A self-quenched defect glass in a colloid-nematic liquid crystal composite

Colloidal particles immersed in liquid crystals frustrate orientational order. This generates defect lines known as disclinations. At the core of these defects, the orientational order drops sharply. We have discovered a class of soft solids, with shear moduli up to 10(4) pascals, containing high concentrations of colloidal particles (volume fraction φ ? 20%) directly dispersed into a nematic liquid crystal. Confocal microscopy and computer simulations show that the mechanical strength derives from a percolated network of defect lines entangled with the particles in three dimensions. Such a "self-quenched glass" of defect lines and particles can be considered a self-organized analog of the "vortex glass" state in type II superconductors.     

Helical polyacetylene synthesized with a chiral nematic reaction field

Helical polyacetylene was synthesized under an asymmetric reaction field consisting of chiral nematic (N*) liquid crystals (LCs). The chiral nematic LC was prepared by adding a chiroptical binaphthol derivative as a chiral dopant to a mixture of two nematic LCs. Acetylene polymerizations were carried out using the catalyst titanium tetra-n-butoxide-triethylaluminum dissolved in the chiral nematic LC solvent. The polyacetylene film was shown by scanning electron microscopy to consist of clockwise or counterclockwise helical structure of fibrils. A Cotton effect was observed in the region of the pi --> pi* transition of the polyacetylene chain in circular dichroism spectra. The high electrical conductivities of approximately 1500 to 1800 siemens per centimeter after iodine doping and the chiral helicity of these films may be exploited in electromagnetic and optical applications.     

Interaction-driven spectrum reconstruction in bilayer graphene

The nematic phase transition in electronic liquids, driven by Coulomb interactions, represents a new class of strongly correlated electronic ground states. We studied suspended samples of bilayer graphene, annealed so that it achieves very high quasiparticle mobilities (greater than 10(6) square centimers per volt-second). Bilayer graphene is a truly two-dimensional material with complex chiral electronic spectra, and the high quality of our samples allowed us to observe strong spectrum reconstructions and electron topological transitions that can be attributed to a nematic phase transition and a decrease in rotational symmetry. These results are especially surprising because no interaction effects have been observed so far in bilayer graphene in the absence of an applied magnetic field.     

Electronic liquid crystal state in the high-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.45

Electronic phases with symmetry properties matching those of conventional liquid crystals have recently been discovered in transport experiments on semiconductor heterostructures and metal oxides at millikelvin temperatures. We report the spontaneous onset of a one-dimensional, incommensurate modulation of the spin system in the high-transition-temperature superconductor YBa2Cu3O6.45 upon cooling below approximately 150 kelvin, whereas static magnetic order is absent above 2 kelvin. The evolution of this modulation with temperature and doping parallels that of the in-plane anisotropy of the resistivity, indicating an electronic nematic phase that is stable over a wide temperature range. The results suggest that soft spin fluctuations are a microscopic route toward electronic liquid crystals and that nematic order can coexist with high-temperature superconductivity in underdoped cuprates.     

近红外光谱结合SIMCA模式识别法检测木材表面节子

利用近红外光谱结合SIMCA模式识别法来检测马尾松木材单板节子.结果表明,通过培训集样本建立的基于主成分分析的SIMCA判别模型对有无节子两种类型样本进行回判和对未知节子类型的样本(包括无节子和有节子样本)的判别正确率均达到90％～100％,说明应用近红外光谱结合SIMCA模式识别法可以快速有效地检测木材表面的节子缺陷.     

岩溶区棕色石灰土胶体对镉铅的等温吸附特性研究

为了解岩溶地区石灰性土壤胶体对重金属Cd、Pb离子的吸附特性,本研究选取广西岩溶区具有代表性的棕色石灰土来提取土壤胶体,模拟实际土壤污染情况,开展土壤胶体对Cd、Pb的吸附试验,并研究了Cd、Pb离子间的竞争关系及有机质在吸附试验中的作用效果。结果表明:胶体对两种重金属离子的等温吸附用Langmuir、Freundlich和D-R模型均能拟合,拟合优度均在0.93以上;单一溶液中Cd、Pb的平均分配系数与混合溶液相比有所提高,分别升高0.81和0.30,去除有机质后的胶体对Cd吸附量降低了30%～46%,对Pb吸附量下降了14%～25%。与Cd~(2+)相比,Pb~(2+)与胶体亲和力更大更易牢固地吸附在胶体上;混合溶液中两种离子间存在竞争干扰作用,其中Cd~(2+)更易受到Pb~(2+)的影响;去除有机质会减少胶体吸附位点使吸附量下降。     

Divergent nematic susceptibility in an iron arsenide superconductor

Within the Landau paradigm of continuous phase transitions, ordered states of matter are characterized by a broken symmetry. Although the broken symmetry is usually evident, determining the driving force behind the phase transition can be complicated by coupling between distinct order parameters. We show how measurement of the divergent nematic susceptibility of the iron pnictide superconductor Ba(Fe(1-x)Co(x))(2)As(2) distinguishes an electronic nematic phase transition from a simple ferroelastic distortion. These measurements also indicate an electronic nematic quantum phase transition near the composition with optimal superconducting transition temperature.     

