Spatial variations of effective elastic thickness over the Ninetyeast Ridge and implications for its structure and tectonic evolution

We present new data on the strength of oceanic lithosphere along the Ninetyeast Ridge (NER) from two independent methods: spectral analysis (Bouguer coherence) using the fan wavelet transform technique, and spatial analysis (flexure inversion) with the convolution method. The two methods provide effective elastic thickness (T-e) patterns that broadly complement each other, and correlate well with known surface structures and regional-scale features. Furthermore, our study presents a new high resolution database on the Moho configuration, which obeys flexural isostasy, and exhibit regional correlations with the T-e variations. A continuous ridge structure with a much lower T-e value than that of normal oceanic lithosphere provides strong support for the hotspot theory. The derived T-e values vary over the northern (higher T-e similar to 10-20 km), central (anomalously low T-e similar to 0-5 km), and southern (low T-e similar to 5 km) segments of the NER. The lack of correlation of the T-e value with the progressive aging of the lithosphere implies differences in thermo-mechanical setting of the crust and underlying mantle in different parts of the NER, again indicating diversity in their evolution. The anomalously low T-e and deeper Moho (similar to 22 km) estimates of the central NER (between 0.5 degrees N and 17 degrees S) are attributed to the interaction of a hotspot with the Wharton spreading ridge that caused significant thermal rejuvenation and hence weakening of the lithosphere. The higher mechanical strength values in the northern NER (north of 0.5 degrees N) may support the idea of off-ridge emplacement and a relatively large plate motion at the time of volcanism. The low T-e and deeper Moho (similar to 22 km) estimates in the southern part (south of 17 degrees S) suggest that the lithosphere was weak and therefore younger at the time of volcanism, and this supports the idea that the southern NER was emplaced on the edge of the Indian plate. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Crystallographic texture and microstructure evolution during hot compression of Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy in the (alpha plus beta)-regime

Microstructure and texture are known to undergo drastic modifications due to trace hypoeutectic boron addition (similar to 0.1wt.%) for various titanium alloys e.g. Ti-6Al-4V. The deformation behaviour of such an alloy Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B is investigated in the (+) phase field and compared against that of the base alloy Ti-6Al-4V studied under selfsame conditions. The deformation microstructures for the two alloys display bending and kinking of lamellae in near and softening via globularization of lamella in near phase regimes, respectively. The transition temperature at which pure slip based deformation changes to softening is lower for the boron added alloy. The presence of TiB particles is largely held attributable for the early softening of Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy. The compression texture of both the alloys carry signature of pure phase defamation at lower temperature and phase transformation near the transus temperature. Texture is influenced by a complex interplay of the deformation and transformation processes in the intermediate temperature range. The contribution from phase transformation is prominent for Ti-6Al-4V-0.1B alloy at comparatively lower temperature.

Co-evolution of specific amino acid in sigma 1.2 region and nucleotide base in the discriminator to act as sensors of small molecule effectors of transcription initiation in mycobacteria

The transcription from rrn and a number of other promoters is regulated by initiating ribonucleotides (iNTPs) and guanosine tetra/penta phosphate (p)ppGpp], either by strengthening or by weakening of the RNA polymerase (RNAP)-promoter interactions during initiation. Studies in Escherichia coli revealed the importance of a sequence termed discriminator, located between -10 and the transcription start site of the responsive promoters in this mode of regulation. Instability of the open complex at these promoters is attributed to the lack of stabilizing interactions between the suboptimal discriminator and the 1.2 region of sigma 70 (Sig70) in RNAP holoenzyme. We demonstrate a different pattern of interaction between the promoters and sigma A (SigA) of Mycobacterium tuberculosis to execute similar regulation. Instead of cytosine and methionine, thymine at three nucleotides downstream to -10 element and leucine 232 in SigA are found to be essential for iNTPs and pppGpp mediated response at the rrn and gyr promoters of the organism. The specificity of the interaction is substantiated by mutational replacements, either in the discriminator or in SigA, which abolish the nucleotide mediated regulation in vitro or in vivo. Specific yet distinct bases and the amino acids appear to have co-evolved' to retain the discriminator-sigma 1.2 region regulatory switch operated by iNTPs/pppGpp during the transcription initiation in different bacteria.

