Macroscopic Data Research Articles

Domain Wall Patterning and Giant Response Functions in Ferrimagnetic Spinels.

The manipulation of mesoscale domain wall phenomena has emerged as a powerful strategy for designing ferroelectric responses in functional devices, but its full potential is not yet realized in the field of magnetism. This work shows a direct connection between magnetic response functions in mechanically strained samples of Mn3O4 and MnV2O4 and stripe‐like patternings of the bulk magnetization which appear below known magnetostructural transitions. Building off previous magnetic force microscopy data, a small‐angle neutron scattering is used to show that these patterns represent distinctive magnetic phenomena which extend throughout the bulk of two separate materials, and further are controllable via applied magnetic field and mechanical stress. These results are unambiguously connected to the anomalously large magnetoelastic and magnetodielectric response functions reported for these materials, by performing susceptibility measurements on the same crystals and directly correlating local and macroscopic data.

An Experiment on Flashing-Spray Jet Characteristics of Supercritical CO2 from Various Orifice Geometries

Supercritical CO2 pipelines usually are used to link the CO2 capture system to the geological storage. There are severe hazards once the asphyxiating gas leaks from the long-distance pipeline. The uncertainty of near-field jet characteristics results in imprecise consequences assessment of accidental release of supercritical CO2. To improve the prediction of consequences of accidental release accuracy, the near-field mechanisms of flashing-spray jet was investigated. In this work, an experimental setup with multiple measurement instruments was developed to impose controllable CO2 release from a high-pressure vessel. The flashing-spray jet structures of supercritical CO2 from circular and rectangular orifices were recorded by a high-speed camera. Results indicate that the near-field structures of supercritical CO2 jet from circular and rectangular orifices are totally different, which causes the different dispersion consequences. The jet angle and shock waves were analyzed quantitatively. Lastly, the models of flashing-spray based on the two different phenomena from rectangular and circular orifices were discussed. The combination of macroscopic and microscopic data in the jet can help to understand the complex physics and improve discharge and dispersion model. This work provides a fundamental data to consequences assessment of accidental release of supercritical CO2.

Molecular dynamics study on creep behavior of montmorillonite

Clay-rich rocks are widely used in high temperature and stress environment in a very long term like disposal of high-level radioactive waste, exploring its creep deformation mechanism is essential. Clay minerals, as the essential components of clayey rocks, have a crucial influence on the creep behavior. However, it is of great challenge to experimentally investigate the mechanical property of a single crystal mineral due to its small size. In recent years, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations are widely used to address a series of scientific issues including creep mechanism from atomic level. In this study, we selected montmorillonite (MMT), a representative clay mineral in clayey rocks, as the principal object to explore the creep behavior in different temperatures and stresses. The temperature varies from 300 K to 1200 K while the stress is applied in the range of 14GPa to 32GPa. Meanwhile, the anisotropic creep behavior along the two orthogonal crystal orientations is studied as well. It is found the atomic numerical results show a good agreement with macroscopic data that the deformation increases with the temperature raise and applied stress, the creep curve contains two different phases under low temperature and stress while three phases are observed under high values of temperature and stress. Besides, the creep deformation exhibits an obvious anisotropic trend, due to oriented atomic structures. This study provides a better understanding of the creep mechanism of single crystal of MMT and an atomic insight on macroscopic time-dependent deformation of clayey rocks.

