Search

The aim of this study was to monitor the carry-over of melamine and its metabolite cyanuric acid from melamine-contaminated feed administered to layers into eggs. Ten experimental Isa Brown layers (36 week of age) were fed melamine-contaminated feed containing 100 mg of melamine per kg of feed. The duration of the experiment was 6 weeks. Eggs were collected during whole experiment. Analysis of eggs was done by a simple extraction of melamine and cyanuric acid residues, using a water-acetonitrile mixture and analysed by gas chromatography - triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. Melamine and cyanuric acid residues were detected in all eggs collected from the experimental layers, immediately after the first administration of melaminecontaminated feed. The mean concentrations of melamine in the egg yolk and egg white recalculated on a dry matter basis were 1.90 mg⋅kg-1 ± 0.158 and 10.84 mg⋅kg-1 ± 3.951 (P ≤ 0.01); the cyanuric acid contents were 6.54 mg⋅kg-1 ± 0.2.466 and 4.07 mg⋅kg-1 ± 0.909, respectively. Melamine and cyanuric acid were not detected in eggs from control layers. Concentrations of melamine and cyanuric acid in eggs decreased quickly after melamine feeding was stopped. Our results indicate that melamine undergoes biotransformation to cyanuric acid in the layer's body that also passed into the eggs. The results verified the presence of distribution metabolic pathway of melamine and its easiest transfer into egg yolk. Moreover, the biotransformation of melamine into cyanuric acid in eggs of layers was confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We derive expressions for computing the gravitational field (potential and its radial derivative) generated by an arbitrary homogeneous or laterally varying density contrast layer with a variable depth and thickness based on methods for a spherical harmonic analysis and synthesis of gravity field. The newly derived expressions are utilised in the gravimetric forward modelling of major known density structures within the Earth's crust (excluding the ocean density contrast) beneath the geoid surface. The gravitational field quantities due to the sediments and crust components density contrasts, shown in numerical examples, are computed using the 2 × 2 arc-deg discrete data from the global crustal model CRUST2.0. These density contrasts are defined relative to the adopted value of the reference crustal density of 2670 kgm. All computations are realised globally on a 1 × 1 arc-deg geographical grid at the Earth's surface. The maxima of the gravitational signal due to the sediments density contrast are mainly along continental shelf regions with the largest sedimentary deposits. The corresponding maxima due to the consolidated crust components density contrast are over areas of the largest continental crustal thickness with variable geological structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We developed and applied a novel numerical scheme for a gravimetric forward modelling of the Earth's crustal density structures based entirely on methods for a spherical analysis and synthesis of the gravitational field. This numerical scheme utilises expressions for the gravitational potentials and their radial derivatives generated by the homogeneous or laterally varying mass density layers with a variable height/depth and thickness given in terms of spherical harmonics. We used these expressions to compute globally the complete crust-corrected Earth's gravity field and its contribution generated by the Earth's crust. The gravimetric forward modelling of large known mass density structures within the Earth's crust is realised by using global models of the Earth's gravity field (EGM2008), topography/bathymetry (DTM2006.0), continental ice-thickness (ICE-5G), and crustal density structures (CRUST2.0). The crust-corrected gravity field is obtained after modelling and subtracting the gravitational contribution of the Earth's crust from the EGM2008 gravity data. These refined gravity data mainly comprise information on the Moho interface and mantle lithosphere. Numerical results also reveal that the gravitational contribution of the Earth's crust varies globally from 1,843 to 12,010 mGal. This gravitational signal is strongly correlated with the crustal thickness with its maxima in mountainous regions (Himalayas, Tibetan Plateau and Andes) with the presence of large isostatic compensation. The corresponding minima over the open oceans are due to the thin and heavier oceanic crust. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In geophysical studies investigating the lithosphere structure, the gravitational field generated by the ocean density contrast (i.e., bathymetry-generated gravitational field) represents a significant amount of the signal to be modelled and subsequently removed from the Earth's gravity field. The ocean density contrast is typically calculated as the difference between the mean density values of the Earth's crust and seawater. The approximation of the actual seawater density distribution by its mean value yields relative errors up to about 2% in computed quantities of the gravitational field. To reduce these errors, a more realistic model of the seawater density distribution is utilized based on the analysis of existing oceanographic data of salinity, temperature, and pressure (depth). We study the accuracy of the bathymetry-generated gravitational field quantities formulated for a depth-dependent model of the seawater density distribution. This density distribution approximates the seawater density variations due to an increasing pressure with depth, whereas smaller lateral density variations caused by salinity, temperature, and other oceanographic factors are not taken into consideration. The error analysis reveals that the approximation of the seawater density by the depth-dependent density model reduces the maximum errors to less than 0.6%. The corresponding depth-averaged errors are below 0.1%. The depth-dependent seawater density model is further facilitated in expressions for computing the bathymetry-generated gravitational field quantities by means of the spherical bathymetric (ocean bottom depth) functions. The numerical realization reveals large differences in the results obtained with and without consideration of the depth-dependent seawater density distribution. The maxima of absolute differences reach 201 m/s and 16.5 mGal in computed values of the potential and attraction, respectively. The application of the depth-dependent seawater density model thus significantly improves