Equivalent Conditions for Convergence of Splittings of Non-Hermitian Indefinite Matrices

We present some sufficient and necessary conditions for convergent splitting of a non-Hermitian indefinite matrix. Some sufficient conditions to determinate a matrix with a (strongly) dominant symmetric part for a class of boundary value problem are also obtained. These results are applicable to identify the convergence of iterative methods for solving large sparse systems of linear equations.     

A double-layer current conduction model for high-κ gate dielectric materials with interfacial oxide or silicate layer

The current-voltage (I-V) characteristics of metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) structures with hafnium oxide as the gate dielectric film were studied. Sharp shifts from a low-voltage ohmic regime to a tunneling conduction were observed in the high-voltage range. The paper demonstrates that this behavior can be described very well with a double-layer dielectric model. Excellent fittings of the experimental curves were obtained and the related key structural and physical parameters were obtained. The model fitting further suggests the optimal annealing conditions for preparing the hafnium oxide films.     

Sensitivity of LR 115 SSNTD in a diffusion chamber

Solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs), such as LR 115, have been commonly used in diffusion chambers for long-term measurements of radon gas concentrations. For the LR 115 SSNTD, it has been found that the active layer removed during chemical etching is significantly affected by the presence and amount of stirring, and thus cannot be controlled easily. However, the sensitivity of the LR 115 detector inside a diffusion chamber to the radon and/or thoron gas concentration is dependent on the actual removed active layer thickness. This relationship is dependant on the geometry of the diffusion chamber and the deposition fraction of ²¹⁸Po in the diffusion chamber, as well as the V function for the LR 115 detector (V is the ratio between the track etch velocity V_t to the bulk etch velocity V_b). This paper presents the experimentally determined relationships between the sensitivity of the LR 115 detector inside a Karlsruhe diffusion chamber and the removed active layer thickness, for both radon and thoron. A V function was adjusted to simulate the relationships. In particular, for the case of ²²²Rn, we have found f ∼ 0.5, where f is the fraction of ²¹⁸Po which decays inside the diffusion chamber before deposition onto available inner surfaces of the chamber. In conclusion, we have found that the sensitivities critically depend on the actual removed active layer thickness, so this should be monitored and used in determining the sensitivities.     

Chloride ingress data from field and laboratory exposure – Influence of salinity and temperature

Marine exposure conditions provide an aggressive environment for reinforced concrete structures, mainly due to the occurrence of chloride-induced reinforcement corrosion. There are several influencing factors, but despite a lot of research little is known about the influence from variations in the exposure conditions. Therefore an exposure programme has been made, where concrete specimens, made from one single concrete composition, have been exposed at 12 marine locations around the world, along with a parallel study under laboratory conditions. The specimens have been constantly submerged during the exposure to get well-defined exposure conditions. The purpose was to get a quantitative measure of how different exposure conditions influence the durability of reinforced concrete, measured in terms of chloride ingress into the concrete. The results indicate that the exposure conditions (salinity and temperature of seawater), as expected, influenced the chloride ingress. This is further analysed and discussed in the paper.     

Foreword

This special issue contains six selected papers that were presented at the 11th Annual International Computing and Combinatorics Conference (COCOON 2005), held in Kunming, Yunnan, China on August 16–19, 2005. This year we obtained 353 submissions and 96 of them were accepted for presentation at the conference. These six selected papers represent several areas in theoretical computer science, including complexity, computational biology, computational finance, and network algorithms. We thank the authors for submitting and revising their work, and PC members and referees for their careful reviewing.     

Fractal fracture and transformation toughening in CuNiAl single crystal

The fracture toughness J _Ic (ρ) and fractal dimension D _f of fractured surfaces of CuNiAl single crystal have been measured at temperatures in the range 20 °C to 120 °C, in which thermoelastic martensitic transformation takes place. The parent phase has higher fracture toughness than the martensite phase due to stress-induced transformation. The relationship between J _Ic (ρ) and D _f has been studied. It was found that log J _Ic (ρ) is linearly related to D _f if the failure involves a single mechanism. The slope of the plot may either be positive or negative for brittle or ductile failure, respectively. The difference in the J _Ic (ρ)-D _f correlation can be understood in terms of the micromechanism of fracture.     

Determination of alpha-particle track depths in CR-39 detector from their cross-sections and replica heights

A challenging task in the application of solid-state nuclear track detectors (SSNTDs) is the measurement of depths of the tracks. One approach involves breaking and polishing the side of SSNTDs to reveal the cross-sections of the tracks for direct measurements. Recently, surface profilometry was used to measure the heights of the replicas of alpha-particle tracks to give the track depths. In the present work, systematic comparisons among the track depths for alpha-particles with normal incidence and different incident energies were made for these two methods. After irradiation, the detectors were etched in a 6.25 N aqueous solution of NaOH at 70 °C. Both long etching time of 15 h (to produce spherical-phase tracks) and short etching time from 1 to 8 h (to produce sharp-phase tracks) were used. Good agreement was achieved between the two methods for spherical-phase tracks but not for sharp-phase tracks. It has been found that the surface profilometry method only works for replicas for spherical-phase tracks. Replicas for sharp-phase tracks are easier to collapse or deform, so the surface profilometry method may not give correct results.     

Optical appearance of alpha particle tracks in CR-39 SSNTD

A ray tracing method based on geometrical optics was used to study the tracks from alpha particles with different energies and with an incident angle of 50°. The transmission operation mode of the microscope is simulated. Considering the distribution of light intensities from the tracks, the mean and the 80% percentile gray levels from real experiments are proposed as quantitative variables to differentiate among tracks. The gray level properties for the same track for different exposures can vary to large extents. We introduce three variables, κ, λ and ε, to make empirical corrections. It is interesting to see that these coefficients are very consistent for the same alpha particle track despite the very different gray level properties. Gray level results have been obtained for tracks from alpha particles with 50° incident angle and different incident energies. However, the track depths cannot be predicted by any one of the coefficients κ, λ and ε. Multivariate analyses can help separate the tracks corresponding to different alpha energies. By using discriminant analysis with κ, λ and ε as independents, effectively all alpha energies can be determined with an accuracy of ±0.5 MeV.     

Influence of content and creator characteristics on sharing disaster-related information on social media

Identifying the key factors of the disaster-related information propagation process can provide decision support for disaster management. This study characterizes the effects of content types, location, and social capital of social media users on the virality of disaster-related information. We found through the Weibo dataset of the Yiliang earthquake that the virality of different types of information can vary on the basis of the social capital of users who post the information. This study fills the current research gaps by examining the individual and joint effects of the content and creator characteristics on the virality of disaster-related information.