Soft landing of runaway currents by ohmic field in J-TEXT tokamak

Recently, experimental studies on the soft landing of RE current by ohmic (OH) field have been performed in J-TEXT tokamak, as a possible auxiliary method to dissipate the RE current. With optimized horizontal displacement control of the RE beam, the toroidal electric field has been scanned from 1.6 to - 0.3 V m ^-1 during the RE plateau phase. The growth rate of RE currents and the evolution of hard x-ray (HXR) emissions have been studied. It is found that when the toroidal electric field is less than 7–12 times the theoretical critical electric field, the decay of REs could be achieved. The dissipation rate by the ohmic field can reach a maximum value of 3 MA s^-1.Furthermore, the results of HXR spectra analysis indicate the different behaviors of HXR emissions under the condition of different toroidal electric fields. The analysis of the ionized argon emissions and magnetic fluctuations shows that under the condition of different toroidal electric fields, the physical process of RE generation may be different.     

Integrated data analysis on the electron temperature profile of HL-2A with the Bayesian probability inference method

Data analysis on tokamak plasmas is mainly based on various diagnostic systems, which are usually modularized and independent of each other. This leads to a large amount of data not being fully and effectively exploited so that it is not conducive to revealing the deep physical mechanism. In this work, Bayesian probability inference with machine learning methods have been applied to the electron cyclotron emission and Thomson scattering diagnostic systems on HL-2A/2M, and the effects of integrated data analysis (IDA) on the electron temperature of HL-2A with Bayesian probability inference are demonstrated. A program is developed to infer the whole electron temperature profile with a confidence interval, and the program can be applied in online analysis. The IDA results show that the full profile of the electron temperature can be obtained and the diagnostic information is more comprehensive and abundant with IDA. The inference models for electron temperature analysis are established and the developed programs will serve as an experimental data analysis tool for HL-2A/2M in the near future.     

Orientationability analyses of a special class of the Stewart–Gough parallel manipulators using the unit quaternion representation

This paper addresses the orientation-singularity and orientationability analyses of a special class of the Stewart–Gough parallel manipulators whose moving and base platforms are two similar semi-symmetrical hexagons. Employing a unit quaternion to represent the orientation of the moving platform, an analytical expression representing the singularity locus of this class of parallel manipulators in a six-dimensional Cartesian space is obtained. It shows that for a given orientation, the position-singularity locus is a cubic polynomial expression in the moving platform position parameters, and for a given position, the orientation-singularity locus is an analytical expression but not a polynomial directly with respect to the mobile platform orientation parameters. Further inspection shows that for the special class of parallel manipulators, there must exist a nonsingular orientation void in the orientation space around the orientation origin for each position in the position-workspace. Therefore, a new performance index referred to as orientationability is introduced to describe the orientation capability of the special class of manipulators at a given position. A discretization algorithm is proposed for the computation of the orientationability of the special class of manipulators. Moreover, effects of the design parameters and position parameters on the orientationability are investigated in details. Based on the orientationability performance index, another novel performance index referred to as practical orientationability is presented which represents the practical orientation capability of the manipulator at a given position. The practical orientationability not only can satisfy all the kinematic demands and constraints of such class of manipulators, but also can guarantee that the manipulator is nonsingular.     

Myoglobin/gold nanoparticles/carbon spheres 3-D architecture for the fabrication of a novel biosensor

A novel biosensor based on a myoglobin/gold nanoparticles/carbon spheres (Mb-AuNPs-CNs) 3-D architecture bioconjunction has been fabricated for the determination of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). Cyclic voltammetry (CV), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to characterize the bioconjunction of the AuNPs-CNs with Mb. Experimental results demonstrate that the AuNPs-CNs hybrid material is more effective in facilitating electron transfer of the immobilized enzyme than CNs alone, which can be attributed to the unique nanostructure and larger surface area of the bioconjunction. The biosensor displayed good performance for the detection of H₂O₂ with a wide linear range from 0.28 μmol/L to 116.5 μmol/L and a detection limit of 0.12 μmol/L. The Michaelis-Menten constant K _M^app value was estimated to be 0.3 mmol/L. The resulting biosensor exhibited fast amperometric response, and good stability, reproducibility, and selectivity to H₂O₂. This article is published with open access at Springerlink.com     

A_Ⅰ型多元固溶体价电子结构的计算

利用“固体与分子经验电子理论”提出:1)A(?)型多元置换、间隙式固溶体价电子结构计算的模型;z)末知键距结构的键距差(BLD)分析方法;3)BLD分析中解的不唯一性的处理。     