the accuracy in the forward modelling of the bathymetric gravitational field quantities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Alloys formed by Fe–Al intermediary phases have lower density than common metallic high-temperature alloys and good high-temperature oxidation resistance. Previously it was proved that silicon additions to these alloys enable to produce them efficiently by reactive sintering and improves the wear resistance. In this work, the oxidation resistance of the novel Fe–Al–Si alloys containing 10–30 wt. % of aluminium and 5–30 wt. % of silicon produced by the reactive sintering technology was tested. Cyclic and isothermal oxidation tests were carried out at 800 °C in air. Tested alloys exhibit excellent oxidation resistance, which increases with silicon content up to 20 wt. %. The reasons are discussed in terms of the phase composition of the oxide layer and the changes in chemical composition under the oxide layer during oxidation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Spherical harmonic transformation is of practical interest in geodesy for transformation of globally distributed quantities such as gravity between space and frequency domains. The increasing spatial resolution of the latest and forthcoming gravitational models pose true computational challenges for classical algorithms since serious numerical instabilities arise during the computation of the respective base functions of the spherical harmonic expansion. A possible solution is the evaluation of the associated Legendre functions in the Fourier domain where numerical instabilities can be circumvented by an independent frequency-wise scaling of numerical coefficients into a numerically suitable double precision range. It is then rather straightforward to commit global fast data transformation into the Fourier domain and to evaluate subsequently spherical harmonic coefficients. For the inverse, the computation of respective Fourier coefficients from a given spherical harmonic model is performed as an inverse Fast Fourier Transform into globally distributed data points. The two-step formulation turns out to be stable even for very high resolutions as well as efficient when using state-of-the-art shared memory/multi-core architectures. In principle, any functional of the geopotential can be computed in this way. To give an example for the overall performance of the algorithm, we transformed an equiangular 1 arcmin grid of terrain elevation data corresponding to spherical harmonic degree and order 10800. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

spectral representation of the topographic corrections to gravity field quantities is formulated in terms of spherical height functions. When computing the far-zone contributions to the topographic corrections, various types of the truncation coefficients are applied to a spectral representation of Newton's integral. In this study we utilise Molodensky's truncation coefficients in deriving the expressions for the far-zone contributions to topographic corrections. The expressions for computing the far-zone gravity field contributions corrected for the effect of topography are then obtained by combining the expressions for the far-zone contributions to the gravity field quantities and to the respective topographic corrections, both expressed in terms of Molodensky's truncation coefficients. The numerical examples of the far-zone contributions to the topographic corrections and to the topography-corrected gravity field quantities are given over the study area situated in the Canadian Rocky Mountains with adjacent planes. Coefficients of the global elevation and geopotential models are used as the input data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Alloys formed by Ti–Al intermediary phases have low density and very good high-temperature oxidation resistance. Further improvement of high-temperature behaviour can be achieved by a suitable addition of silicon. In this work, Ti–Al–Si alloys containing 20wt.% of aluminium and 10–20wt.% of silicon produced by a reactive sintering technology were tested. Isothermal oxidation tests were carried out at 1000°C in air. The oxidation rate was determined from weight gains caused by oxide formation. Microstructure and phase composition of the oxide layers were studied. Microstructure and hardness changes after various annealing durations were described. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Formation of intermediary phases during reactive sintering of Fe–Al–Si powder mixtures at 1100°C was studied in this work. Results show significant difference from already presented results achieved at lower sintering temperatures. Phase composition is closer to the equilibrium phase diagram. Silicon additions up to 10wt.% produce binary Fe–Al phases, further increase of silicon content leads to the formation of FeSi silicide and Al2Fe3Si3 ternary phase. Binary FeSi40 alloy contains FeSi and FeSi2. Porosity is reduced by addition of silicon. The lowest porosity was achieved when 10wt.% of silicon was added. Formation of binary Fe–Al phases is controlled by aluminium diffusion through the layer of intermetallics. In Fe–Al–Si system, the controlling process is the reaction producing ternary intermediary phases. The highest wear resistance was determined in FeAl30Si10 alloy with single-phase FeAl structure. An increase of silicon content reduces the wear resistance although hardness increases. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this work, the dependence of microstructure of Fe–Al–Si alloy on conditions of reactive sintering was studied. It was shown that heating rate strongly affects the structure of this alloy. The microstructure consisting of uniformly distributed Al2Fe3Si3 particles in Al2FeSi matrix can only be obtained in this material by rapid heating (over 300Kmin−1). Sufficient reactive sintering temperature to obtain Al2Fe3Si3–Al2FeSi two-phase structure is 750°C. Further increase of the reaction temperature reduces porosity but causes a growth of Al2Fe3Si3 particles. Reactive sintering process is completed during less than 10min in the investigated material. Temperatures over 1050°C produce material composed of FeSi, FeAl and Al2Fe3Si3 phases. However, strongly exothermal reaction of FeSi formation causes melting of the sample. