Initial Size Research Articles

A new cellular automata model for hot deformation behavior of AZ80A magnesium alloy considering topological technique

In this paper, the CA model of grain topological deformation technique (T-CA) and the physical constitutive model considering strain are introduced to study the hot deformation behavior of extruded AZ80A magnesium alloy. The isothermal compression test of extruded AZ80A magnesium alloy was carried out on the Gleeble-3800 thermal simulator. The deformation temperature and strain rate were 598 K∼723 K and 0.001 s−1∼1 s−1, respectively. According to the experimental results, a phenomenological constitutive model of flow stress considering strain was constructed. The reliability of the model was verified by comparing the experimental and predicted flow stress. The influence of thermal deformation parameters, i.e., deformation temperature, strain rate, and strain, on the DRX kinetic curve and grain size evolution was studied based on the CA model with the introduction of grain topological (T-CA) deformation technology. Meanwhile, the influence of initial grain size on dynamic recrystallization was studied using the conventional CA model (C-CA) and the CA model with topological deformation (T-CA) technology. Finally, the accuracy of the T-CA model was verified by combining physical experiments and electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) technology. At the temperature of 598 K, the strain rate of 0.1 s−1, and the strain of 0.91, the error between the average grain size simulated by the topological CA (T-CA) model and the experimental results is 7.6 %, which is consistent with the experimental results. When the initial grain size is 43 µm, compared with the conventional CA simulation method (C-CA), the CA simulation method with the introduction of grain topological deformation can promote the occurrence of recrystallization, improving the simulation speed and accuracy. The error between the percentage of recrystallization and the experiment is 4.5 % and 3.2 %, respectively, indicating that the simulation method with the introduction of grain topological deformation (T-CA) can accurately predict the dynamic recrystallization behavior of AZ80A magnesium alloy.

Intratumor delivery of amino-modified graphene oxide as a multifunctional photothermal agent for efficient antitumor phototherapy

Due to the high selectivity and non-invasive property, phototherapy has attracted increasing attention in the treatment of cancer. Targeted delivery and retention of photoactive agents in tumor tissue is of great significance and importance for safe and efficient phototherapy. Herein, we report a multifunctional nanomaterial photothermal agent, namely amino-modified graphene oxide (AGO) for anti-oral cancer photothermal therapy (PTT). Compared to the parental graphene oxide (GO) which has a negative charge and weak photothermal effect, AGO possesses a positive charge (∼+50 mV) and the significantly enhanced photothermal effect. Positive charge allows AGO to efficiently interact with tumor cells and retain in tumor tissue after intratumor injection. The enhanced photothermal effect allows AGO to achieve the tunable and efficient PTT. In vitro results show that AGO (15 μg/mL) reduces the viability of HSC-3 cells (oral squamous cell carcinoma cell line) to 5% under near infrared (NIR) irradiation (temperature increased to 58.4 °C). In vivo antitumor study shows that intratumor delivery of AGO (200 μg/mouse) has no inhibition effects on tumor growth (454% of initial tumor size) without NIR. With a single dose of NIR irradiation, however, AGO significantly reduces the tumor size to 25% of initial size in 1 of 4 mice, and even induces the complete tumor ablation in 3 of 4 mice. Furthermore, the injected AGO falls off along with the scab after PTT. Our findings indicate that AGO is a potential nano-photothermal agent for tunable, convenient and efficient anticancer PTT.