Identification of Paleotsunami Deposits Using XRF and Artificial Intelligence Methods on the Southern Coast of Lebak, Banten

The southern coastal area of Lebak, Banten is the southern region of Java which is prone to tsunami disasters. There is evidence of past tsunami events in the southern region of Java. However, not all tsunami deposits have identifiable sedimentological and micropaleontological traces. Geochemical proxies and artificial intelligence with machine learning methods can be used to identify paleotsunami deposits. Machine learning methods that can be used to cluster paleotsunami deposits are Agglomerative Hierarchical Clustering (AHC) and Support Vector Machine (SVM) with validation of model accuracy using the Receiver Operating Characteristic (ROC) and Area Under Curve (AUC) methods. Input data are XRF analysis data and macroscopic core sample description data. The output from data processing is in the form of prediction of tsunami and non-tsunami deposits at each depth of core data sample. The data is correlated and interpreted to identify tsunami events that occurred in the past. The identification results show that the tsunami deposition in the research area, namely the area around the Bagedur coastal coast and Bolang village had tsunami deposit characteristics based on macroscopic description, XRF analysis, and artificial intelligence clusterization. It is also thought to be correlative with the tsunami deposition of previous research in the area around the Binuangeun coastal coast.

Inverse Reconstruction of Cell Proliferation Laws in Cancer Invasion Modelling

The process of local cancer cell invasion of the surrounding tissue is key for the overall tumour growth and spread within the human body, the past 3 decades witnessing intense mathematical modelling efforts in these regards. However, for a deep understanding of the cancer invasion process these modelling studies require robust data assimilation approaches. While being of crucial importance in assimilating potential clinical data, the inverse problems approaches in cancer modelling are still in their early stages, with questions regarding the retrieval of the characteristics of tumour cells motility, cells mutations, and cells population proliferation, remaining widely open. This study deals with the identification and reconstruction of the usually unknown cancer cell proliferation law in cancer modelling from macroscopic tumour snapshot data collected at some later stage in the tumour evolution. Considering two basic tumour configurations, associated with the case of one cancer cells population and two cancer cells subpopulations that exercise their dynamics within the extracellular matrix, we combine Tikhonov regularisation and gaussian mollification approaches with finite element and finite differences approximations to reconstruct the proliferation laws for each of these sub-populations from both exact and noisy measurements. Our inverse problem formulation is accompanied by numerical examples for the reconstruction of several proliferation laws used in cancer growth modelling.

Mechanistic Study of Ni(II) Sorption by Green Rust Sulfate.

The sorption of Ni(II) by green rust sulfate (GR-sulfate) was studied in anoxic pre-equilibrated suspensions at pH 7.0 and pH 7.8 with combined batch kinetic experiments, X-ray diffraction measurements, and Ni K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS) analyses. Continuous removal of aqueous Ni(II) was observed over the course of the reaction (1-2.5 weeks) at both pH values, with no concurrent changes in aqueous Fe(II) levels or detectable mineralogical modifications of the GR sorbent. XAS results indicate that Ni(II) is not retained as mononuclear adsorption complexes on the GR surface but rather incorporated in the octahedral layers of an FeII0.67-xNiIIxFeIII0.33(OH)2-layered double hydroxide (LDH) phase with 0 < x < 0.67. The combined macroscopic and spectroscopic data suggest that Ni(II) substitutes into the GR lattice during Fe(II)-catalyzed recrystallization of the sorbent and/or forms secondary Ni(II)/Fe(II)-Fe(III)-LDH phases with a higher stability than that of GR, complemented likely by Ni(II)-Fe(II) exchange at GR particle edges. The results of this study reveal GR to be a dynamic sorbent that engages in dissolution-reprecipitation and exchange reactions, causing extensive incorporation of trace metal Ni(II)aq. Additional work is needed to further define the mechanisms involved and to assess the sorptive reactivity of GR with other trace metal species.

Did we solve the old contradiction between microscopic and macroscopic experimental PFNS data?

Prompt Fission Neutron Spectra (PFNS) were analysed in the “dimensionless scale”. The important empirical facts were demonstrated. PFNS have the same shape for any isotopes and incident energy (<5MeV) for neutron induced and spontaneous fission. This is an additional argument for application of the scale method developed before. It was highlighted that spectrum shape changes slope at outgoing energy > 7 MeV. This fact was demonstrated with microscopic and macroscopic data. It was confirmed that old contradiction between microscopic and macroscopic data (mic-mac problem) has not yet been resolved.