Differential evolution based 3-D guidance law for a realistic interceptor model

This paper presents a novel, soft computing based solution to a complex optimal control or dynamic optimization problem that requires the solution to be available in real-time. The complexities in this problem of optimal guidance of interceptors launched with high initial heading errors include the more involved physics of a three dimensional missile-target engagement, and those posed by the assumption of a realistic dynamic model such as time-varying missile speed, thrust, drag and mass, besides gravity, and upper bound on the lateral acceleration. The classic, pure proportional navigation law is augmented with a polynomial function of the heading error, and the values of the coefficients of the polynomial are determined using differential evolution (DE). The performance of the proposed DE enhanced guidance law is compared against the existing conventional laws in the literature, on the criteria of time and energy optimality, peak lateral acceleration demanded, terminal speed and robustness to unanticipated target maneuvers, to illustrate the superiority of the proposed law. (C) 2013 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Structural Evolution and Phase Stability of Hume-Rothery Phase in a Mechanically Driven Nanostructured Ag-15 at. pct Sn Alloy

The paper reports phase evolution in mechanically driven Ag-15 at. pct Sn alloy powder starting with elemental powders in order to establish the feasibility of designing nanocomposites of a Ag-Sn solid solution. This alloy lies in the phase field of the hexagonal zeta-phase which is a well-known Hume-Rothery electron compound with an electron-to-atom ratio of about 1.45 and hexagonal crystal structure (a = 0.2966 nm, c = 0.4782 nm). Through a systematic use of X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy, the results establish the formation of the zeta-phase which co-exists with the Ag solid solution during the initial phase of milling. Mechanical milling for long duration (55 hours) destabilizes the zeta-phase. A complete solid solution of Ag with a grain size of similar to 8 nm could be achieved after 60 hours of milling. Additional milling can induce decomposition of the solid solution that results in a reappearance of zeta-phase. We present a detailed thermodynamic calculation which indicates that complete Ag solid solution of the present alloy composition would be possible if the crystallites size can be reduced below a certain critical size. In particular, we show that both Ag and zeta-phase grain sizes need to be taken into account for determining the metastable equilibrium and the phase change that has been experimentally observed. Finally, we argue that recrystallization processes set a limit to the achievable size of the nanoparticles with metastable Ag solid solution.

Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Mg composites containing nano-B4C hybridized micro-Ti particulates

In this work, the microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of extruded Mg composites containing micro-Ti particulates hybridized with varying contents of nano-B4C are investigated, and compared with Mg-5.6Ti. Microstructural characterization showed the presence of uniformly distributed micro-Ti particles embedded with nano-B4C particulates that resulted in significant grain refinement. Electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) analyses of Mg-(5.6Ti + x-B4C)(BM) hybrid composites showed that the addition of hybridized particle resulted in relatively more recrystallized grains, realignment of basal planes and extension of weak basal fibre texture when compared to Mg-5.6Ti. The evaluation of mechanical properties indicated improved strength with ductility retention in Mg-(5.6Ti + x-B4C)(BM) hybrid composites. When compared to Mg-5.6Ti, the superior strength properties of the Mg-(5.6Ti + xB(4)C)(BM) hybrid composites are attributed to the presence of nano-reinforcements, the uniform distribution of the hybridized particles, better interfacial bonding between the matrix and the reinforcement particles and the matrix grain refinement achieved by nano-B4C addition. The ductility enhancement obtained in hybrid composites can be attributed to the fibre texture spread and favourable basal plane orientation achieved due to nano B4C addition. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Evolution of Nanocrystalline Ba2NaNb5O15 in 2BaO-0.5Na(2)O-2.5Nb(2)O(5)-4.5B(2)O(3) Glass System and Its Refractive Index and Band Gap Tunability

Monophasic Ba2NaNb5O15 was crystallized at nanometer scale (12-36 nm) in 2BaO-0.5Na(2)O-2.5Nb(2)O(5)- 4.5B(2)O(3) glass system. To begin with, optically transparent glasses, in this system, were fabricated via the conventional melt. quenching technique. The amorphous and glassy characteristics of the as-quenched samples were respectively confirmed by X-ray powder diffraction and differential thermal analyses. Nearly homogeneous distribution of Ba2NaNb5O15 (BNN) nanocrystals associated with tungsten bronze structure akin to their bulk parent structure was accomplished by subjecting the as-fabricated glasses to appropriate heat-treatment temperatures. Indeed transmission electron microscopy (TEM) carried out on these samples corroborated the presence of Ba2NaNb5O15 nanocrystals dispersed in a continuous glass matrix. The as-quenched glasses were similar to 75% transparent in the visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The optical band gap and refractive index were found to have crystallite size (at nanoscale) dependence. The optical band gap increased with the decrease in crystallite size. The refractive indices of the glass nanocrystal composites as determined by Brewster angle method were rationalized using different empirical models. The refractive index dispersion with wavelength of light was analyzed on the basis of the Sellmeier relations. At room temperature under UV excitation (355 nm) these glass nanocrystal composites displayed violet-blue emission which was ascribed to the defects states.