Probing interactions of red blood cells and contracting fibrin platelet clots

Contraction of blood clots plays an important role in blood clotting, a natural process that restores hemostasis and regulates thrombosis in the body. Upon injury, a chain of events culminate in the formation of a soft plug of cells and fibrin fibers attaching to wound edges. Platelets become activated and apply contractile forces to shrink the overall clot size, modify clot structure, and mechanically stabilize the clot. Impaired blood clot contraction results in unhealthy volumetric, mechanical, and structural properties of blood clots associated with a range of severe medical conditions for patients with bleeding and thrombotic disorders. Due to the inherent mechanical complexity of blood clots and a confluence of multiple interdependent factors governing clot contraction, the mechanics and dynamics of clot contraction and the interactions with red blood cells (RBCs) remain elusive. Using an experimentally informed, physics-based mesoscale computational model, we probe the dynamic interactions among platelets, fibrin polymers, and RBCs, and examine the properties of contracted blood clots. Our simulations confirm that RBCs strongly affect clot contraction. We find that RBC retention and compaction in thrombi can be solely a result of mechanistic contraction of fibrin mesh due to platelet activity. Retention of RBCs hinders clot contraction and reduces clot contractility. Expulsion of RBCs located closer to clot outer surface results in the development of a dense fibrin shell in thrombus clots commonly observed in experiments. Our simulations identify the essential parameters and interactions that control blood clot contraction process, highlighting its dependence on platelet concentration and the initial clot size. Furthermore, our computational model can serve as a useful tool in clinically relevant studies of hemostasis and thrombosis disorders, and post thrombotic clot lysis, deformation, and breaking.

Ecoepidemiological Model and Optimal Control Analysis of Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus Disease in Tomato Plant

The purpose of this study is to analyze the impact of control strategies, namely, insecticide spray, roguing of a diseased tomato plant, and protective netting to protect tomato plant from tomato yellow leaf curl virus disease (TYLCVD). For this, we formulate and analyze a simple deterministic model for the transmission dynamics of TYLCVD that incorporates these control strategies. We initially take into account the constant control case, we calculate the basic reproduction number, and we investigate the existence and stability of the disease-free and endemic equilibria. We use the Kamgang-Sallet stability to ensure that the disease-free equilibrium point is globally asymptotically stable when the reproduction number R 0 is less than one. This indicates that TYLCVD dies out independent of the initial size of the tomato population. For R 0 < 1 , the disease-free equilibrium becomes unstable, and the endemic equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable. This indicates that TYLCVD propagates. In the nonconstant control case, we use Pontryagin’s maximum principle to derive the necessary conditions for the optimal control of the disease. Our findings show that all the combined efforts of two out of three strategies can significantly reduce the power of infectivity of the disease except the combination of the use of insecticide spray and rouging infected tomato plants. Besides our numerical simulations show, the implementation of the combination of roguing diseased plants and protective netting has a similar effect in minimizing or eliminating TYLCV as the use of all strategies. Hence, as resources are always in scarce, we recommend policymakers to adapt the combination of the use of roguing diseased tomato plants and protective netting to eradicate the disease.

The bioconversion of lignin derivative aldehydes into high-value aromatic alcohols and lipids via Lipomyces starkeyi

Lignin carries great potential as an attractive alternative to petroleum-based products. In particular, biological lignin conversion to various value-added products has recently gained attention owing to its promising benefits in supporting the future bioeconomy. The oleaginous yeast Lipomyces starkeyi is a promising organism due to its impressive native abilities to tolerate and metabolize various lignin monomer derivatives and its ability to synthesize single-cell oil (lipids) inside the cells. Herein, we investigated the coupling abilities of lignin monomer metabolism and lipid biosynthesis via L. starkeyi. Three representatives of lignin derivative aldehydes (4-hydroxybenzaldehyde (H-lignin), vanillin (G-lignin), and syringaldehyde (S-lignin)) were converted into their alcohol forms (4-hydroxybenzyl alcohol, vanillyl alcohol, and syringyl alcohol, respectively) without the formation of undesirable byproducts, and each was maintained in its alcohol form for the remaining cultivation. In addition, a double concentration of syringaldehyde in individual lignin fermentation promoted cell growth (17.01 g L−1) and lipid accumulation (30.72 % (w w−1)). However, mixed fermentation of all lignin aldehydes resulted in heavy inhibition of the cells. Hence, combination fermentation strategies of high initial inoculum size using a medium with a high C:N ratio were beneficial to improving the fermentation time and lipid titer increment up to 2.6-fold. Overall, this study describes the first prospective of lignin alcohol and lipid production from lignin derivative aldehydes via L. starkeyi.

Utility of Targeted Positron Emission Tomography Imaging to Predict Schwannoma Growth in a Murine Tumor Model.

