[en] Recent released WMAP data show a low value of quadrupole in the CMB temperature fluctuations, which confirms the early observations by COBE. In this Letter we consider a model of two inflatons with different masses, V(phi₁,phi₂)=((1)/(2))m₁²phi₁²+((1)/(2))m₂²phi₂², m₁>m₂ and study its effects on CMB of suppressing the primordial power spectrum P(k) at small k. Inflation is driven in this model firstly by the heavier inflaton phi₁, then the lighter field phi₂. But there is no interruption in between. We numerically calculate the scalar and tensor power spectra with mode by mode integrations, then fit the model to WMAP temperature correlations TT and the TE temperature-polarization spectra. Our results show that with m₁∼10¹⁴ GeV and m₂∼10¹³ GeV, this model solves the problems of flatness, etc. and the CMB quadrupole predicted can be much lower than the standard power-law ΛCDM model

[en] The energy responses of Ka of two types of cylindrical G-M counter tubes were calculated using an electron-photon cascade Monte Carlo code, EGS4. One type of the G-M counter tubes was GJ4401 (sensitive length 9 cm, diameter 1 cm), the other was J5 (sensitive length 2 cm, diameter 0.3 cm). The restricted sampling technique of source photon was used. Good tendency agreements between the simulations and experiments were achieved for gamma radiation with energies ranging from 40 keV to 1.25 MeV. For GJ4401, the difference of response between simulations and experiments at 662 keV was 34% and for J5 the difference was 27%

[en] The topological charge is studied on lattices of large physical volume and fine lattice spacing. We illustrate how a parity transformation on the SU(3) link-variables of lattice gauge configurations reverses the sign of the topological charge and leaves the action invariant. Random applications of the parity transformation are proposed to traverse from one topological charge sign to the other. The transformation provides an improved unbiased estimator of the ensemble average and is essential in improving the ergodicity of the Markov chain process

[en] Recently, it has been shown that convex cavities or 2D grating structures can enhance thermal emission for energy conversion systems. The mechanisms, however, cannot be well explained by either the conventional cavity resonance modes or surface plasmon polaritons. The present study elucidates the fundamental mechanism by considering the excitation of magnetic polaritons (MPs) in deep gratings. Rigorous coupled-wave analysis (RCWA) is employed to calculate the radiative properties by solving Maxwell's equations numerically. The LC-circuit model is employed to predict the resonance conditions. The current and field distributions further confirm the excitation of magnetic resonances. It is shown that MPs and cavity modes agree with each other when the kinetic inductance is negligibly small. However, when the kinetic inductance is sufficiently large, the maximum resonance wavelength can be more than twice that predicted by the cavity mode. Furthermore, different materials are considered and the frequency range is extended from the near-infrared to the microwave region to illustrate the scalability of the MPs. This study clarifies one of the underlying mechanisms of optical resonance in deep gratings and will benefit the design of wavelength-selective thermal emitters. -- Highlights: • Use magnetic polaritons (MPs) to explain and design deep grating emitters. • Apply LC-circuit model to predict the maximum resonance wavelength in deep gratings. • Scale the geometric dimensions for application to different spectral regions. • Use Ag and doped Si to study the thermal emission peaks in deep gratings. • Use MPs to explain 1D and 2D tungsten grating emitters

[en] Highlights: • NiO hollow spheres have been prepared by a one-pot hydrothermal synthesis route. • A non-enzymatic glucose sensor based on NiO hollow spheres has been constructed. • The glucose sensor exhibits high sensitivity and selectivity for glucose detection. -- Abstract: A novel non-enzymatic glucose sensor has been constructed by using NiO hollow spheres (NiO-HSs) as sensing materials, which were prepared by a glycerin-assisted hydrothermal synthesis method. The analytical techniques including X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) indicate the successful formation of NiO-HSs, assembled by NiO nanoflakes with the length of about 500 nm and the width of about 50 nm. It was found that the resulting NiO-HSs exhibit good catalytic activity toward the oxidation of glucose in 0.1 M NaOH, leading to a non-enzymatic glucose sensor with a fast amperometric response time of less than 3 s, and the detection limit is estimated to be 0.3 μM at a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Furthermore, this sensor shows good response to glucose in comparison to other normally co-existing electroactive species (such as dopamine, ascorbic acid and uric acid)

[en] Highlights: • Vacuum pyrolysis characteristics are studied to better understand organics pyrolysis. • Vacuum pyrolysis process is optimized by response surface methodology (RSM). • Pyrolysis products as oil, gas and residual are recycled by a reasonable route. - Abstract: Recycling rare metal tantalum from waste tantalum capacitors (WTCs) is significant to alleviate the shortage of tantalum resource. However, environmental problems will be caused if the organic materials from WTCs are improperly disposed. This study presented a promising vacuum pyrolysis technology to recycle the organic materials from WTCs. The organics removal rate could reach 94.32 wt% according to TG results. The optimal parameters were determined as 425 °C, 50 Pa and 30 min on the basis of response surface methodology (RSM). The oil yield and residual rate was 18.09 wt% and 74.94 wt%, respectively. All pyrolysis products can be recycled through a reasonable route. Besides, to deeply understand the pyrolysis process, the pyrolysis mechanism was also proposed based on the product and free radical theory. This paper provides an efficient process for recycling the organic material from WTCs, which can facilitate the following tantalum recovery.

