High Fillings Research Articles

Path of Knowledge for the Assessment of Structural Safety of the Pisan Tower of the Royal Palace of Palermo in Italy

This paper presents the path of knowledge developed for assessing the structural safety of the Norman-age Pisan Tower, which is mostly incorporated into the Royal Palace in Palermo, Italy. Historical, geomatic, and mechanical investigations were conducted and the most relevant results are herein collected and presented. The research path was addressed to specific tasks: identification of the building, geometric surveys, recognition of the sequence of phases of building transformation, detection of the components of the load-bearing structure, structural diagnostic surveys, and investigation of the subsoil and foundations. The explicit vulnerabilities found were mostly confined to the Piazzi library floor, while implicit vulnerabilities were identified in the presence of false walls and in high loads and fillings on the vaults of the last levels. The results of the analyses allowed the individuation of the confidence factors to use in structural analysis models aimed at the assessment of the seismic safety of the building.

Adsorption Site Preference Determined by Triangular Topology: Application of the Method of Moments to Transition Metal Surfaces

The adsorption sites of the top and hollow on the close-packed surfaces of transition metals are well known. In this paper, which site is more preferred for the adsorption of atoms and molecular fragments on the metal surfaces is discussed based on the topology of the adsorption geometry. For this purpose, the method of moments for the electronic density of states is applied to the surface. Adsorption at the hollow site generates a triangular topology, leading to a more negative value of the third moment (μ3) than that at the top site, which generates no triangular topology. When the difference in energy between the two adsorption sites is plotted against the band filling of the metal surface, a characteristic node at around the intermediate band filling can be found. This is a signature that the energy difference curve is controlled by μ3. Roughly speaking, the hollow-site adsorption, which has a more negative μ3 value, takes precedence at low band fillings, while the top site adsorption, which has a less negative μ3 value, takes precedence at high band fillings. One can conclude that an adsorption structure with more three-membered rings on a surface is more stable at low electron counts whereas that with less three-membered rings is more stable at high electron counts. However, if the strength of the metal–adsorbate bond is significantly greater than that of the metal–metal bond, the effect of the second moment (μ2) on the energy difference curve cannot be neglected. The hollow-site adsorption leads to a larger value of μ2 due to the topological feature of a larger coordination number around the adsorbate atom. As a result, the hollow-site adsorption is preferred over the top site at any band filling.

Tunable Spin and Orbital Edelstein Effect at (111) LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Interface.

Converting charge current into spin current is one of the main mechanisms exploited in spintronics. One prominent example is the Edelstein effect, namely, the generation of a magnetization in response to an external electric field, which can be realized in systems with lack of inversion symmetry. If a system has electrons with an orbital angular momentum character, an orbital magnetization can be generated by the applied electric field, giving rise to the so-called orbital Edelstein effect. Oxide heterostructures are the ideal platform for these effects due to the strong spin–orbit coupling and the lack of inversion symmetries. Beyond a gate-tunable spin Edelstein effect, we predict an orbital Edelstein effect an order of magnitude larger then the spin one at the (111) LaAlO/SrTiO interface for very low and high fillings. We model the material as a bilayer of orbitals using a tight-binding approach, whereas transport properties are obtained in the Boltzmann approach. We give an effective model at low filling, which explains the non-trivial behaviour of the Edelstein response, showing that the hybridization between the electronic bands crucially impacts the Edelstein susceptibility.

Effect of Diagenesis on the Quality of Sandstone Reservoirs Exposed to High-Temperature, Overpressure, and CO2-Charging Conditions: A Case Study of Upper Miocene Huangliu Sandstones of Dongfang District, Yinggehai Basin, South China Sea