To identify if targeted positron emission tomography (PET) imaging with radiolabeled antibodies can predict tumor growth rate and ultimate tumor size in a murine flank schwannoma model. Animal research study. Rat schwannoma cells were cultured and implanted into 40 athymic nude mice. Once tumors reached 5 mm in diameter, 30 mice were injected with zirconium-89 labeled antibodies (HER2/Neu, vascular endothelial growth factor receptor 2 (VEGFR2), or IgG isotype). PET/CT was performed, and standardized uptake values (SUV) were recorded. Tumors were serially measured until mice were sacrificed per IACUC protocol. Statistical analysis was performed to measure correlations between SUV values, tumor size, and growth. Mean tumor sizes in mm3 on Day 0 were 144 ± 162 for anti-HER2/Neu, 212 ± 247 for anti-VEGFR2, and 172 ± 204 for IgG isotype groups respectively. Mean growth rates in mm3 /day were 531 ± 250 for HER2, 584 ± 188 for VEGFR2, and 416 ± 163 for the IgG isotype group. For both initial tumor size and growth rates, there was no significant difference between groups. There were significant correlations between maximum tumor volume and both the SUV max in the HER2 group (p = 0.0218, R2 = 0.5020), and we observed significant correlations between growth rate, and SUV values (p = 0.0156, R2 = 0.5394). Respectively, in the anti-VEGFR2 group, there were no significant correlations. In a murine schwannoma model, immunotargeted PET imaging with anti-HER2/Neu antibodies predicted tumor growth rate and final tumor size. Laryngoscope, 134:1372-1380, 2024.

Investigation on solid dispersion in a CFB dense region with Bluetooth tracking method and MP-PIC simulation

Solid dispersion behavior in a dense region of a six-cyclone pant-leg CFB was investigated experimentally and numerically. The Bluetooth tracking technique was used to measure the solid dispersion characteristics. The numerical simulation was done by MP-PIC model and it was extended to study the influence of tracer particle size on solid dispersion characteristics after it was verified by the tests results. Effects of superficial velocity (Ug), initial bed inventory (Hm) and bed material particle size (dpi) were tested and compared. The results showed that wall constraint in width (x) direction is smaller than depth (y) direction and the dispersion coefficient Dx can be determined by analyzing X2 and dX2/2dt respect to time. The average particle displacement X/X0 increased with Ug, Hm and decreased with dpi. The Dx, in the range of 0.0021m2/s ∼ 0.0108 m2/s, has a linear relationship respect to Ug and Hm. A correlation formula for lateral dispersion coefficient was summarized and its results were compared with the present and literatures' work.

Differential impact of missed initial wound clinic visit on 6-month wound healing by race/ethnicity among patients with chronic limb-threatening ischemia.

Chronic limb-threatening ischemia (CLTI) is associated with significant morbidity, including major limb amputation, and mortality. Healing ischemic wounds is necessary to optimise vascular outcomes and can be facilitated by dedicated appointments at a wound clinic. This study aimed to estimate the association between successful wound care initiation and 6-month wound healing, with specific attention to differences by race/ethnicity. This retrospective study included 398 patients with CLTI and at least one ischaemic wound who scheduled an appointment at our wound clinic between January 2015 and July 2020. The exposure was the completion status of patients' first scheduled wound care appointment (complete/not complete) and the primary outcome was 6-month wound healing (healed/not healed). The analysis focused on how this association was modified by race/ethnicity. We used Aalen-Johansen estimators to produce cumulative incidence curves and calculated risk ratios within strata of race/ethnicity. The final adjustment set included age, revascularization, and initial wound size. Patients had a mean age of 67 ± 14 years, were 41% female, 46% non-White and had 517 total wounds. In the overall cohort, 70% of patients completed their first visit and 34% of wounds healed within 6-months. There was no significant difference in 6-month healing based on first visit completion status for White/non-Hispanic individuals (RR [95% CI] = 1.18 [0.91, 1.45]; p-value = 0.130), while non-White individuals were roughly 3 times more likely to heal their wounds if they completed their first appointment (RR [95% CI] = 2.89 [2.66, 3.11]; p-value < 0.001). In conclusion, non-White patients were approximately three times more likely to heal their wound in 6 months if they completed their first scheduled wound care appointment while White/non-Hispanic individuals' risk of healing was similar regardless of first visit completion status. Future efforts should focus on providing additional resources to ensure minority groups with wounds have the support they need to access and successfully initiate wound care.