Promoting effect of pomegranate peel extract on second-degree burn wound-healing through VEGF-A and TGF-β1 regulation

Pomegranate peel extract (PPE), a polyphenolic compound derived from pomegranate, has been widely concerned for its anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory, and bacteriostatic effects. The potential therapeutic effect of PPE on burn injury was investigated, and its possible mechanisms were explored. Minipigs with second-degree burn were treated with PPE, Jing Wan Hong, and silver sulfadiazine. Hematoxylin–eosin (HE) staining was performed to detect burn severity, and then biological tissues were biopsied on days 0, 7, 14, 21, and 28 after administration. Immunohistochemistry, western blot, and real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) were used to detect the protein and mRNA expression levels of VEGF-A and TGF-β1 in skin tissues after treatment with PPE. Furthermore, the skin wound healing at different time points was monitored by macroscopic observation. HE showed that after 28-day PPE treatment, the morphology of the skin tissue showed a significant improvement. Macroscopic data monitoring indicated that the decrustation and fur growing time was shortened. Meanwhile, the rate of wound healing increased after PPE treatment. The combination of immunohistochemistry, western blotting, and RT-PCR showed that after PPE treatment, expression of VEGF-A and TGF-β1 increased sharply on day 7, maintaining a high level until day 14, showing a downward trend on day 21, and approaching normal levels on day 28. However, in the model group, the protein and mRNA expression levels of VEGF-A and TGF-β1 increased on day 28 after burn injury, which was a slow process. Results indicated that compared with the model group, the peak expression level of VEGF-A and TGF-β1 was earlier, which was consistent with decrustation, shortening of fur growing time, and improvement of wound healing rate in minipig second-degree burn model. PPE showed a significant promoting effect on minipig second-degree burn model, which might be associated with the upregulation of the protein and gene expression levels of VEGF-A and TGF-β1.

Cross-Modality Imaging of Murine Tumor Vasculature\u2014a Feasibility Study

Tumor vasculature and angiogenesis play a crucial role in tumor progression. Their visualization is therefore of utmost importance to the community. In this proof-of-principle study, we have established a novel cross-modality imaging (CMI) pipeline to characterize exactly the same murine tumors across scales and penetration depths, using orthotopic models of melanoma cancer. This allowed the acquisition of a comprehensive set of vascular parameters for a single tumor. The workflow visualizes capillaries at different length scales, puts them into the context of the overall tumor vessel network and allows quantification and comparison of vessel densities and morphologies by different modalities. The workflow adds information about hypoxia and blood flow rates. The CMI approach includes well-established technologies such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), computed tomography (CT), and ultrasound (US), and modalities that are recent entrants into preclinical discovery such as optical coherence tomography (OCT) and high-resolution episcopic microscopy (HREM). This novel CMI platform establishes the feasibility of combining these technologies using an extensive image processing pipeline. Despite the challenges pertaining to the integration of microscopic and macroscopic data across spatial resolutions, we also established an open-source pipeline for the semi-automated co-registration of the diverse multiscale datasets, which enables truly correlative vascular imaging. Although focused on tumor vasculature, our CMI platform can be used to tackle a multitude of research questions in cancer biology.

Artificial Neural Networks in Forensic Medicine (review)

Thearticle deals with the possibilities and limitations of the use of artificial neural networks in forensicmedical practice. It is known that in the work of forensic medicine experts have to process and evaluatea large amount of information, which may belong to different types of data - the site inspection protocols,photographic materials, macroscopic data obtained during the autopsy of the corpse, the results of laboratorytests, medical records etc. All the received data should be studied, categorized and evaluated according tointernational standards. Modern computer technologies of artificial intelligence (artificial neural networks)can help in the handling of forensic medicine data, which, in turn, will reduce to a minimum the probabilityof mistakes in preparation of expert conclusions.The algorithms used in artificial neural networks, as a resultof processing different types of input data, can direct them to the resulting categorized outputs and structurethem.