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The threshold chloride concentration for stainless steels activation in concrete environments depends not only on chemical composition of the steel and on pH level of concrete pore solution but is also considerably affected by the superficial state of the steel. The presence of scales leads to significant decrease of corrosion resistance. This study evaluates the corrosion resistance of various stainless steels exposed to pore solutions of fresh concrete by means of electrochemical methods. All tested materials with bare surface, except for martensitic chromium steel FeCr12, proved to be completely resistant to fresh concrete pore solution containing chlorides. If the surface is scaled, the identically high resistance cannot be expected even for the most alloyed stainless steels. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In this work, Ti–Al–Si alloys were prepared by reactive sintering. The contents of silicon and aluminium ranged between 0–30wt.% and 0–36wt.%, respectively. Powders of titanium, aluminum, silicon and AlSi30 master alloy prepared by mechanical machining and/or milling were used for sintering. Powders were blended and pressed at room temperature. Sintering was carried out at 900°C for 30min. It was found that it is possible to produce compact materials with the structure corresponding to the as-cast materials when silicon is in the range of 15–20wt.% and aluminium content between 8 and 30wt.%. It was shown that these materials contain two phases—Ti5Si3 and TiAl. The central porosity can be reduced by induction heating. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We describe and analyse a group of multi-step phase calculation algorithms for evaluation of interferometric measurements using the phase-shifting technique. Phase-shifting algorithms are proposed, with a constant but arbitrary phase shift between captured frames of the irradiance of the interference field. The algorithms are similarly derived as so called Carré algorithm. The phase evaluation process is not dependent on linear phase shift errors. An advantage of the described algorithms is their ability to determine the phase shift value at every point of the detector plane. Moreover, a complex error analysis of proposed algorithms is performed and the algorithms are compared to several common error compensating phase stepping algorithms. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The geoid is an equipotential surface of the static Earth's gravity field which plays a fundamental role in definition of physical heights related to the mean sea level (orthometric heights) in geodesy and which represents a reference surface in many geoscientific studies. Its determination with the cm-level accuracy or better, in particular over dry land, belongs to major tasks of modern geodesy. Traditional data and underlined theory have significantly been affected in recent years by rapid advances in observation techniques. This study reviews gradients of the disturbing gravity potential, both currently available and foreseen, and systematically discusses mathematical models for geoid determination based on gradient data. Fundamentals required for geoid definition and its estimation from measured potential gradients are shortly reviewed at the beginning of the text. Then particular mathematical models based on solutions to boundary-value problems of the potential theory, which include both integral transforms and integral equations, are formulated. Properties of respective integral kernel functions are demonstrated and discussed. With the new mathematical models introduced, new research topics are opened which must be resolved in order to allow for their full-fledged applicability in geoid modelling. Stochastic modelling is also discussed which estimates gradient spatial resolution and accuracy required for geoid modelling with the cm-level accuracy. Results of stochastic modelling suggest that the cm-geoid can be estimated using available gradient data if related problems, namely reduction of gradient data for gravitational effects of all masses outside the geoid and their downward continuation, are solved at the same level of accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep-sea manganese nodules are polymetallic oxidic ores that can be found on a seabed. Aluminothermic reduction is one of the possibilities of manganese nodules processing. This process obtains the polymetallic alloy with a high content of Mn and a varying content of Al, depending on the ratio between aluminum and nodules. The corrosion behaviors of three experimental Mn-based alloys produced by aluminothermic reduction with a content of Mn > 50 wt % were studied. The electrochemical testing in potable water and model seawater was used to explain the corrosion mechanism of Mn-based alloys. The results showed that the corrosion rate of experimental Mn-based alloy decreases with the increase in aluminum content in both potable water and model seawater. It was observed that the uniform corrosion of experimental Mn-based alloys is changed with an increase in aluminum content in alloy to localized corrosion, which was caused by microcells in an environment of model seawater. In contrast, the formation of a semi-protective layer of corrosion products was observed on the surface of Mn-based alloys with a higher content of aluminum in potable water. Moreover, the pitting corrosion of tested Mn-based alloys was observed neither in potable water nor in model seawater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this work we studied the influence of the nitriding atmosphere composition on hardness, microstructure, phase composition and wear resistance of duplex treated cold work PM tool steel alloyed with niobium (2.6 wt.%). Pulsed-plasma nitriding was carried out at 500 °C for 180 min, the atmosphere composition was N2:H2 =1:3 and 1:6. After nitriding, the material was PVD coated (magnetron sputtering) with TiAlN layer. The PVD coat was also applied upon a non-nitrided material. We found out that when both nitriding conditions were applied the wear resistance was significantly higher than the PVD — only coated material. The best wear resistance was achieved when the TiAlN coating was supported by a layer applied by nitriding in a lower-nitrogen atmosphere (N2:H2 =1:6). These conditions prevented formation of an undesirable compound layer in the nitrided layer. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this work was to evaluate the corrosion and abrasive-wear resistance of plasma-nitrided PM tool steel with increased content of niobium (2.6 wt.