Self-aggregation, dilational surface rheology and foaming properties of 1-O-dodecyl diglyceryl ether compared to n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside and pentaethyleneglycol monododecyl ether

Diglyceryl alkyl esters are good foaming agents but the ester linker can be sensitive to pH, chemicals and temperature unlike the ether function. In this work, the foaming properties of a diglyceryl ether, namely 1-O-dodecyl diglyceryl ether (C12Gly2), are compared to those of n-dodecyl-β-D-maltoside (C12Glc2) and pentaethyleneglycol monododecyl ether (C12E5). The self-aggregation behaviour of C12Gly2 and adsorption at the air–water interface has been first investigated. For the three surfactants, the dynamic response of the interface, measured in oscillatory bubble interfacial rheology experiments below CMC, is compared and put in relation with their foaming properties. In particular, the foamability by air sparging at a concentration of 10 times the CMC, the foam stability over 1 h and the foam density are quantified.It is shown that C12Gly2 forms liquid crystals at low concentration (∼10CMC). C12E5, with a lower elasticity high frequency limit ε0, forms unstable foam with quick drainage and breakdown, whereas higher ε0 surfactants C12Gly2 and C12Glc 2 form much more stable foams, resulting from hydrogen bonds between the polar heads of C12Glc 2 and C12Gly2. Differences in C12Gly2 and C12Glc2 foams lay in initial bubble size (smaller for the C12Glc 2). In C12Gly2 foam, the main destabilization phenomenon is coalescence over drainage, and the foam volume only decreases by 30% in 1 h.

Endoplasmic Reticulum Exit Sites scale with somato-dendritic size in neurons.

Nervous systems exhibit dramatic diversity in cell morphology and size. How neurons regulate their biosynthetic and secretory machinery to support such diversity is not well understood. Endoplasmic reticulum exit sites (ERESs) are essential for maintaining secretory flux, and are required for normal dendrite development, but how neurons of different size regulate secretory capacity remains unknown. In Caenorhabditis elegans, we find that the ERES number is strongly correlated with the size of a neuron's dendritic arbor. The elaborately branched sensory neuron, PVD, has especially high ERES numbers. Asymmetric cell division provides PVD with a large initial cell size critical for rapid establishment of PVD's high ERES number before neurite outgrowth, and these ERESs are maintained throughout development. Maintenance of ERES number requires the cell fate transcription factor MEC-3, C. elegans TOR (ceTOR/let-363), and nutrient availability, with mec-3 and ceTOR/let-363 mutant PVDs both displaying reductions in ERES number, soma size, and dendrite size. Notably, mec-3 mutant animals exhibit reduced expression of a ceTOR/let-363 reporter in PVD, and starvation reduces ERES number and somato-dendritic size in a manner genetically redundant with ceTOR/let-363 perturbation. Our data suggest that both asymmetric cell division and nutrient sensing pathways regulate secretory capacities to support elaborate dendritic arbors.

Quantitative investigation of sooting dynamics in droplet combustion using an automated image analysis algorithm

This paper reports an image analysis approach using a newly-developed open-source program to extract quantitative measurements of soot volume fraction (SVF) from digital video images of burning n-heptane droplets. The automated program developed in this work can analyze images of fixed and untethered droplets to quantify sooting dynamics. The images analyzed in the program were taken from experiments carried out in the Multi-user Droplet Combustion Apparatus (MDCA) onboard the International Space Station (ISS). In these experiments, video imaging of burning droplets was obtained using backlighting by a laser diode with a wavelength of 653 nm. The light was collimated before it passed through the droplet and soot-containing region, after which the light was then attenuated and projected onto the camera’s sensors. This technique facilitates the measurements of SVF based on the principles of the full field light extinction method (FFLEM). The measurements provide quantitative data that reveal the sooting dynamics of liquid fuels during droplet combustion processes.The analyses of a soot-attenuating image (ISS n-heptane, untethered droplet) at an instant during the burning show that the SVF distribution has a peak at the soot shell location. It then decreases due to soot oxidation when the location is further away from the burning droplet. Regarding temporal effects on the maximum SVF (SVFmax), results show that SVFmax first increases after the burning is initiated until a peak value is reached, after which SVFmax decreases. The SVFmax values identified in this study for n-heptane are quantitatively consistent with previously reported values for fiber-supported droplets and are reached relatively early in the burning history. n-Heptane images are also analyzed to show the effects of initial droplet sizes on the maximum soot volume fraction. Results show that SVFmax decreases with increasing initial droplet size, which is consistent with visual observations of less soot formed and dimmer flame brightness as Do increases.