Invariant Procedure for Error Sensitivity Analysis Applied to Cyclic Creep Modelling

Cyclic creep, also known as ratcheting, is a progressive accumulation of inelastic strain under cyclic stress-controlled loading. This mechanical effect is of great importance for numerous applications. In engineering practice, phenomenological models of cyclic creep are calibrated against a limited set of macroscopic test data. Since the testing results are prone to systematic and non-systematic experimental errors, the impact of experimental errors on the quality of simulation has to be analysed. A simple inspection procedure is demonstrated and tested. Based on the Monte Carlo computations, it allows for analysis of error propagation through the simulation cycle. The focus of the paper is on the independence of the procedure from the chosen model parametrization. For demonstration purposes, cyclic creep of VT6 alloy is simulated. The corresponding macroscopic constitutive equations are based on the second Ohno-Wang model, combined with refined rule of isotropic hardening. Two different parametrizations are introduced to show that the procedure predicts the same results for both of them.

Ectopic growth of the Chaetothyriales fungal symbiont on Ipomoea carnea

Swainsonine, an indolizidine alkaloid, is an α-mannosidase and mannosidase II inhibitor that alters glycoprotein processing and causes lysosomal storage disease. Swainsonine is the toxic principle in several plant species worldwide and causes severe toxicosis in livestock grazing these plants. All swainsonine-containing plant taxa investigated to date are associated with fungal symbionts that produce swainsonine. Among the swainsonine-containing convolvulaceous species, Ipomoea carnea Jacq. is associated with a seed-transmitted symbiont belonging to the fungal order Chaetothyriales. The nature of this association was unclear; therefore, this association was investigated further using microscopy. Macroscopic and microscopic data reported here demonstrate that the Chaetothyriales symbiont associated with I. carnea grows ectopically on the adaxial (upper) surface of leaves as lacy mycelia in plants that contain swainsonine and was not present on plants lacking swainsonine that were derived from fungicide-treated seeds. Hyphae were not observed on the surface of any other tissues including the abaxial (lower) leaf surface, petiole, and stem. Mycelia were not visible in internal tissues below the epidermis, and there did not appear to be any hyphal extensions within the fibrovascular bundles or stomata. Longitudinal and (or) cross sections of the stems or petioles did not show evidence of hyphae growing between cells. These results suggest an epibiotic growth habit of the Chaetothyriales symbiont in association with I. carnea.

Coupling traffic originated urban air pollution estimation with an atmospheric chemistry model

Due to increasing issues of air pollution in urban areas continuous research is being conducted to upgrade models, which can predict the distribution of pollutants and thus enable timely interventions to mitigate their negative effects. To support these efforts, traffic data from an integrated transport model was used to drive the COPERT traffic emission model and the WRF-Chem atmospheric chemistry model. With reliable macroscopic traffic data from the Budapest region, traffic state estimations were calculated for every fifteen minutes of the day using dynamic assignment with predefined and time-varying static demand matrices. Then the COPERT vehicular emission model of average speeds was applied to provide the emission factors, so that the macroscopic emissions for the traffic network could be calculated. As a next step the WRF-Chem online coupled weather and atmospheric chemistry model was adapted to estimate atmospheric dispersion of pollutants (CO, NOx, O3). The coupled models are presented in a 2-day case study with qualitative comparison of obtained results with measurements. As a result, it can be stated that combining macroscopic road traffic modeling with atmospheric models can enhance the estimation efficiency of urban air pollution.