%). It was found that the wear behaviour was significantly influenced not only by surface hardness, but also by other factors, mainly by surface roughness and by the presence and properties of a compound layer. The maximum wear resistance was achieved by plasma nitriding at 500 °C for 180 min. It was also shown that nitriding led to an increase of the free corrosion potential and that the compound layer on the surface acted as a barrier against corrosion attack. The nitriding conditions that resulted in the maximum wear resistance also provided significantly increased corrosion resistance. In addition, it was observed that the conventional gas nitriding conducted at the same conditions did not produce such significant improvement of the wear resistance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The linear polarization is a non-destructive way of estimating the instantaneous corrosion rate of a metal. In case of reinforced concrete, the method is restricted mainly because of a concrete resistance, unknown area of the polarized reinforcement and non-uniform corrosion. In spite of that, thanks to the polarization resistance it is possible to estimate whether the reinforcement corrodes in activity or passivity. The results imply that sometimes even the knowledge of R p is insufficient for stating activity or passivity of the material. It has been proved, however, that the shape of the curve determining R p by linear polarization may frequently indicate the corrosion behaviour. It is possible to evaluate the deviation of the point of zero current from the free corrosion potential which was measured prior to the linear polarization and also to evaluate the deviation of the polarization curve from the regression line, which is defined by the coefficient of determination. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The aim of this work is to describe the processes during plasma nitriding of Nb-containing, powder metallurgy prepared (PM) tool steel. PM steel was studied containing 2.5% C, 3.3% Si, 6.2% Cr, 2.2% Mo, 2.6% V, 2.6% Nb and 1.0% W, produced by melt atomization and hot isostatic pressing. The hardened and tempered steel was plasma nitrided at temperatures ranging from 470 to 530°C. The nitriding time was 30–180min. Optical microscopy, electron microscopy, XRD, EDS, WDS and hardness measurements were used to study the steel''s properties, microstructure, phases and chemical composition. The nitriding temperature of 470°C was found to be unsuitable for practical use because the layers prepared at this temperature were non-uniform. The compound layer formed by M2,3(C,N) and M4N was found after nitriding at temperatures of 500 and 530°C for at least 60min. The effect of niobium on the formation of this layer was studied. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Novel high-entropy (multi-principal elements) alloy based on Fe-Al-Si-Ni-Ti in equimolar proportions has been developed. The alloy powder obtained by mechanical alloying is composed of orthorhombic FeTiSi phase with the admixture of B2 FeAl. During spark plasma sintering of this powder, the FeSi phase is formed and the amount of FeAl phase increases at the expense of the FeTiSi phase. The material is characterized by a high compressive strength (approx. 1500 MPa) at room temperature, being brittle. At 800 °C, the alloy is plastically deformable, having a yield strength of 459 MPa. The wear resistance of the material is very good, comparable to the tool steel. During the wear test, the spallation of the FeSi particles from the wear track was observed locally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We improve the precision and computation speed of the fully-normalized associated Legendre functions (fnALFs) for ultra-high degrees and orders of spherical harmonic transforms. We take advantage of their numerical behaviour of and propose two new methods for solving an underflow/overflow problem in their calculation. We specifically discuss the application of the two methods in the fixed-order increasing-degree recursion computation technique. The first method uses successive ratios of fnALFs and the second method, called the Midway method, starts iteration from tiny initial values, which are still in the range of the IEEE double-precision environment, rather than from sectorial fnALFs. The underflow/overflow problem in the successive ratio method is handled by using a logarithm-based method and the extended range arithmetic. We validate both methods using numerical tests and compare their results with the X-number method in terms of precision, stability, and speed. The results show that the relative precision of the proposed methods is better than 10−9 for the maximum degree of 100000, compared to results derived by the high precision Wolfram's Mathematica software. Average CPU times required for evaluation of fnALFs over different latitudes demonstrate that the two proposed methods are faster by about 10–30% and 20–90% with respect to the X-number method for the maximum degree in the range of 50–65000. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An Correction to this paper has been published: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12224-021-09391-x [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes the effect of silicon on the manufacturing process, structure, phase composition, and selected properties of titanium aluminide alloys. The experimental generation of TiAl–Si alloys is composed of titanium aluminide (TiAl, Ti3Al or TiAl3) matrix reinforced by hard and heat-resistant titanium silicides (especially Ti5Si3). The alloys are characterized by wear resistance comparable with tool steels, high hardness, and very good resistance to oxidation at high temperatures (up to 1000 °C), but also low room-temperature ductility, as is typical also for other intermetallic materials. These alloys had been successfully prepared by the means of powder metallurgical routes and melting metallurgy methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Critical Raw Materials (CRMs) list has been defined based on economic importance and supply risk by the European Commission. This review paper describes two issues regarding critical raw materials: the possibilities of their substitution in iron-based alloys and the use of iron-based alloys instead of other materials in order to save CRMs. This review covers strategies for saving chromium in stainless steel, substitution or lowering the amounts of carbide-forming elements (especially tungsten and vanadium) in tool steel and alternative iron-based CRM-free and low-CRM materials: austempered ductile cast iron, high-temperature alloys based on intermetallics of iron and sintered diamond tools with an iron-containing low-cobalt