Effect of integrated extrusion–equal channel angular pressing temperature on microstructural characteristics of low carbon steel

Abstract

In the present research, a combined forward extrusion–equal channel angular pressing was developed and executed for the deformation of a plain carbon steel. In this method, two different deformation steps, including forward extrusion and equal channel angular pressing, take place successively in a single die. The deformation process was performed at different deformation start temperatures (800, 930 and 1100°C). Three-dimensional finite element simulation was used to predict the strain and temperature variations within the samples during deformation. With microstructural observations and the results of finite element simulation, the main grain refinement mechanisms were studied at different deformation temperatures. The results show that the forward extrusion–equal channel angular pressing is effective in refining the ferrite grains from an initial size of 32 μm to a final size of ～0·9 μm. The main mechanisms of grain refinement were considered to be strain assisted transformation, dynamic strain induced transformation and continuous dynamic recrystallisation, depending on the deformation temperature.     

Structure factors of modified liquid Al–Si alloys

The structure factor and the coordination numbers of liquid Al–Si alloys with different Si content have been measured by a high temperature X-ray diffractometer. Radial distribution functions (RDFs), the nearest atomic distance and the coordination numbers of eutectic Al–Si alloys before and after being modified with Sr and Sb were studied. The RDFs of the liquid alloy were decomposed by five Gaussian peaks. The results show that a Si–Si covalent bond exists in the liquid of eutectic and hyper-eutectic alloys. Sr in the liquid Al–Si has a capability to weaken the covalent bonds of Si–Si, suppressing the nucleation of the eutectic silicon phase. On the other hand, Sb in the liquid Al–Si increases the order degree of Si atoms, decreasing the supercooling degree of the nucleation and promoting the nucleation of eutectic silicon.     

Order vs. Disorder: Cholesterol and Omega-3 Phospholipids Determine Biomembrane Organization

Lipid structural diversity strongly affects biomembrane chemico-physical and structural properties in addition to membrane-associated events. At high concentrations, cholesterol increases membrane order and rigidity, while polyunsaturated lipids are reported to increase disorder and flexibility. How these different tendencies balance in composite bilayers is still controversial. In this study, electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy, small angle neutron scattering, and neutron reflectivity were used to investigate the structural properties of cholesterol-containing lipid bilayers in the fluid state with increasing amounts of polyunsaturated omega-3 lipids. Either the hybrid 1-stearoyl-2-docosahexaenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine or the symmetric 1,2-docosahexaenoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine were added to the mixture of the naturally abundant 1-palmitoyl-2-oleyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine and cholesterol. Our results indicate that the hybrid and the symmetric omega-3 phospholipids affect the microscopic organization of lipid bilayers differently. Cholesterol does not segregate from polyunsaturated phospholipids and, through interactions with them, is able to suppress the formation of non-lamellar structures induced by the symmetric polyunsaturated lipid. However, this order/disorder balance leads to a bilayer whose structural organization cannot be ascribed to either a liquid ordered or to a canonical liquid disordered phase, in that it displays a very loose packing of the intermediate segments of lipid chains.     

Structural Abnormalities of the Optic Nerve and Retina in Huntington’s Disease Pre-Clinical and Clinical Settings

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disorder caused by a polyglutamine expansion in the huntingtin protein. HD-related pathological remodelling has been reported in HD mouse models and HD carriers. In this study, we studied structural abnormalities in the optic nerve by employing Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography (SD-OCT) in pre-symptomatic HD carriers of Caucasian origin. Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) was used to investigate ultrastructural changes in the optic nerve of the well-established R6/2 mouse model at the symptomatic stage of the disease. We found that pre-symptomatic HD carriers displayed a significant reduction in the retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) thickness, including specific quadrants: superior, inferior and temporal, but not nasal. There were no other significant irregularities in the GCC layer, at the macula level and in the optic disc morphology. The ultrastructural analysis of the optic nerve in R6/2 mice revealed a significant thinning of the myelin sheaths, with a lamellar separation of the myelin, and a presence of myelonoid bodies. We also found a significant reduction in the thickness of myelin sheaths in peripheral nerves within the choroids area. Those ultrastructural abnormalities were also observed in HD photoreceptor cells that contained severely damaged membrane disks, with evident vacuolisation and swelling. Moreover, the outer segment of retinal layers showed a progressive disintegration. Our study explored structural changes of the optic nerve in pre- and clinical settings and opens new avenues for the potential development of biomarkers that would be of great interest in HD gene therapies.