Numerical characterization of residual stresses in a four-point-bending experiment of textured duplex stainless steel

The resulting shapes in production processes of metal components are strongly influenced by deformation induced residual stresses. Dual-phase steels are commonly used for industrial application of, e.g., forged or deep-drawn structural parts. This is due to their ability to handle high plastic deformations, while retaining desired stiffness for the products. In order to influence the resulting shape as well as component characteristics positively it is important to predict the distribution of phase-specific residual stresses which occur on the microscale of the material. In this contribution a comparative study is presented, where two approaches for the numerical simulation of residual stresses are applied. On the one hand a numerically efficient mean field theory is used to estimate on the grain level the total strain, the plastic strains and the eigenstrains based on macroscopic stress, strain and stiffness data. An alternative ansatz relies on a Taylor approximation for the grain level strains. Both approaches are applied to the corrosion-resistant duplex steel X2CrNiMoN22-5-3 (1.4462), which consists of a ferritic and an austenitic phase with the same volume fraction. Mean field and Taylor approximation strategies are implemented for usage in three dimensional solid finite element analysis and a geometrically exact Euler–Bernoulli beam for the simulation of a four-point-bending test. The predicted residual stresses are compared to experimental data from bending experiments for the phase-specific residual stresses/strains which have been determined by neutron diffraction over the bending height of the specimen.

Development of a Reference Database for Beta-Delayed Neutron Emission

Beta-delayed neutron emission is important for nuclear structure and astrophysics as well as for reactor applications. Significant advances in nuclear experimental techniques in the past two decades have led to a wealth of new measurements that remain to be incorporated in the databases.We report on a coordinated effort to compile and evaluate all the available β-delayed neutron emission data. The different measurement techniques have been assessed and the data have been compared with semi-microscopic and microscopic-macroscopic models. The new microscopic database has been tested against aggregate total delayed neutron yields, time-dependent group parameters in 6-and 8-group re-presentation, and aggregate delayed neutron spectra. New recommendations of macroscopic delayed-neutron data for fissile materials of interest to applications are also presented. The new Reference Database for Beta-Delayed Neutron Emission Data is available online at: http://www-nds.iaea.org/beta-delayed-neutron/database.html.

Interactions of sugar alcohol, di-saccharides and polysaccharides with polysorbate 80 as surfactant in the stabilization of foams

The interaction of different sugars with polysorbate 80 as a surfactant at foam bubble interfaces was investigated with regard to the creation of stable foams. Sorbitol, maltose, sucrose and maltodextrin DE6 were applied at concentrations of 10–60% wt. Added sugars generally resulted in a lower foam overrun, but a narrower bubble size distribution and less drainage, especially at higher viscosities. The specific overrun, however, was found to strongly depend on the type of sugar used. Sorbitol enhanced the properties of polysorbate 80 as surfactant in terms of achievable overrun. Except for sucrose, higher sugar contents close to saturation were able to minimize detectable drainage after foaming. This effect was found to depend on interactions between polysorbate 80 as surfactant with sucrose or maltodextrin as viscosity builder, which could be indirectly assessed by comparing macroscopic foam property data. Sorbitol and maltodextrin led to the most homogeneous bubble size distribution and thus, helped to create the most stable foams. According to our findings, the functions of increasing viscosity by sugars and the interfacial activity of polysorbate 80 seem to overlap or to partially compete. This knowledge is of relevance for formulating foams with the highest level of robustness, e.g. for drying processes like foam-mat or vacuum drying.

Robust Hidden Markov Model Selection by Bayesian Network-Based Algorithms Embracing Various Problems of Experimental Data

We present results of a Bayesian network analysis method for posterior estimation of the rates of a linear stochastic network for ion channel data. The Bayesian network is an analytical stochastic approximation of the underlying master equation, enabling a precise modeling of stochastic processes that are traditionally modeled by deterministic rate equations. The full Bayesian treatment of macroscopic patch clamp (PC) and related fluorescence data has superior model selection and inference properties over traditional maximum likelihood techniques and deterministic rate equations.

Magnetophoresis of Magnetic Pickering Emulsions Under Low Field Gradient: Macroscopic and Microscopic Motion.