木材表面缺陷特征轮廓提取算法研究

虫眼、活节和死节是最常见的木材表面缺陷,是木材分选过程主要的识别目标,精确提取木材表面缺陷轮廓特征能大幅提高木材分选的准确率。本研究提出一种针对木材表面虫眼、活节、死节缺陷轮廓提取方法。针对木材表面常见黑点和纹理等非线性噪声,使用中值滤波方法平滑图像。然后分别应用OTSU算法与全局阈值分割算法分离图像背景与目标,对结果二值图像使用数学形态学方法进行滤除和填充,最终用sobel算子提取缺陷边缘。结果表明,采用OTSU算法分割和数学形态学相结合的方法可以很好地提取木材表面缺陷特征,用sobel算子能够提取到比较完整、准确、连续的木材表面缺陷边缘轮廓,提高了目标图像的可视性和精准性。     

实木地板图像差分和形态学分割算法研究

针对现有实木地板表面缺陷分割算法分割速度慢、精度低的问题,提出基于图像差分和形态学的地板表面缺陷分割方法。首先,分别对目标图像和背景图像进行求补和低通滤波运算;其次,将预处理后的2幅图像做差分运算,得到差分图像;最后,采用形态学开闭运算去除差分图像噪声并获得目标缺陷。选取活节、死节、裂纹3类缺陷样本各20个进行试验,结果表明：该研究算法对3类样本平均分割准确革分别达到92．63％、94．31％、93．88％,平均分割时间为9．583ms。     

The cosmological kibble mechanism in the laboratory: string formation in liquid crystals

The production of strings (disclination lines and loops) has been observed by means of the Kibble mechanism of domain (bubble) formation in the isotropic-nematic phase transition of the uniaxial nematic liquid crystal 4-cyano-4'-n-pentylbiphenyl. The number of strings formed per bubble is about 0.6. This value is in reasonable agreement with a numerical simulation of the experiment in which the Kibble mechanism is used for the order parameter space of a uniaxial nematic liquid crystal.     

基于改进C-V模型的木材表面缺陷图像分割

木材表面缺陷会严重影响木材的质量、性能和使用价值,对木材表面缺陷分割检测有利于提高木材的利用率,节约现有木材资源,缓解森林资源短缺的压力。针对传统的C-V(Chan-Vese)模型算法不能分割灰度不均匀图像的缺点,本文采用C-V模型与形态学结合的方法与传统的C-V模型算法进行对比试验。与此同时,根据C-V模型和C-V模型结合形态学方法的不足之处,在C-V模型基础上,引入局部拟合函数和高斯核函数,提出了一种基于C-V模型的改进算法,能够有效地克服C-V模型的不足。通过对木材表面缺陷图像分别采用传统C-V模型算法、C-V模型与形态学结合的方法和改进的C-V模型算法进行多组针对单一目标的木材表面缺陷图像的对比试验。结果表明:C-V模型能够将虫眼和活节缺陷图像分割出来,但是对纹理干扰强烈的死节缺陷图像分割困难;运用C-V模型与形态学结合的方法,可以有效地消除分割结果中的细小空洞和噪声,但是仍无法抵抗死节缺陷图像中木材自身纹理的干扰,难以将死节缺陷完整地分割出来;改进的C-V模型算法对木材表面缺陷图像的分割能够减少迭代次数,缩短分割时间,使分割轮廓线更加光滑和完整。通过采用改进C-V模型算法对多目标木材表面缺陷图像进行试验,能够更好地验证改进算法的优越性、有效性和可行性。      

Fractal reaction kinetics

Classical reaction kinetics has been found to be unsatisfactory when the reactants are spatially constrained on the microscopic level by either walls, phase boundaries, or force fields. Recently discovered theories of heterogeneous reaction kinetics have dramatic consequences, such as fractal orders for elementary reactions, self-ordering and self-unmixing of reactants, and rate coefficients with temporal "memories." The new theories were needed to explain the results of experiments and supercomputer simulations of reactions that were confined to low dimensions or fractal dimensions or both. Among the practical examples of "fractal-like kinetics" are chemical reactions in pores of membranes, excitation trapping in molecular aggregates, exciton fusion in composite materials, and charge recombination in colloids and clouds.     