Effect of nanoscale boron carbide particle addition on the microstructural evolution and mechanical response of pure magnesium

In this study, the effect of nano-B4C addition on the microstructural and the mechanical behavior of pure Mg are investigated. Pure Mg-metal reinforced with different amounts of nano-size B4C particulates were synthesized using the disintegrated melt deposition technique followed by hot extrusion. Microstructural characterization of the developed Mg/x-B4C composites revealed uniform distribution of nano-B4C particulates and significant grain refinement. Electron back scattered diffraction (EBSD) analyses showed presence of relatively more recrystallized grains and absence of fiber texture in Mg/B4C nanocomposites when compared to pure Mg. The evaluation of mechanical properties indicated a significant improvement in tensile properties of the composites. The significant improvement in tensile ductility (similar to 180% increase with respect to pure Mg) is among the highest observed when compared to the pure Mg based nanocomposites existing in the current literature. The superior mechanical properties of the Mg/B4C nanocomposites are attributed to the uniform distribution of the nanoparticles and the tendency for texture randomization (absence of fiber texture) achieved due to the nano-B4C addition. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An oxygen evolution Co-Ac catalyst - the synergistic effect of phosphate ions

Formation of an amorphous cobalt based oxygen evolution catalyst called Co-Pi has been recently reported from a neutral phosphate buffer solution containing Co2+. But the concentration of Co2+ is as low as 0.5 mM due to poor solubility of a cobalt salt in phosphate medium. In the present study, a cobalt acetate based oxygen evolution catalyst (Co-Ac) is prepared from a neutral acetate buffer solution, where the solubility of Co2+ is very high (>100 times in comparison with phosphate buffer solution). The Co-Ac possesses better catalytic activity than the Co-Pi with an additional advantage of easy bulk scale preparation. The comparative studies on the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) activity of Co-Ac and Co-Pi in phosphate and acetate buffer electrolytes reveal that the Co-Ac exhibits enhanced synergistic catalytic activity in phosphate solution, probably due to partial substitution of acetate in the catalyst layer by phosphate, resulting in the formation of a Co-Ac-Pi catalyst.

EVOLUTION OF DEFORMATION FIELDS IN PLOUGHING OF SAND

This paper reports on an experimental study on the ploughing or orthogonal cutting in sand. Plane strain cutting or ploughing experiments were carried out on model Ottawa sand while being imaged at high resolution. The images obtained were further processed using image analysis and the evolution of the velocity and deformation fields were obtained from these analysis. The deformation fields show the presence of a clear shear zone in which the sand accrues deformation. A net change in the direction of the velocity of the sand is also clearly visible. The effective depth of cut of the sand also increases with continuous cutting as the sand reposes on itself. This deformation mechanics at the incipient stages of cutting is similar to that observed in metal cutting.

Texture evolution during annealing of large-strain deformed nanocrystalline nickel

The recrystallization behaviour of cold-rolled nanocrystalline (nc) nickel has been studied at temperatures between 573 and 1273 K using bulk texture measurements and electron back-scattered diffraction. The texture in nc nickel is different from that of its microcrystalline counterpart, consisting of a strong Goss (G) and rotated Goss (RG) components at 773 K instead of the typical cube component. The texture evolution in nc Ni has been attributed to the prior deformation textures and nucleation advantage of G and RG grains.

Evolution of superconductivity in PrFe1-xCoxAsO (x=0.0-1.0)

We report the synthesis and physical property characterization of Prfe(1-x)Co(x)AsO (x=0.0-1.0). The studied samples are synthesized by through the solid state reaction route via the vacuum encapsulation method. The pristine compound PrFeAsO does not show superconductivity, but rather exhibits a metallic step like transition due to spin density wave (SOW) ordering of Fe moments (Fe-SDW) below 150 K, Followed by another upward step due to anomalous ordering of Pr moments (Pr-TN) at 12 K. Both the Fe-SDW and Pr-TN temperatures decrease monotonically with Co substitution at Fe site Superconductivity appears in a narrow range of x from 0.07 to 0.25 with maximum T-c at 11.12 K for x=0.15. Samples with x >= 0.25 exhibit metallic behavior right from 300 K down to 2 K, without any Fe-SDW or Pr-TN steps in resistivity. In fact, though Fe-SDW decreases monotonically, the pr(TN) disappeared even with x=0.02. The magneto transport measurements below 14 Ton superconducting polycrystalline Co doped Pi FeAs0 lead to extrapolated values of the upper critical fields H-c2(0)] of up to 60 T. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Evolution of Surface Roughness During Electropolishing

The characteristics of surface roughness span a range of length scales determined by the nature of the surface generation process. The mechanism by which material is removed at a length scale determines the roughness at that scale. Electropolishing preferentially reduces the peaks of surface protuberances at sub-micron length scales to produce smooth surfaces. The material removal in electropolishing occurs by two different mechanisms of anodic leveling and microsmoothing. Due to insufficient lateral resolution, individual contribution of these two mechanisms could not be measured by conventional roughness measurement techniques and parameters. In this work, we utilize the high lateral resolution offered by Atomic force microscopy along with the power spectral density method of characterization, to study the evolution of roughness during electropolishing. The power spectral density show two corner frequencies indicating the length scales over which the two mechanisms operate. These characteristic frequencies are found to be a function of the electropolishing time and hence can be used to optimize the electropolishing process.