Monodispersed iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) coated with polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) and cetrimonium bromide (CTAB) have been used to stabilize magnetic Pickering emulsions (MPEs). Magnetophoresis of MPEs under the influence of a low gradient magnetic field (∇B < 100 T/m) was investigated at the macroscopic and microscopic scale. At the macroscopic scale, for the case of pH 7, the MPE achieved a magnetophoretic velocity of 70.9 μm/s under the influence of ∇B at 93.8 T/m. The magnetic separation efficiency of the MPE at 90% was achieved within 30 min for pH 3, 7, and 10. At pH 10, the colloidal stability of the MPE was the lowest compared to that for pH 3 and 7. Thus, MPE at pH 10 required the shortest time for achieving the highest separation efficiency, as the MPE experienced cooperative magnetophoresis at alkaline pH. The creaming rate of the MPE at all conditions was still lower compared to magnetophoresis and was negligible in influencing its separation kinetics profiles. At the microscopic scale, the migration pathways of the MPEs (with diameters between 2.5 and 7.5 μm) undergoing magnetophoresis at ∇B ∼ 13.0 T/m were recorded by an optical microscope. From these experiments, and taking into consideration the MPE size distribution from the dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurement, we determined the averaged microscopic magnetophoretic velocity to be 7.8 ± 5.5 μm/s. By making noncooperative magnetophoresis assumptions (with negligible interactions between the MPEs along their migration pathways), the calculated velocity of individual MPEs was 9.8 μm/s. Such a value was within the percentage error of the experimental result of 7.8 ± 5.5 μm/s. This finding allows for an easy and quick estimation of the magnetophoretic velocity of MPEs at the microscale by using macroscopic separation kinetics data.

Biocompatibility of the 8.25% sodium hypochlorite irrigant solution in endodontics: An in vivo study.

The biocompatibility of irrigant solutions, including 8.25% sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), was analyzed in samples (n=25) of chorioallantoic membranes (CAM) from embryos of the Gallus gallus, using the hen's egg test on chorioallantoic membrane (HET-CAM). The following irrigants were tested: saline (control), 2% chlorhexidine (2% CHX), and NaOCl (2.5%, 5.25%, and 8.25%), and morphological and microcirculatory changes were investigated. Images were selected and quantified with Image J®. The macroscopic data were submitted to ANOVA, followed by the Tukey's test (p < .05); non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis and Mann-Whitney tests were applied to histological data (p < .05). The frequency of hyperemia differed significantly in the 8.25% NaOCl compared to the other groups, with the exception of 5.25% NaOCl (p=.096). Coagulation was more frequent in the 2% CHX group, differing significantly from the 2.5% NaOCl group (p=.038). In mean values, NaOCl 8.25% caused the decrease (NaOCl=2.60, and control=5.00) of vessels in the microcirculation, as well as triggered the increase (NaOCl=425.50, and control 44.50) of inflammatory cells in the observed areas. There was necrosis in all samples in the 5.25% NaOCl group and in 80% in the 2% CHX, 2.5% NaOCl, and 8.25% NaOCl groups. Fibroblasts were detected only in the control group. It was concluded that the 8.25% NaOCl solution showed significantly high toxicity on CAM. However, these results were comparable to the other concentrations of NaOCl and to 2% CHX. Thus, in this experimental protocol, 8.25% NaOCl proved to be viable as an irrigant solution.

Simulation of the comminution process in a high-speed rotor mill based on the feed’s macroscopic material data

In this paper, we present a method that allows for the quick and efficient simulation of the comminution process in high-speed rotor mills. The method requires only the feed’s macroscopic material data and the geometry of the machine. Consisting of two stages, the method couples Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) with the Discrete Element Method (DEM) to obtain the collisional velocities and angles of a representative group of particles passing through the machine. Due to this coupling, any mill which relies on fluid forces acting on the ore particles can be simulated. After obtaining these values, the second stage commences wherein a single ore particle consisting of DEM elements collides against a rigid surface. The data obtained from this stage is then used to determine the minimum required working parameters of the chosen machine to achieve proper ore comminution. The proposed methodology was applied to analyse the novel concept of using beater mills for the comminution of copper ore.