are at the start of their housing career.     

Antimicrobial functionalization of Ca alginate-coconut oil latent heat storing microcapsules by Ag nanoparticles

Latent heat storage by phase change materials (PCM) is a promising way of thermal energy storage for equilibrating the daily fluctuation of temperature in office- and home buildings. Bio-originated compounds have got great importance to evade further plastic contamination all over the world. Durability of biodegradable natural materials by means of environmentally friendly agents is an exciting challenge. In this study Ca alginate-coconut oil eco-friendly core-shell PCM microcapsules were functionalized with Ag nanoparticles, following their synthesis using harmless reducing agents. Throughout the preparation of the PCM microcapsules by repeated interfacial coacervation/crosslinking procedure, the Ag nanoparticles were homogeneously dispersed in the Ca alginate shell. High coconut oil content was achieved in the Ag nanoparticle-loaded microcapsules, which was not influenced by the Ag nanoparticle content. The high PCM content resulted in correspondingly high latent heat storing capability. The freezing and melting heat storing capacities were in the range of 83.6 and 85.6 J/g, as well as 89.7 to 92.6 J/g, respectively, matching to the extremely high PCM content in the range of 82.7% to 84.8% (m/m). Leaking of the heat storing microcapsules was not observed after 200 heating-cooling cycles. The Ag nanoparticle content did not influence the PCM ratio of the microcapsules, although as expected their antimicrobial potential was significantly enhanced by it. The highest Ag nanoparticle loading, that was 1.3% (m/m) related to the total mass of microcapsules, exerted excellent antibacterial and antifungal impact.     

Deoxynivalenol in wheat,maize, wheat flour and pasta: surveys in Hungary in 2008–2015

Among Fusarium mycotoxins, deoxynivalenol (DON) is the most common contaminant in case of cereals and cereal-based foods in Hungary. In this study, Hungarian wheat (n = 305), maize (n = 108), wheat flour (n = 179) and pasta (n = 226) samples were analysed (N = 818). The samples were collected during 2008–2015 in Hungary. Applied methods of analysis were enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and liquid-chromatography coupled with a mass spectrometer. Results were compared and evaluated with Hungarian weather data. Among cereal samples, in 2011, wheat was contaminated with DON (overall average ± standard deviation was 2159 ± 2818 µg kg^?1), which was above the maximum limit (ML). In case of wheat flour and pasta, no average values above ML were found during 2008–2015, but higher DON contamination could be observed in 2011 as well (wheat flour: 537 ± 573 µg kg^?1; pasta: 511 ± 175 µg kg^?1).     

Stochastic modelling of individual cell growth using flow chamber microscopy images

In this paper, we analysed individual cell growth images obtained by flow chamber microscopy system. We used replicate flow chamber experiment data as reported by [Elfwing, A., Le Marc, Y., Baranyi, J., Ballagi, A., 2004. Observing the growth and division of large number of individual bacteria using image analysis. Applied and Environmental Microbiology 70, 675-678] involving both unstressed and heat shocked Listeria innocua cells. After observing the kinetics of a large number of cells, we propose a new stochastic model for their individual growth. By comparing our model with other existing models in the literature, we demonstrate that ours can accurately describe the growth of both stressed and unstressed cells. Our results indicate that the lag period, in terms of cell division, coincides dominantly with a lag period in terms of cell size. We also reveal various connections between cell length, lag time and cell division models. Finally, we present the results of our investigation on the effect of the duration of sublethal heat shock on the found growth properties.     

Minimal equational representations of recognizable tree languages

 A tree language is congruential if it is the union of finitely many classes of a finitely generated congruence on the term algebra. It is well known that congruential tree languages are the same as recognizable tree languages. An equational representation is an ordered pair (E, P) , where E is either a ground term equation system or a ground term rewriting system, and P is a finite set of ground terms. We say that (E, P) represents the congruential tree language L which is the union of those ?^* _E -classes containing an element of P, i.e., for which L=⋃{[p]_? ^* _E ∣p∈P}. We define two sorts of minimality for equational representations. We introduce the cardinality vector (∣E∣, ∣P∣) of an equational representation (E, P). Let ? _l and ? _a denote the lexicographic and antilexicographic orders on the set of ordered pairs of nonnegative integers, respectively. Let L be a congruential tree language. An equational representation (E, P) of L with ? _l -minimal (? _a -minimal) cardinality vector is called ? _l -minimal (? _a -minimal). We compute, for an L given by a deterministic bottom-up tree automaton, both a ? _l -minimal and a ? _a -minimal equational representation of L. Received: 27 July 1994/5 October 1995     

Variants of top-down tree transducers with look-ahead

In this article we consider deterministic and strongly deterministic top-down tree transducers with regular look-ahead, with regular check, with deterministic top-down look-ahead, and with deterministic top-down check. We compare the transformational power of these tree transducer classes by giving a correct inclusion diagram of the tree transformation classes induced by them. Along with the comparison we decompose some of the examined classes into simpler classes and we introduce the concept of the deterministic top-down tree automata with deterministic top-down look-ahead. We show that these recognizers recognize a tree language class which is strictly between the class of regular tree languages and the class of tree languages recognizable by deterministic top-down tree automata. We also study the closure properties of the examined tree transformation classes. We show that some classes are closed under composition while others, for example the class of tree transformations induced by deterministic top-down tree transducers with deterministic top-down look-ahead, are not.