The Upper Miocene Huangliu sandstones of the Dongfang district are currently regarded as an important exploration target in the Yinggehai Basin. Affected by the anomalous diagenetic environments of high temperature, overpressure, and CO2 fillings, the diagenetic evolution of the Huangliu sandstones appear complicated characteristics and subsequently exert a significant influence on reservoir development. Integrated methods employed in this study include an electron microscope, cathode luminescence, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, electron microprobe, stable isotope analysis, homogenization temperature, and physical property tests. By the comparative researches between the AF-1 and AF-2 areas of the Dongfang district, the aim of this study is to investigate the complex diagenetic modifications and their controlling effects on reservoir quality and development mechanism. With similar sedimentary features, the reservoirs in the AF-1 area exhibit slightly higher porosity than those of the AF-2 area. The permeability in the AF-1 area shows one or two orders of magnitude lower than that of the AF-2 area, and throats size distribution act as a critical factor to cause distinct diversities of permeability. In the AF-1 area, the later appearance of overpressure contributed to stronger compaction intensity and more loss of primary porosity. The dissolution induced by CO2-rich thermal fluids in late stage enhanced the secondary porosity significantly and improved the total porosity. However, extensive dissolution cause abundant precipitation including carbonate cement and authigenic illite in a closed diagenetic system, which lead to the decrease of reservoirs’ permeability. As for the AF-2 area, earlier occurrence of overpressure restrained mechanical compaction obviously and further retarded corrosion of organic acid, which preserved high proportions of primary porosity. Due to lesser impact by CO2 filling, the AF-2 area had a poor intensity of dissolution and cementation, and the authigenic illitization was also restrained significantly, which effectively prevented heavy damage on reservoir quality, and especially for permeability. Based on the diagenetic evolution pathways, two types of porosity evolution patterns are established. The effect degree on diagenesis by high temperature, overpressure, and CO2 filling vary significantly between the AF-1 and AF-2 areas. The two areas show different pathways of diagenetic evolution, forming two development patterns and exhibiting different reservoir types.

Heat transfer analysis of high pressure hydrogen tank fillings

Fast fillings of hydrogen vehicles require proper control of the temperature to ensure the integrity of the storage tanks. This study presents an analysis of heat transfer during filling of a hydrogen tank. A conjugate heat transfer based on energy balance is introduced. The numerical model is validated against fast filling experiments of hydrogen in a Type IV tank by comparing the gas temperature evolution. The impact of filling parameters, such as initial temperature, inlet nozzle diameter and filling time is then assessed. For the considered Type IV tank, the results show that both a higher and lower tank shell thermal conductivity results in lower inner wall peak temperatures. The presented model provides an analytical description of the temperature evolution in the gas and in the tank shell, and is thus a useful tool to explore a broad range of parameters, e.g., to determine new hydrogen filling protocols.

Characterizing fractional topological phases of lattice bosons near the first Mott lobe

The Bose-Hubbard model subjected to an effective magnetic field hosts a plethora of phases with different topological orders when tuning the chemical potential. Using the density matrix renormalization group method, we identify several gapped phases near the first Mott lobe at strong interactions. They are connected by a particle-hole symmetry to a variety of quantum Hall states stabilized at low fillings. We characterize phases of both particle and hole type and identify signatures compatible with Laughlin, Moore-Read, and bosonic integer quantum Hall states by calculating the quantized Hall conductance and by extracting the topological entanglement entropy. Furthermore, we analyze the entanglement spectrum of Laughlin states of bosonic particles and holes for a range of interaction strengths, as well as the entanglement spectrum of a Moore-Read state. These results further corroborate the existence of topological states at high fillings, close to the first Mott lobe, as hole analogs of the respective low-filling states.

Frank-Starling mechanism, fluid responsiveness, and length-dependent activation: Unravelling the multiscale behaviors with an in silico analysis.