[en] Highlights: • The effect of Fe-rich phases on squeeze cast Al–Cu alloys with high Fe content. • Four kinds of Fe-rich phases may present in Al–Cu alloys. • There is great tolerance to Fe impurities in squeeze cast Al–Cu alloys. - Abstract: The microstructures and mechanical properties of gravity die cast and squeeze cast Al–5.0 wt% Cu–0.6 wt% Mn alloys with different Fe content have been studied using tensile test, optical microscope, scanning electron microscope, electron probe micro-analyzer and image analysis. The results show that four kinds of Fe-rich intermetallics may present in the final microstructures of the alloys: Chinese script α-Fe (Al₁₅(FeMn)₃(CuSi)₂) and Al₆(FeMn), needle-like β-Fe(Al₇Cu₂Fe) and Al₃(FeMn) when the Fe content increases from 0.1 wt% to 1.5 wt%. In the gravity die cast alloy with 0.5 wt% Fe, the Chinese script α-Fe presents as the main Fe-rich intermetallics, and a few needle-like β-Fe also exist. When the Fe content increases to 1.0 wt%, the main Fe-rich intermetallics change to needle-like Al₃(FeMn) and Chinese-script Al₆(FeMn). The needle-like β-Fe disappears when the Fe content is 0.5 wt% in the squeeze cast alloy with an applied pressure of 75 MPa. Furthermore, the secondary dendritic arm spacing of α(Al), the percentage of porosity and the volume fraction of the second intermetallics decrease distinctly in the squeeze cast alloy compared to the gravity die cast alloy. There is a peak value of ultimate strength and yield strength for the alloy with 0.5 wt% Fe. The elongations of the alloys decrease gradually with increasing Fe content and the elongation of the squeeze cast alloys is two times more than that of the gravity die cast alloys

[en] Light-cone gauge quantization procedures are given, for superstring theory on AdS₃ space charged with NS-NS background, both in the NSR and GS formalisms. The space-time (super) conformal algebras are constructed in terms of the transversal physical degrees of freedom. The space-time conformal anomaly agrees with that of covariant formalism, provided that the world-sheet conformal anomaly c equals to 26 or 15 for bosonic string or superstring, respectively. The space-time (super) conformal field theory is found to correspond to the orbifold construction on the symmetric product space Sym_pM/Z_p

[en] A method to detect sea fogs from the measurement data acquired by the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP) aboard the Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation (CALIPSO) satellite is proposed in this paper. Because of the unique capability of vertical-resolved measurements, sea fogs and low clouds can be more easily distinguished in the CALIOP data compared with passive satellite measurements. Yellow Sea where sea fogs occur frequently is selected to test the method. Nine cases of daytime sea fog events from 2008 to 2011 in the Yellow Sea are studied intensively to characterize the remotely sensed radiation properties of various targets, such as clear-sky sea surface, sea fog, low cloud and high cloud. These fog cases are then used in an attempt to evaluate sea fogs identified from the MODIS measurements. The method proposed in this paper can also be used for nighttime cases. Multi-year sea fog dataset can be made from the CALIOP measurement and used to validate the MODIS sea fog detection. - Highlights: • A method of sea fog detection from the CALIOP measurements is proposed. • CALIOP VFM and 532-nm attenuated backscatter products are integrated used. • Sea fogs and low clouds can be more easily distinguished in the CALIOP data. • 9 Cases of daytime sea fog events in the Yellow Sea are selected to test the method. • The MODIS sea fog detections are evaluated using the collocated CALIOP data

[en] Highlights: •Phytate greatly inhibits corrosion of brass in NaOH. •Eight cyclic voltabsorptometry peaks correspond to reactions of various ions. •Phytate can suppress formation of various zinc and cupric ions. •A spectroelectrochemical cell allows its light path length to be changed. -- Abstract: Corrosion inhibition of brass by phytate in alkaline media was evaluated by cyclic voltammetry, UV–vis spectra, derivative cyclic voltabsorptometry (DCVA) and scanning electron microscopy. A thin-layer electrochemical cell was fabricated with an appropriate light-path-length. A high corrosion inhibition efficiency of phytate on brass was achieved in 0.1 mol dm⁻³ NaOH. Soluble ions such as Zn(OH)₄^2-, Cu(I) intermediate ion, Cu(OH)₄^2- and another Cu(II)–O complex, were monitored in situ under potentiostatic and potentiodynamic conditions. The DCVA curves at given wavelengths show five positive and three negative peaks corresponding to the potential-resolved formation and reduction of various soluble corrosion products