Femtosecond resolution of soft mode dynamics in structural phase transitions

The microscopic pathway along which ions or molecules in a crystal move during a structural phase transition can often be described in terms of a collective vibrational mode of the lattice. In many cases, this mode, called a "soft" phonon mode because of its characteristically low frequency near the phase transition temperature, is difficult to characterize through conventional frequency-domain spectroscopies such as light or neutron scattering. A femtosecond time-domain analog of light-scattering spectroscopy called impulsive stimulated Raman scattering (ISRS) has been used to examine the soft modes of two perovskite ferroelectric crystals. The low-frequency lattice dynamics of KNbO(3) and BaTiO(3) are clarified in a manner that permits critical evaluation of microscopic models for their ferroelectric transitions. The results illustrate the advantages of ISRS over conventional Raman spectroscopy of low-frequency, heavily damped soft modes.     

汽车离合器壳开裂的系统分析

在台架条件下，通过静态应仪的测试及对离合器壳断口的微观分析结果表明；ＳＹ６４７４轻型客车动力总成各分总成间的装配偏差使离合器壳拨孔处应力升高。达该车离合顺壳材料持久疲劳强度极限的１８％；动力总成弹性悬置配偏差使离合器壳下边筋的柱锥过渡处应力升高、达该车离合器壳材料持久疲劳强度极限的２３％。     

Colloid transport of plutonium in the far-field of the Mayak Production Association, Russia

Sorption of actinides, particularly plutonium, onto submicrometer-sized colloids increases their mobility, but these plutonium colloids are difficult to detect in the far-field. We identified actinides on colloids in the groundwater from the Mayak Production Association, Urals, Russia; at the source, the plutonium activity is approximately 1000 becquerels per liter. Plutonium activities are still 0.16 becquerels per liter at a distance of 3 kilometers, where 70 to 90 mole percent of the plutonium is sorbed onto colloids, confirming that colloids are responsible for the long-distance transport of plutonium. Nano-secondary ion mass spectrometry elemental maps reveal that amorphous iron oxide colloids adsorb Pu(IV) hydroxides or carbonates along with uranium carbonates.     

爪哇型胞质对杂交水稻干物质积累·转运和产量性状的影响

[目的]研究爪哇型胞质对杂交水稻干物质的积累、转运和产量性状的影响,为选育爪哇型杂交水稻强优势组合提供科学依据。[方法]以不育系(爪哇型胞质JW803A和野败型胞质803A)与几个高配合力恢复系配置杂交水稻组合,比较2种胞质对杂交水稻产量性状的影响;并以JW803A/蜀恢527和803A/蜀恢527为基础研究胞质对杂交水稻干物质积累和转运的影响。[结果]JW803A杂交水稻组合产量高于803A杂交水稻组合,干物质积累迅速且积累量大,各时期不同器官干物质的分配合理,输出量大,有效转化率高。JW803A/蜀恢527的产量达到7.875×103 kg/hm2,比803A/蜀恢527增产3.28%。[结论]爪哇型胞质杂交水稻组合高产的物质基础充足,"能源"转运高效的特点。     

Long-lived giant number fluctuations in a swarming granular nematic

Coherently moving flocks of birds, beasts, or bacteria are examples of living matter with spontaneous orientational order. How do these systems differ from thermal equilibrium systems with such liquid crystalline order? Working with a fluidized monolayer of macroscopic rods in the nematic liquid crystalline phase, we find giant number fluctuations consistent with a standard deviation growing linearly with the mean, in contrast to any situation where the central limit theorem applies. These fluctuations are long-lived, decaying only as a logarithmic function of time. This shows that flocking, coherent motion, and large-scale inhomogeneity can appear in a system in which particles do not communicate except by contact.     

Strong enhancement of nonlinear optical properties through supramolecular chirality

A new approach to second-order nonlinear optical (NLO) materials is reported, in which chirality and supramolecular organization play key roles. Langmuir-Blodgett films of a chiral helicene are composed of supramolecular arrays of the molecules. The chiral supramolecular organization makes the second-order NLO susceptibility about 30 times larger for the nonracemic material than for the racemic material with the same chemical structure. The susceptibility of the nonracemic films is a respectable 50 picometers per volt, even though the helicene structure lacks features commonly associated with high nonlinearity. Susceptibility components that are allowed only by chirality dominate the second-order NLO response.     

THE ENGINEER AND CIVILIZATION

To sum up the whole matter, the engineer, either as an individual or as a collective type, is simply a link in the chain of human progress-a chain the links of which, in one form or another, run back into a past removed from our own time by tens of thousands of years, to go to no higher figures. With the trend of human progress as it now is, he seems, moreover, to be a very necessary link. He has taken upon himself the peculiar function of developing and translating into use for the needs of civilization the constructive materials of the earth and the inorganic energies of nature, and in connection with the exercise of such function he has acquired peculiar and weighty duties and responsibilities.