binder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intermetallic compounds based on Ti-Al- (Si) are attractive materials with good thermal stability and low density. However, the production of these materials is quite complicated. Partially modified conventional methods of melting metallurgy are most often used due to availability, possible high productivity, and relatively low production costs. Therefore, some technologies for the production of intermetallics based on Ti-Al are currently available, but with certain disadvantages, which are caused by poor casting properties or extreme reactivity of the melt with crucibles. Some shortcomings can be eliminated by modifying the melting technology, which contributes to increasing the cost of the process. The work deals with the preparation of Ti-Al-Si intermetallic compounds with different contents of aluminum and silicon, which were produced by centrifugal casting in an induction vacuum furnace Linn Supercast-Titan. This process could contribute to the commercial use of these alloys in the future. For this research, the TiAl15Si15(in wt.%) alloy was selected, which represents a balanced ratio of aluminides and silicides in its structure, and the TiAl35Si5 alloy, which due to the lower silicon content allows better melting conditions, especially with regard to the melting temperature. This alloy was also investigated after HIP ("Hot Isostatic Pressing") treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper brings an innovative processing route of manganese deep-sea nodules, which results in completely new grades of alloys. Deep-sea nodules were processed by aluminothermic method without the extraction of individual elements, producing complexly alloyed manganese-based "natural alloys". Three levels of the amount of aluminum were used for the aluminothermic reduction, and hence the alloys differ strongly in the amount of aluminum, which has a significant effect on their phase composition. The alloys have very high wear resistance, comparable with tool steel. The disadvantage of low-aluminum alloy is the susceptibility to local thermal cracking during friction, which occurs especially in the case of a dry sliding wear against the static partner with low thermal conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Electronic structure of manganese ferrite is calculated using the density functional theory. Partially inverted structure with the inversion parameter y=0.0625 is considered, using four different supercells (Mn15Fe)A[Fe31Mn]BO64 that differ in relative position of FeA and MnB. The crystal structure was optimized by minimizing the forces acting on the atoms. The spin magnetic moments m of Mn and Fe ions depend to some extent on their position in the supercell, but we found that in all cases m(MnB) is considerably smaller (by approx. one Bohr magneton) than m(MnA). This indicates strongly that the formal valence of MnB is 3+. Trivalent manganese in an octahedral position is expected to exhibit a Jahn–Teller effect and corresponding analysis was performed. No pronounced localization of the extra electron in the octahedral sublattice that would represent the Fe2+ ion was found. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The NMR spectra of 57Fe nuclei were measured below and above the Verwey transition temperature T V in single crystal samples of Fe3(1− δ )O4 (0⩽δ⩽0.009). The measured crystals were grown from the melt using the cold crucible technique. In a cubic phase above T V the satellite structure induced by vacancies in the octahedral sublattice is clearly resolved. The satellite lines originate from those iron nuclei in the tetrahedral sublattice that are nearest to the vacancy. Temperature dependence of satellite lines indicates that the presence of vacancy leads to a redistribution of the electrons in octahedral sublattice and the appearance of iron ions possessing appreciable orbital momentum. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Powder metallurgy is a group of advanced processes for the synthesis, processing, and shaping of various kinds of materials. Initially inspired by ceramics processing, the methodology comprising of the production of a powder and its transformation to a compact solid product has attracted great attention since the end of World War II. At present, there are many technologies for powder production (e.g., gas atomization of the melt, chemical reduction, milling, and mechanical alloying) and its consolidation (e.g., pressing and sintering, hot isostatic pressing, and spark plasma sintering). The most promising ones can achieve an ultra-fine or nano-grained structure of the powder, and preserve it during consolidation. Among these methods, mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering play a key role. This Special Issue gives special focus to the advancement of mechanical alloying, spark plasma sintering and self-propagating high-temperature synthesis methods, as well as to the role of these processes in the development of new materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gravity data have been applied for modelling and interpretation studies in geosciences. This contribution reviews currently observable and foreseen gravity data represented by gradients of the gravitational potential. Functional models linking 3-D mass density distribution functions to potential gradients of up to the third order are formulated using volume integrals of the Newtonian type with unitless kernel functions expressed both analytically and using infinite series of associated Legendre functions. Spatial and spectral properties of the kernel functions are analysed and sensitivity of the gradients to particular mass density distributions is studied. Two particular mass density distribution models are used in numerical experiments: a local 3-D mass density model representing shallow mass density variations and a global mass model represented by Earth's upper sediments with lateral mass density variations. Computed values of the gradients demonstrate their different sensitivities to particular mass density distributions which change with an increasing distance of the gradients from gravitating masses. Third-order gradients are particularly useful for studying near subsurface or shallow density structures such as caves, caverns, salt domes, sediment basement morphology, continental margins or buried fault systems that could be identified spatially more closely. Thus, higher-order gradients would offer an interesting tool for mass density mapping once their observability with