Assessing Osteolytic Lesion Size on Sequential CT Scans Is a Reliable Study Endpoint for Bone Remineralization in Newly Diagnosed Multiple Myeloma.

Multiple myeloma (MM) frequently induces persisting osteolytic manifestations despite hematologic treatment response. This study aimed to establish a biometrically valid study endpoint for bone remineralization through quantitative and qualitative analyses in sequential CT scans. Twenty patients (seven women, 58 ± 8 years) with newly diagnosed MM received standardized induction therapy comprising the anti-SLAMF7 antibody elotuzumab, carfilzomib, lenalidomide, and dexamethasone (E-KRd). All patients underwent whole-body low-dose CT scans before and after six cycles of E-KRd. Two radiologists independently recorded osteolytic lesion sizes, as well as the presence of cortical destruction, pathologic fractures, rim and trabecular sclerosis. Bland-Altman analyses and Krippendorff's α were employed to assess inter-reader reliability, which was high for lesion size measurement (standard error 1.2 mm) and all qualitative criteria assessed (α ≥ 0.74). After six cycles of E-KRd induction, osteolytic lesion size decreased by 22% (p < 0.001). While lesion size response did not correlate with the initial lesion size at baseline imaging (Pearson's r = 0.144), logistic regression analysis revealed that the majority of responding osteolyses exhibited trabecular sclerosis (p < 0.001). The sum of osteolytic lesion sizes on sequential CT scans defines a reliable study endpoint to characterize bone remineralization. Patient level response is strongly associated with the presence of trabecular sclerosis.

Selective complexation leaching of copper from copper smelting slag with the alkaline glycine solution: An effective recovery method of copper from secondary resource

In the process of copper smelting, amounts of copper droplets inevitably enter the copper smelting slag (CSS), resulting in a high loss of copper. As the grade of exploitable copper ore decreases gradually, the recovery of copper from copper slag is very important to ensure the safe supply of copper. In this study, a new method was proposed to recover copper via selective complexation leaching process by using the alkaline glycine solution. Various leaching parameters, including initial pH, particle size, stirring speed, liquid-solid ratio, temperature and glycine concentration were investigated. Under the optimum leaching conditions, the copper extraction of 86.40 % was achieved, while the other valuable metal elements were barely leached. The results of leaching kinetics indicated that the mixed control, a combination of internal diffusion and interfacial chemical reaction, was the rate-limiting step in the leaching process, where the apparent activation energy was calculated to be 34.66 kJ/mol. After leaching process, the leaching solution rich in copper–glycine complex was obtained, and the copper grade in the leaching residue was 0.22 wt%, while the unseparated copper was tightly wrapped by gangue minerals. Therefore, glycine was successfully used as the leaching agent to extract copper from CSS with high efficiency and selectivity, which provided a prospective method for the green recovery of CSS.

On the Interaction of Damage Evolution and Thermal Buckling in Stepped Circular Bilaminates

Abstract The behavior and evolution of stepped circular bi-laminates with edge damage are studied for structures subjected to uniform thermal load. The problem is formulated as a moving intermediate boundaries problem in the calculus of variations, where the boundary of an evolving region of damage emanating from the edge of the smaller substructure, as well as the boundary of a progressing/regressing region of sliding contact adjacent to the intact region of the composite structure are each allowed to vary along with the displacements. This yields the associated transversality conditions that define the locations of the propagating boundaries that correspond to equilibrium configurations of the evolving composite structure, as well as the equations of equilibrium and the associated interior and exterior boundary conditions. Various configurations of contact of the detached segments of the composite structure and the associated behavior are considered, and the influence and progression of contact on the overall evolution of the composite structure are assessed. Closed-form analytical solutions to the geometrically nonlinear problem are obtained, and expressions for the critical buckling load are developed. The explicit forms of the total energy release rate along the delamination front, as well as of the conditions for propagation of the contact zone boundary, are obtained from the analytical solutions and the corresponding transversality conditions. Results of numerical simulations based on the analytical solutions are presented and are seen to unveil a rich evolution process involving contact progression/recession and metamorphosis, buckling, and detachment progression during the prebuckling phase, during sling-shot buckling, and during the postbuckling phase, depending on the material properties of the sublaminates, the geometry of the sublaminates, the initial size of the damage, and the strength of the interfacial bond. Characteristic behavior of damage propagation is found to be quite robust and is seen to include stable propagation, stable followed by unstable progression, arrest, and catastrophic propagation.