The Frank-Starling mechanism is a fundamental regulatory property which underlies the cardiac output adaptation to venous filling. Length-dependent activation is generally assumed to be the cellular origin of this mechanism. At the heart scale, it is commonly admitted that an increase in preload (ventricular filling) leads to an increased cellular force and an increased volume of ejected blood. This explanation also forms the basis for vascular filling therapy. It is actually difficult to unravel the exact nature of the relationship between length-dependent activation and the Frank-Starling mechanism, as three different scales (cellular, ventricular and cardiovascular) are involved. Mathematical models are powerful tools to overcome these limitations. In this study, we use a multiscale model of the cardiovascular system to untangle the three concepts (length-dependent activation, Frank-Starling, and vascular filling). We first show that length-dependent activation is required to observe both the Frank-Starling mechanism and a positive response to high vascular fillings. Our results reveal a dynamical length dependent activation-driven response to changes in preload, which involves interactions between the cellular, ventricular and cardiovascular levels and thus highlights fundamentally multiscale behaviors. We show however that the cellular force increase is not enough to explain the cardiac response to rapid changes in preload. We also show that the absence of fluid responsiveness is not related to a saturating Frank-Starling effect. As it is challenging to study those multiscale phenomena experimentally, this computational approach contributes to a more comprehensive knowledge of the sophisticated length-dependent properties of cardiac muscle.

Structural and Dynamic Insights into the Conduction of Lithium-Ionic-Liquid Mixtures in Nanoporous Metal-Organic Frameworks as Solid-State Electrolytes.

Metal-organic framework (MOF)-based separators in Li-ion batteries (LIBs) have the potential to improve the battery performance. The mobility and conduction of lithium and organic ionic liquids (ILs) in these materials acting as (quasi) solid-state electrolytes are crucial for the battery power output. Here, we investigate the mobility of a Li-based IL in MOF nanopores and unveil the details of the conduction mechanism by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. A complex conductivity depending on the Li-IL loading and on the IL composition is observed. Most importantly, the presence of Li prevents the collapse of the conductivity at high IL loadings. The fully atomistic MD simulations including guest-guest and guest-host interactions elucidate the competing mechanisms: Li follows a Grotthuss-like conduction mechanism with large mobility. While at small pore fillings, the Li conduction is limited by the large distance between the anions facilitating the Grotthuss-like conduction; the conduction at high pore fillings is governed by field-induced concentration inhomogeneities. Because of the small MOF pore windows, which hinders the simultaneous passage of the large IL cations and anions in opposite directions, the IL shows field-induced MOF pore blocking and ion bunching. The regions of low anion concentration and high cation concentration represent barriers for Li, decreasing its mobility. In comparison to Li-free IL, the IL bunching effect is attenuated by the formation of charge-neutral Li-anion complexes, resulting in a tremendously increased conductivity at maximum pore filling. The exploitation of this mechanism may enhance the development of advanced batteries based on IL and nanoporous separators.

Safety Watchdog for universally safe gaseous high pressure hydrogen fillings

The fast filling time for hydrogen fuel cell vehicles makes them a user-friendly zero emission alternative to fossil fuel powered vehicles. The filling, by compressing gas into the vehicle tanks, produces heat that can be damaging. There are different protocols, standardized or the intellectual property of station operators, dedicated for different specific applications taking into account the specificity of the vessel and customer requirements. Standard protocols are developed for worst case conditions across a broad range of vehicle tank sizes and configurations. These worst case conditions do not result in the most economical equipment solution for hydrogen fueling. To ensure safety for different existing and future potential protocols a new “Safety Watchdog” approach is suggested in the current paper. This “Safety Watchdog” monitors the fueling process boundary conditions independently from the main process controls. The decoupling between the watchdog and the protocol allows use of protocols that are more economically beneficial while ensuring full safety conditions. The current paper provides a mathematical formulation of the Safety Watchdog as well as its validation versus modeling and field experimental data.

Quasicondensation of Bilayer Excitons in a Periodic Potential.

We study two-dimensional excitons confined in a lattice potential, for high fillings of the lattice sites. We show that a quasicondensate is possibly formed for small values of the lattice depth, but for larger ones the critical phase-space density for quasicondensation rapidly exceeds our experimental reach, due to an increase of the exciton effective mass. On the other hand, in the regime of a deep lattice potential where excitons are strongly localized at the lattice sites, we show that an array of phase-independent quasicondensates, different from a Mott insulator, is realized.