the sufficient accuracy and resolution is realized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Melting metallurgy is still the most frequently used and simplest method for the processing of metallic materials. Some of the materials (especially intermetallics) are very difficult to prepare by this method due to the high melting points, poor fluidity, or formation of cracks and pores after casting. This article describes the processing of Ti-Al-Si alloys by arc melting, and shows the microstructure, phase composition, hardness, fracture toughness, and compression tests of these alloys. These results are compared with the same alloys prepared by powder metallurgy by the means of a combination of mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering. Ti-Al-Si alloys processed by melting metallurgy are characterized by a very coarse structure with central porosity. The phase composition is formed by titanium aluminides and titanium silicides, which are full of cracks. Ti-Al-Si alloys processed by the powder metallurgy route have a relatively homogeneous fine-grained structure with higher hardness. However, these alloys are very brittle. On the other hand, the fracture toughness of arc-melted samples is immeasurable using Palmqvist's method because the crack is stopped by a large area of titanium aluminide matrix. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fe–Al–Si alloys have been previously reported as an interesting alternative to common high-temperature materials. This work aimed to improve the properties of FeAl20Si20 alloy (in wt.%) by the application of powder metallurgy process consisting of ultrahigh-energy mechanical alloying and spark plasma sintering. The material consisted of Fe3Si, FeSi, and Fe3Al2Si3 phases. It was found that the alloy exhibits an anomalous behaviour of yield strength and ultimate compressive strength around 500 °C, reaching approximately 1100 and 1500 MPa, respectively. The results also demonstrated exceptional wear resistance, oxidation resistance, and corrosion resistance in water-based electrolytes. The tested manufacturing process enabled the fracture toughness to be increased ca. 10 times compared to the cast alloy of the same composition. Due to its unique properties, the material could be applicable in the automotive industry for the manufacture of exhaust valves, for wear parts, and probably as a material for selected aggressive chemical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A new strategy was applied to develop nano-quasicrystalline phase in well-known AlNiCo ternary system. This approach was based on electroless Ni-P plating of the starting powders and subsequent ball milling in a protective atmosphere without additional annealing or sintering processes. Microstructural evolution and phase transformation of both raw and coated particles were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD), respectively. After 360 min of mechanical alloying, the peaks demonstrating the formation of nano-quasicrystalline phase appeared in XRD pattern of the coated powders, while those in mechanically alloyed raw powders remained mostly unchanged. The formation of nano-quasicrystalline phase in the vicinity of the primary elements was also confirmed by the corresponding selected area diffraction patterns, and images generated by transmission electron microscope (TEM). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iron aluminides are still deeply investigated materials for their use in power plants, automotive and chemical industry, and other sectors. This paper shows that it is possible to strongly improve their oxidation behavior by the addition of silicon. The description of the synergic effect of aluminum and silicon on the oxidation behavior of Fe–Al–Si alloys at 800 °C in air is presented. The oxidation rate, microstructure, phase, and chemical composition of these ternary alloys are compared with the binary Fe–Al and Fe–Si alloys. Results showed that the oxidation of Fe–Al–Si ternary alloys provides an oxide layer based on aluminum oxide with a low concentration of iron and silicon. Below this oxide layer, there is a layer of silicides formed as a result of depletion by aluminum, which forms a secondary oxidation protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the study was to evaluate treatment protocols for improvement of clinical and bacteriological cure rate of non-severe clinical mastitis (CM) and selective dry cow therapy (SDCT). Mastitis management based on on-farm commercial culture system MicroMastTM and data analysis were implemented into two dairy herds. Quarters with evidence of Gram-positive agents were treated using benzyl penicillin or amoxicillin and/or by amoxicillin with clavulanic acid. In herd A, 31 quarters of non-severe CM were recorded. Of them, Streptococcus uberis was isolated in 16 (51.6%), non-aureus staphylococci (NAS) in 8 (25.8%), E. coli in 5 (16.1%) and no growth in 2 (6.5%) cases. Bacteriological cure was observed in 24/29 (82.8%) quarters. Antimicrobial consumption was reduced from 3.56 to 2.33 doses per case. Under the SDCT protocol, 28 quarters (13.2%) of 53 cows dried-off were included, achieving a reduction by 86.8% on the quarter level. In herd B, 23 quarters of non-severe CM were recorded. Of them, S. uberis and Escherichia coli were identified equally in 8 (34.8%) samples and NAS in 2 (8.7%) samples and with no growth in 5 (21.7%) cases. Bacteriological cure was achieved in 17/18 quarters (94.4%). Antimicrobial consumption was reduced from 4.45 to 1.83 doses per case. Only 5 (1.7%) quarters of 72 cows were included for SDCT with reduction in consumption of antimicrobials by 98.3% on the quarter level. In summary, innovated treatment protocols based on results of on-farm culture enabled a significant reduction of antimicrobial consumption and improvement of bacteriological cure rate in conditions of practise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right-hand side of Eq. (35) in the original article equals one. Thus, Eq. (35) is incorrect, and we suggest the following correct form instead: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Vegetation‐plot sampling usually involves estimating species cover. For classifying plots to vegetation types, covers are often transformed to decrease the effect of dominant species. However, it remains unclear which transformation is optimal. We suggest that for vegetation classification, optimal is such transformation that contributes to creating clusters of plots in an unsupervised classification that are most similar to