Optimal sizing and lifetime investigation of second life lithium-ion battery for grid-scale stationary application

The renewable energy sources (RESs) integration into the grid system aims to solve the problem of power shortage and satisfy the increasing demand with the production of surplus energy. However, the intermittent nature of these RESs (solar and wind) is a challenge to integrate with the grid system without the deployment of mitigating solutions. The re-use of first life-end-of-life (FL_EoL) electric vehicle batteries known as second life batteries (SLBs) is therefore proposed as a reliable solution to resolve this problem, satisfying the techno-economic requirements of stationary applications. Though various studies performed on the technical viability evaluation of SLBs, most of them have not considered the field data of existing stationary plants and were found to be limited with simulation-based aging results. On the other hand, few of the studies have performed the second life aging test with limited cycles considering the end of test conditions rather than using the cells reached to their end of first life criteria. Therefore, in this paper, the prolonged cycling aging of SLBs is conducted (both cell-level and module-level aging), focusing on aging characteristics of SLBs by using a real-life renewable power smoothing profile extracted from an existing photovoltaic grid-connected system (PVGCS) installed in Ethiopia. Prior to the aging characterization of SLBs, assessment of the selected stationary application requirement, optimal sizing of the storage battery and cycling profile definition are performed using advanced moving average ramp rate controller (MARRC) algorithm. The proposed method of MARRC is used to determine the optimal SLBs capacity by analyzing the relationship between ramp-rate, initial battery capacity and window sizes of moving average control method in terms of time series. The algorithm addresses the main objectives of reducing unnecessary battery cycling, mitigating ramp-rate violations and meeting minimum storage requirements for the second-life application. From the result of the battery sizing study, the desired optimal battery capacity and the permissible ramp-rate limit below 10 %/minute is achieved. Moreover, the aging characterization and lifetime model validation results with a root mean square error (RMSE) of 1.5 % shows that, the technical performance of the SLBs is found to be promising with an efficiency of >90 % interpreted in terms of the service year that the SLBs can provide. Therefore, SLBs can be regarded as a viable solution for integrating RESs with the grid system for the power variability smoothing application.

Longitudinal method approach in assessing the Moldovan migrants’ stock

Estimating international migration is a challenging exercise despite the information technologies used, regular censuses conducted, and available advanced administrative systems in collecting data on vital events. Recent works estimated the stocks and flows of Moldovan migrants mainly by using national administrative sources on population counts and data from the population censuses in the destination countries. This study aims to assess the stock of Moldovan migrants of the 1980–1995 birth cohorts, for which a longitudinal method was applied. Thus, were compared de facto population of the corresponding generations to their initial size (number of births), adjusting by survival rate. The results of the study show the existing stock of Moldovan migrants of the 1980–1995 year of birth and the impact of outmigration on the changes in the size of the corresponding cohorts as of 2016 and its trend until 2022. During the analysed period was emphasised a plateau in the migrants’ stock of the generations born in the early 1980s with a moderate return migration in the 2020–2022 period. On the other hand, the cohorts of the late 1980s and 1990s registered a significant increase in the number of migrants, which corresponds with the period of the entrance in high migration mobility ages. The study covers the entire territory of Moldova, including the left bank of the Nistru River and Bender municipality. The methodological part provides a complete description of the method applied, which might be further considered for estimating the migrants’ flows and stocks by using vital statistics or population census data.

