[en] From kinetic points of view, the relationship between the relaxation of elastic energy and hysteresis expansion in thermoelastic martensitic transformation were concerned. The relaxation of elastic energy is responsible for the hysteresis expansion by predeformation of martensites. Comparisons of the predication and experimental data revealed that this conclusion is in agreement with the experimental reports associated with the hysteresis expansion of NiTi based shape memory alloys. (orig.)

[en] Precipitate volume fraction is an important parameter to estimate the strength of precipitation-hardened metals. In this study, a facile method was applied to measure the precipitate volume fractions in an age-hardened AlCuMg alloy. In this method, the precipitate volume fraction values can be obtained by multiplying the volume precipitate number densities with the averaged precipitate volumes, which can be easily measured in scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, respectively. Compared with the conventional method, in which the specimen thickness has to be measured in transmission electron microscopy, the method proposed in this study is more facile to perform. - Highlights: ► We have proposed a facile method to measure precipitate volume fractions for precipitation-hardened metals. ► This technique works well for the square-shaped θ′-phase nano-precipitates in 2xxx aluminum alloys. ► Interesting is that the proposed method is easy for materials scientists and engineers to perform.

[en] A 100 J level XeCl laser pumped by an intense relativistic electron beam - FLASH II was constructed at Northwest Institute of Nuclear Technology in China. It consists of a 64 stage Marx generator, pulse forming line, field-distortion main switch, pulse transmission line, output line and diode. The cathode of diode for laser pumping is a 15 x 60 cm long multi-point copper plate or graphite plane plate. The anode and pressure foils are both 25 micron Ti. The voltage of diode is measured to be 650-750 kV and the current 290-350 kA. The pump power density ranges between 1.5-2.0 MW/cm³. The aperture of laser cell is 20 x 20 cm and the effective excitation volume is 24 liters. The authors have obtained the laser output energy of 136 J with a parallel-plane resonator and 1.5 mrad divergence angle from an unstable resonator. The laser power is measured to be more than 10⁹ W

[en] Objective: To explore the correlation between clinical factors and the prognosis of multiple myeloma (MM). Study Design: A cohort study. Place and Duration of Study: At the Third Affiliated Hospital of Inner Mongolia Medical University, Mongolia from January 2014 to December 2018. Methodology: The clinical data of 81 patients with newly diagnosed MM were collected retrospectively. The correlation of prognosis with immunophenotype and (FISH) Fluorescence in situ hybridization was subjected to univariate and multivariate analyses. Overall and progression-free survival was determined. Results: The overall survival (OS) and progression-free survival (PFS) of patients with CD200+, CD81+, and CD27– were significantly shortened. CD200+ and CD27– were independent prognostic factors for OS and PFS in MM patients. The prognosis-related abnormal genes were analyzed, and univariate analysis revealed that OS and PFS were significantly shortened in patients with RB-1 deletion, CDKN2C deletion, and IGH rearrangement. CDKN2C deletion was an independent prognostic factor for OS and PFS in MM patients. Conclusion: CDKN2C deletion is an independent prognostic factor of MM. CD200+ is an independent risk factor for poor prognosis of MM. (author)

[en] The concentration of trace elements in brain sections was measured by synchrotron radiation X-ray fluorescence. The relative concentration was calculated by means of the normalization of Compton scattering intensity approximately 22 keV, after the normalization for collecting time of X-ray spectrum and the counting of the ion chamber, and subtracting the contribution of the polycarbonate film for supporting sample. Furthermore, the statistical evaluation of the element distribution in various regions of the brain sections of the 20-day-old rats was tested. For investigating the distribution of elements in the brain of iodine deficient rats, Wistar rats were fed with iodine deficient diet and deionized water (ID group). The rats were fed the same iodine deficient diet, but drank KIO₃ solution as control (CT group). The results showed that the contents of calcium (Ca) in thalamus (TH) and copper (Cu) and iron (Fe) in cerebral cortex (CX) of ID rats were significantly lower than that of control rats, while the contents of phosphor (P), sulfur (S), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), bromine (Br), chlorine (Cl), zinc (Zn), Ca and Cu of ID in hippocampus (H) and the contents of Br, Cl, Zn and Ca in cerebral cortex of ID rats were significantly higher. Especially, the difference of Br, Cl, Zn and Ca in H between ID and CT was more significant. The contents of all elements measured in H were higher than (or equal to) CX and/or TH for both groups, except low Cl of the control rats. Furthermore Zn and Cu contents along the hippocampal fissure in both groups were 1.5 (P<0.001) and 0.87(P<0.03) times higher than in hippocampus, respectively. Considering the results of cluster analysis our study shows that the marked alterations in the spatial distribution of Zn and Ca of ID rats brain during brain development stages. In addition, the effect of the perfusion with 0.9% NaCl solution before taking brain on the distribution of elements in the brain sections was observed and discussed