the widely accepted vegetation types, e.g., phytosociological associations. Here our aim is to find and recommend such optimal transformation by testing a range of transformation options against the national vegetation classifications of three European countries. Location: Czech Republic, The Netherlands, Great Britain. Methods: Three national datasets of vegetation plots with species cover information, classified to associations or community types of the respective national vegetation classification systems, were analysed. From each dataset, multiple subsets of plots were selected randomly, each subset representing a vegetation‐plot table containing several similar associations/community types. Species cover values in these subsets were subjected to various transformations (power transformation, logarithmic transformation and pseudo‐species cut levels). Then each subset was classified by an agglomerative classification method (beta‐flexible clustering with different beta values), and the classification was compared with the units of the national vegetation classification using the adjusted Rand index. Results: Power transformations of percentage covers with an exponent between 0.3 and 0.6 produced the best match between the unsupervised classifications and the national vegetation classifications. This result did not depend on the classification method used. A similar degree of matching was achieved with some cut levels of pseudo‐species and with logarithmic transformation of percentage cover. Conclusions: If an unsupervised classification of vegetation plots aims at defining vegetation types that are close to the phytosociological associations accepted in national vegetation classifications, the best transformation is close to the square‐root of percentage cover (i.e., power transformation with exponent 0.5). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

River gravel-bar habitats are highly endangered. They are still well-preserved in the Caucasus, but developing conservation strategies is burdened by the lack of data from this region. We studied vegetation and habitat types on gravel bars of 22 rivers in Georgia, including successional stages from open early-successional herbaceous vegetation to scrub. We distinguished five vegetation types based on vegetation physiognomy and β-flexible clustering of species composition, and described them as phytosociological vegetation units: Early-successional herbaceous vegetation at higher elevations was described as the new association Epilobietum colchici and that at lower elevations as the Petrorhagia saxifraga–Crepis foetida community. The grassland dominated by Calamagrostis pseudophragmites and scrub vegetation were assigned to the associations previously described from Central Europe (Tussilagini farfarae-Calamagrostietum pseudophragmitae, Salici purpureae-Myricarietum germanicae and Salici incanae-Hippophaëtum rhamnoidis). We established diagnostic plant species for each type using the fidelity calculation and related these types to environmental variables. We further compared them with the previously published data on gravel-bar vegetation from the Russian part of the Caucasus and with European systems of habitat classification. This study demonstrates that vegetation and habitat types occurring in Georgia correspond to those recognized earlier in Europe, and can be easily linked to the European systems of habitat classification. Unlike in other parts of Europe, these habitats are still well-preserved on rivers with natural hydrological dynamics, but they are threatened by plans of dam building and other river regulations. Our study provides baseline data for developing conservation strategies for the Caucasian gravel-bar habitats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regional gravimetric geoid solved using boundary-value problems of the potential theory is usually determined in two computational steps: (1) downward continuing ground gravity data onto the geoid using inverse Poisson's integral equation in a mass-free space and (2) evaluating geoidal heights by applying Stokes integral to downward continued gravity. In this contribution, the two integration steps are combined in one step and the so-called one-step integration method in spherical approximation is implemented to compute the regional gravimetric geoid model. Advantages of using the one-step integration method instead of the two integration steps include less computational cost, more stable numerical computation and better utilization of input ground gravity data (reduced in each integration step to avoid edge effects). A discrete form of the one-step integral equation is used to convert mean values of ground gravity anomalies into mean values of geoidal heights. To evaluate mean values of the integral kernel in the vicinity of the computation point, a fast and numerically accurate analytical formula is proposed using planar approximation. The proposed formula is tested to determine the regional gravimetric geoid of the Auvergne test area, France. Results show a good agreement of the estimated geoid with geoidal heights estimated at GNSS-levelling reference points, with the standard deviation for the difference of 3.3 cm. Considering the uncertainty of geoidal heights derived at the GNSS/levelling reference points, one can conclude the geoid models computed by the one-step and two-step integration methods have negligible differences. Thus, the one-step method can be recommended for regional geoid modelling with its methodological and numerical advantages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: What are the main vegetation types of forest and shrubland vegetation in central and eastern Euxine Turkey and SW Georgia? What are the main environmental factors affecting their diversity? What is their syntaxonomic position? Can we integrate them into the European vegetation classification system? Location: Central and eastern Euxine Turkey and SW Georgia. Methods: We collected 3104 vegetation plots of forest and shrubland vegetation in the study region and performed Two‐Way Indicator Species Analysis (TWINSPAN) classification. We described vegetation types based on the classification results, expert knowledge and information from literature sources. We defined diagnostic species and prepared distribution maps for each vegetation type. To determine the most significant environmental variables on floristic differentiation, we used canonical correspondence analysis. Detrended correspondence analysis with passive projection of most significant environmental