Information dissemination evolution under group feedback

In this paper, based on the feedback mechanism from the perspective of network groups, the evolutionary characteristics and laws of group networks under information dissemination are studied. First, the network is divided into groups of different sizes, and each group is given a dynamically changing group activity and a positive degree of response to different categories of information. Second, a feedback-based model of information dissemination in group networks is developed, which takes into account the differences between same-group and cross-group dissemination of information. Next, the model is applied to a scale-free network and a small-world network for simulation experiments. The experimental results show that, under the feedback mechanism, the main factor affecting the final evolutionary results of each group size in the small-world network is group positivity, which has little relationship with the initial size; similarly, the main factor affecting the average degree of each group in the scale-free network is also group positivity, which has nothing to do with the initial average degree. Finally, the method is applied to a real network to verify the rationality and effectiveness of the proposed model.

Comparison of wet and dry milling on carbon biomass as dispersed particle in quench medium for steel heat treatment application

Particle dispersion in the quench medium can alter its properties, particularly its thermal conductivity. Modulating the quench medium’s thermal conductivity can impact the steel’s hardness after heat treatment. In this study, micron-sized particles of carbon biomass derived from coconuts were obtained by milling the biomass via wet and dry methods. The milling duration for both methods was 10, 15, and 20 h, while the speeds were 250, 500, and 750 rpm for each duration. Particle size analysis revealed that dry milling could decrease the particle size by up to 60% from its initial size, whereas wet milling could only decrease it by up to 43%. A thermal conductivity test was conducted on the water-based quench medium supplemented with milled particles, demonstrating an increase in thermal conductivity up to 0.68 W mK−1 and 0.83 W mK−1 for dry and wet milling, respectively. All steel quenched with particle-added quench medium showed a hardness up to 21% higher than steel quenched with distilled water. The increase in hardness suggests that the cooling rate during quenching was faster because of the additional dispersed particle, determined by the quench medium’s thermal conductivity.

Initial Bare-root Crown Size and Early-season Flower Cluster Removal Has Little Effect on Subsequent Plant Performance in Day-neutral Strawberry

In strawberry (Fragaria ×ananassa), initial bare-root crown diameter and early-season flower cluster removal have been two factors suspected of influencing fruit yield and size. This study evaluated the effect of these two factors on the day-neutral strawberry varieties Monterey and Cabrillo. Bare-root crowns with three different diameters were categorized into small (&lt; 0.5 cm), medium (&gt; 0.5 to 1 cm), and large (&gt; 1 cm) at planting. Each of the crown diameter treatments was split into two plots for flower removal or no flower removal in the early season and data on canopy diameter, fruit yield, and fruit size collected in the subsequent months of production. The study was conducted over two growing seasons (2019–20 and 2020–21). No difference was found in plant canopy diameters measured in February, ∼3 months after planting, between any of the treatments in either year. Although early-season flower removal and some crown sizes resulted in lower fruit yield in March and April, none of these treatments resulted in any fruit yield or size differences in subsequent months nor in season end totals.

MINIMALLY DESTRUCTIVE RADIOCARBON DATING OF CAPRINE DUNG

ABSTRACTArchaeological dung pellets are time capsules of ancient herbivore diets and gut flora, informing on past agropastoral activity, ecology, and animal health. Improving multi-proxy approaches is key to maximizing this finite archaeological resource. Through experiments with standard pretreatments used in radiocarbon (14C) dating, we address a fundamental problem in maximal multi-proxy analysis: How to chronometrically date individual caprine pellets while conserving as much as possible for additional analyses? We applied acid-alkali-acid (AAA) or acid-only pretreatments to 37 samples of ancient and recent sheep/goat dung pellets from sites in the Negev desert, Israel, measuring weight-loss due to pretreatment. Shavings of outer surfaces and remaining inner pellets of four pairs were dated and compared. We found that (i) sample-specific factors affect pretreatment survivability, including preservation quality and initial sample size; (ii) given sufficient start weight, AAA can be used to pretreat sheep/goat coprolites; (iii) 100 mg appeared a desirable minimum sample weight before pretreatment; and (iv) shavings of coprolites’ outer surface produced 14C dates equivalent to dates obtained from inner coprolites. Whereas standard coprolite analysis protocols discard shavings removed from outer surfaces to avoid contamination, our findings indicate their efficacy for 14C dating. This offers an important addition to workflows for multi-proxy coprolite analysis.