RESISTANCE OF ENAMEL IN SUPRA-OCCLUSION CONTACTS OF INDIVIDUAL TEETH IN RATS OF VARIOUS AGES

Introduction. Supra-occlusion is a position of a group of teeth or individual teeth, the cutting edge or chewing surface of which is located above the occlusal plane. This condition is characterized as primary traumatic occlusion, supra-contact or traumatic nodes, in which a number of structural and functional changes occur in the hard tissues of the teeth and periodontal tissue. Traumatic occlusion of teeth is often caused by occlusal intervention, such as high fillings or prostheses, parafunctional habits. In physiological conditions, the protection of teeth from chemical and mechanical interventions is provided by their structural and functional resistance. However, the influence of supra-occlusion on the resistance of tooth enamel, and especially in different age groups, has not yet been studied. Therefore, we consider this topic relevant. The objective of the work was to study the state of enamel resistance in supra-occlusal contacts of individual teeth in rats of various ages according to the enamel resistance test (ERT-test). Materials and methods. The study involved 36 white male laboratory rats aged 4 to 22 months and weighing 100 to 210 g. The animals were divided into two groups (control and experimental), each was divided into three subgroups (6 animals each) according to age categories: young, mature, old-aged. In the study group, the state of supra-occlusion was simulated by increasing the height of the lower right second molars via filling 1 mm in height, without preparation of hard tissues of the teeth. Previously, the animals were anesthetized intramuscularly with sodium thiopental solution. After removing the animals from the experiment on the 15th day by decapitation under general anesthesia with sodium thiopental, by intraperitoneal injection, the dental blocks were removed and the structural and functional state of the tooth enamel was determined by the ERT-test. Statistical processing of data was performed using the program AtteStat V.12.5 with the determination of the mean and its error (M ± m). The probable significance of the difference in the obtained data was determined by the Student's t-test (p ≤ 0.05). Study results. In the control group, ERT-test values decreased (enamel resistance increased accordingly) in rats, depending on age. In young rats, enamel resistance to acidic dissolution was the smallest, and in mature and old-aged rats it increased. However, the difference between the age groups was not statistically significant (p > 0.05). A similar situation was registered in animals of the study group. However, statistically significant differences were observed only between young and old-aged rats (p = 0.025). In the control group, the acid resistance of enamel is higher compared to study group (p = 0.007). In young rats from the control group, enamel resistance to acids was 16.7% higher than in the study group (p = 0.025). In mature animals of the control group, the resistance of enamel to acid dissolution is 17.7% higher than in the study group (p = 0.046), and in old-aged – by 15.2% (p = 0.2). Conclusions. The resistance of enamel of teeth that are subjected to increased stress via supra-occlusal interactions is reduced in young, mature and old-aged rats in comparison with the control group. Reduced enamel resistance can be one of the risk factors in the occurrence of dental caries.

The effect of metal salts on aerosol performance of spray dried carrier-free formulations of levofloxacin.

Metal salts are used in formulation of dry powder inhalers (DPIs) for different purposes. Recently the role of these salts in production of small, dense but highly dispersible particles has emerged. In this study the effect of some such salts on dispersibility and respirability of spray dried levofloxacin formulations was evaluated in normal and reduced inhalation air flow or by increasing powder filling in capsules. levofloxacin was co-spray dried with different concentrations of common metal chlorides (NaCl, KCl, CaCl2 and MgCl2) either with or without leucine as dispersibility enhancer. Particle size, moisture, morphology, triboelectrification tendency and fine particle fraction (FPF) of resulting powders were evaluated. In addition, the effect of these salts and leucine on dispersibility of resulting powders in reduced air flow rate and increased capsule filling mass were evaluated. Presence of higher tested concentrations of divalent cations increased water content, and reduced FPF significantly. Addition of leucine reduced water content and electrostatic charge, increased particle size and FPF and improved spray drying yield significantly. Lower concentrations of salts did not affect FPF of leucine containing powders significantly, but presence of 2.5% NaCl or MgCl2 preserved the dispersibility in higher capsule fillings. A 2.5% concentration of NaCl in such formulations preserved dispersibility in lower air flows. Higher amounts of divalent salts increases triboelectrification and moisture absorption, and reduces FPF. Lower concentrations of NaCl could not improve FPF of leucine containing formulations significantly, but preserves dispersibility in low air flows and high capsule fillings. Graphical abstract.