[en] Increasing the plasma density is one of the key methods in achieving an efficient fusion reaction. High-density operation is one of the hot topics in tokamak plasmas. Density limit disruptions remain an important issue for safe operation. An effective density limit disruption prediction and avoidance system is the key to avoid density limit disruptions for long pulse steady state operations. An artificial neural network has been developed for the prediction of density limit disruptions on the J-TEXT tokamak. The neural network has been improved from a simple multi-layer design to a hybrid two-stage structure. The first stage is a custom network which uses time series diagnostics as inputs to predict plasma density, and the second stage is a three-layer feedforward neural network to predict the probability of density limit disruptions. It is found that hybrid neural network structure, combined with radiation profile information as an input can significantly improve the prediction performance, especially the average warning time ($T_{\mathrm{w}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{n}}$). In particular, the $T_{\mathrm{w}\mathrm{a}\mathrm{r}\mathrm{n}}$ is eight times better than that in previous work (Wang et al 2016 Plasma Phys. Control. Fusion 58 055014) (from 5 ms to 40 ms). The success rate for density limit disruptive shots is above 90%, while, the false alarm rate for other shots is below 10%. Based on the density limit disruption prediction system and the real-time density feedback control system, the on-line density limit disruption avoidance system has been implemented on the J-TEXT tokamak. (paper)

[en] In this paper, nanocrystalline FeNi alloy powders with different particle size were prepared by two-step mechanical alloying (MA), the first step of the processes is FeNi nanocrystalline alloying and the second step modifies particle size. As-milled powders were randomly dispersed in paraffin at a weight ratio of 5:1 for microwave complex permeability test and comparison in the frequency range of 0.5-18 GHz. It is observed and discussed that microwave complex permeability is prominently affected by FeNi microstructure and particle size. In this work, Fe_0.85Ni_0.15 nanocrystalline powders exhibit high value of complex permeability in 1-10 GHz, and the sample with particle size of 2.34 μm possesses the maximum value as μ'=6.32 at 1.81 GHz, μ''=3.45 at 4.09 GHz. This value may be useful for thin-thickness and wide-band microwave absorber

[en] ZnO was deposited on bare Si(1 0 0), as-deposited, and annealed ZnO/Si(1 0 0) substrates by hydrothermal synthesis. The effects of a ZnO buffer layer and its thermal annealing on the properties of the ZnO deposited by hydrothermal synthesis were studied. The grain size and root mean square (RMS) roughness values of the ZnO buffer layer increased after thermal annealing of the buffer layer. The effect of buffer layer annealing temperature on the structural and optical properties was investigated by photoluminescence, X-ray diffraction, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. Hydrothermal grown ZnO deposited on ZnO/Si(1 0 0) annealed at 750 deg. C with the concentration of 0.3 M exhibits the best structural and optical properties.

[en] In this study, the effects of thermal annealing temperature and duration on ZnO nanorod arrays fabricated by hydrothermal method were investigated. The annealed ZnO/Si(1 1 1) substrate was used for ZnO nanorod array growth. The effects of annealing treatment on the structural and optical properties were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and room-temperature photoluminescence measurements. With the annealing temperature of 750 ^oC and the annealing duration of 10 min, both the structural and optical properties of the ZnO nanorod arrays improved significantly, as indicated in the X-ray diffraction and photoluminescence measurement