Contactless measurements of microwave-induced resistance oscillations in a ZnO/MgZnO heterojunction

The high-frequency conductivity of the two dimensional electron system formed at a ZnO/MgZnO heterojunction was investigated in the 4--18 GHz frequency range at high Landau level fillings and in the regime of both integer quantum Hall effect. The conductivity was probed by measuring the transmission of the broadband coplanar waveguide deposited on the sample surface. At low magnetic fields in case the sample was additionally subjected to the exciting radiation of the 60--140 GHz frequencies, the high-frequency conductivity exhibited well developed microwave-induced oscillations. Remarkably, these oscillations were detected in the whole range of probe frequencies studied---up to 18 GHz---in contrast to GaAs/AlGaAs heterostructures, where microwave-induced oscillations were reported to smear out at probe frequencies around 1 GHz. Furthermore, for each exciting frequency the phase and the period of the microwave-induced oscillations revealed no dependence on the probe frequency and coincided with the period and phase of the microwave-induced resistance oscillations studied independently by dc transport measurements in the same sample. The characteristic probe frequency at which the oscillations start to degrade corresponds to the characteristic scattering time in the region between quantum scattering rates deduced from the cyclotron resonance linewidth and that extracted from the magnetic field dependence of the microwave-induced resistance oscillations.

Understanding mild cell disintegration of microalgae in bead mills for the release of biomolecules

Cell disintegration is, in general, the first step in the biorefinery of algae, since it allows the release of biomolecules of interest from the cells into the bulk medium. For high-value commercial applications, the disintegration process must be selective, energy efficient and mild. Developing a process with such features would demand extensive experimental effort. In the present study, we attempt to provide a tool for developing an efficient disintegration process via bead milling, by proposing a modelling strategy that allows the prediction of the kinetics of cell disintegration while having as input not only process parameters but also strain-specific parameters like cell size and cell-wall strength. The model was validated for two different algal strains (Tetraselmis suecica and Chlorella vulgaris), at various values of bead size (0.3–1 mm) and bead fillings (2.5–75%) and at two different scales of 80 and 500 mL. Since the kinetics of disintegration is proportional to the kinetics of release of biomolecules, the model can be further used for scale-up studies and to establish a window of operation to selectively target cells or metabolites of interest. Furthermore, the energy consumption in the mill was evaluated and it was found that operating at high bead fillings (>65%) is crucial to ensure an energy efficient process.

Effects of Partial Crystallization on the Dynamics of Water in Mesoporous Silica

We use differential scanning calorimetry, broadband dielectric spectroscopy, and deuteron nuclear magnetic resonance to investigate water dynamics in MCM-41 pores with a diameter of d = 2.5 nm. At high pore fillings, partial crystallization at Tm = 221 K leads to a dynamic crossover. The reorientation of all water molecules shows non-Arrhenius temperature dependence above 221 K, while two Arrhenius processes associated with liquid and crystalline water species can be distinguished below this temperature. Thus, the confined liquid water fraction exhibits an apparent fragile-to-strong transition as a consequence of a reduction of the accessible pore volume to a narrow interfacial layer during fractional freezing. The confined crystalline water fraction shows considerable dynamics with water reorientation in the milliseconds regime near 200 K. At low pore fillings, we observe neither partial crystallization nor a dynamic crossover.

A Review of Works on Shaped Charges

Shaped charges are used to pierce hard targets in all three versions of warfare land, air and naval. High explosives compositions fillings produce a thin high velocity metal jet which is used for target damage. Shaped charges can efficiently damage tanks possessing thick armour protection, bunkers and aircraft and are also useful for attacking ships and submarines. Shaped charges have a very long history since the Second World War Theoretical modeling started with the steady state theory of Birkhoff in 1948, which was modified by the non-steady state theory known as PER theory of shaped charges. To review the development in the shaped charges three stages are defined. In the first stage development until 1990 is presented when shaped charge theory was fully developed and penetration predictions with fairly good accuracy were possible. In the second stage, review of the work carried out in the last decade of the 20th century is discussed. During this period experimental verification of different parameters was established. The third stage deals with all the work carried out in the 21st century (2000-2010), including tools for advanced diagnostics, new fabrication and inspection, as well as new liner materials were included. The anomalies occurred were resolved by further refinements in the theoretical models.

Filling-dependent doublon dynamics in the one-dimensional Hubbard model

The fate of a local two-hole doublon excitation in the one-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model is systematically studied for strong Hubbard interaction U in the entire filling range using the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) and the Bethe ansatz. For strong U, two holes at the same site form a compound object whose decay is impeded by the lack of phase space. Still, a partial decay is possible on an extremely short time scale where phase-space arguments do not yet apply. We argue that the initial decay and the resulting intermediate state are relevant for experiments performed with ultracold atoms loaded into an optical lattice as well as for (time-resolved) CVV Auger-electron spectroscopy. The detailed discussion comprises the mixed ballistic-diffusive real-time propagation of the doublon through the lattice, its partial decay on the short time scale as a function of filling and interaction strength, as well as the analysis of the decay products, which are metastable on the intermediate time scale that is numerically accessible and which show up in the two-hole excitation (Auger) spectrum. The ambivalent role of singly occupied sites is key to understanding the doublon physics: For high fillings, ground-state configurations with single occupancies are recognized to strongly relax the kinematic constraints and to open up decay channels. For fillings close to half filling, however, their presence actually blocks the doublon decay. Finally, the analysis of the continua in the two-hole spectrum excludes a picture where the doublon decays into unbound electron holes for generic fillings, different from the limiting case of the completely filled band. We demonstrate that the decay products as well as the doublon propagation should rather be understood in terms of Bethe ansatz eigenstates.

Spin Localization of a Fermi Polaron in a Quasirandom Optical Lattice

Recently, the topics of many-body localization (MBL) and one-dimensional strongly interacting few-body systems have received a lot of interest. These two topics have been largely developed separately. However, the generality of the latter as far as external potentials are concerned—including random and quasirandom potentials—and their shared spatial dimensionality, makes it an interesting way of dealing with MBL in the strongly interacting regime. Utilising tools developed for few-body systems we look to gain insight into the localization properties of the spin in a Fermi gas with strong interactions. We observe a delocalized–localized transition over a range of fillings of a quasirandom lattice. We find this transition to be of a different nature for low and high fillings, due to the diluteness of the system for low fillings.

Consideration of adsorbate vibrations and their phase states in porous systems

The phase state of adsorbate in porous systems is considered, in which the walls are characterized by interaction potential with adsorbate: from strong attraction to absence of attraction. The equations are based on discrete distribution functions (the lattice gas model) taking into account the contribution of the vibration motions of adsorbate. The vibration motion of molecules is taken into account in the modified quasi-dimer Mie model. Molecular distributions are calculated in the quasi-chemical approximation reflecting the effects of direct correlations of interacting particles using the Lennard-Jones potential. Conditions of express estimates of vibration frequencies are discussed in which vibration frequencies weakly affect molecular distributions in the case of strong adsorption. It is found that consideration of vibrations results in a shift in adsorption isotherms in the coordinates of chemical potential-density to higher values of vapor pressure in the range of high fillings. This is related to the necessity of additional vapor “compression” for its transition into the adsorbed state characterized by higher kinetic energy.

Current inversion at the edges of a chiralp-wave superconductor

Motivated by Sr$_2$RuO$_4$, edge quasiparticle states are analyzed based on the self-consistent solution of the Bogolyubov-de Gennes equations for a topological chiral $p$-wave superconductor. Using a tight-binding model of a square lattice for the dominant $\gamma$-band we explore the non-trivial geometry and band structure dependence of the edge states and currents. As a peculiar finding we show that for high band fillings currents flow in reversed direction comparing straight and zigzag edges. We give a simple explanation in terms of the positions of the zero-energy bound states using a quasi-classical picture. We also show that a Ginzburg-Landau approach can reproduce these results. Moreover, the band filling dependence of the most stable domain wall structure is discussed.