variables was run to interpret the environmental variation of vegetation types. Results: The studied vegetation was divided into 29 vegetation types related to seven main vegetation groups: relict Mediterranean forests and shrubland (mainly along the coastline, beside some inland localities), lowland to submontane forests, central Euxine mountain forests, eastern Euxine (Colchic) mountain forests, subeuxine forests, azonal riparian forests and subalpine and alpine shrubland. Elevation is the most important factor causing the differentiation in vegetation. It is followed by longitude and latitude. Among climatic variables, temperature seasonality, annual precipitation and precipitation of the wettest quarter are the most significant factors for vegetation differentiation. These factors correlate with the reduction of maritime climate and geomorphological features. Conclusions: Vegetation types mostly correspond to the syntaxa accepted in the EuroVegChecklist. However, some of them do not appear in the EuroVegChecklist since they appear only beyond Europe. We described three syntaxa as new: Abietion equi‐trojani, Querco cerridis‐Carpinion orientalis and Piceo orientalis‐Fagenion orientalis. The study revealed high vegetation diversity of the region that should be taken into consideration in ecosystem management and used as a reference in restoration and mitigation of the effects of global changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work presents the possibilities of producing a substitute for a commercial matrix material for sintered metal–diamond tools which is characterized by increased tribological properties required in machining natural stones and concrete. In this study, the improvement in wear behavior of sintered pre-alloyed matrix caused by a thermal treatment was investigated. Several mixtures made of commercially available powders were homogenized by ball milling and consolidated at 900 °C using the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. During cooling down, the specimens were subjected to isothermal holding at 350 or 250 °C for 1 h. After consolidation, all specimens were tested for density and hardness, whereas selected specimens were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and flexural strength tests. The specimens made of BDCM50 powder (a mixture of the base and pre-alloyed powders in 50:50 proportion) shows excellent properties including σ0.2 = 1045 MPa in the three-point bending test and HV10 ≈ 380. Resistance to abrasive wear evaluated in both three-body and two-body conditions in the MWT abrasion test was estimated at A i 3 = 18.1 ± 3.9 μm/20 m and   A i 2 = 95.9 ± 11.8 μm/20 m, respectively. A series of diamond-impregnated specimens (segments) was also produced and tested for wear rate on abrasive concrete. The potential graphitization of the diamond grits was investigated using Raman spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction. As a reference, both the base Fe-Mn-Cu-Sn-C and commercially available Co+20%WC alloy were used to compare selected properties of the investigated materials. It has been proved that heat-treated specimens made of the base mixture modified with pre-alloyed powders are characterized by increased hardness and resistance to abrasive wear. The BDCM50 matrix has a negligible effect on diamond graphitization and shows excellent field performance, which makes it a good potential substitute for replacing Co+20%WC in sintered diamond-impregnated tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work is devoted to the preparation of alloys based on intermetallic compounds in the Ti-Al-Si system by powder metallurgy using mechanical alloying and the spark plasma sintering (SPS) method. The aim was to describe the formation of intermetallic phases during mechanical alloying of TiAl15Si15 (wt-%) alloy and to consolidate the powder prepared by optimised conditions. Phase composition, microstructure and hardness of compacted alloy were determined. Four hours of mechanical alloying is sufficient time for preparation of pure elements free material composed only of intermetallic phases. After consolidation, the TiAl15Si15 alloy has a homogeneous structure composed of silicide (Ti5Si3) in aluminide (TiAl) matrix. The hardness of the material reaches 865 ± 42 HV 5. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The uncertainties of the geoidal heights estimated from ground gravity data caused by their spatial distribution and noise are investigated in this study. To test these effects, the geoidal heights are estimated from synthetic ground gravity data using the Stokes- Helmert approach. Five different magnitudes of the random noise in ground gravity data and three types of their spatial distribution are considered in the study, namely grid, semigrid and random. The noise propagation is estimated for the two major computational steps of the Stokes-Helmert approach, i.e., the downward continuation of ground gravity and Stokes's integration. Numerical results show that in order to achieve the 1-cm geoid, the ground gravity data should be distributed on the grid or semi-grid with the average angular distance less than 2′. If they are randomly distributed (scattered gravity points), the 1-cm geoid cannot be estimated if the average angular distance between scattered gravity points is larger than 1′. Besides, the noise of the gravity data for the tree types of their spatial distribution should be below 1 mGal to estimate the 1-cm geoid. The advantage of interpolating scattered gravity points onto the regular grid, rather than using them directly, is also investigated in this study. Numerical test shows that it is always worth interpolating the scattered points to the regular grid except if the scattered gravity points are sparser than 5′. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The disjunct occurrence of Pedicularis exaltata in the White Carpathians (Czech Republic), isolated by more than 500 km from the nearest populations in the Eastern Carpathians, has been considered one of the mysteries of the Western Carpathian flora. We used molecular methods (AFLP, ITS and cpDNA sequencing) to reconstruct a possible scenario of the evolution of P. exaltata and its closely related congener P. hacquetii and to evaluate their differentiation. We paid particular attention to the origin of the isolated population in the White Carpathians. We also analysed the vegetation composition at the sampling sites to characterize the habitat preferences of the Pedicularis species and compare different sites. The pattern of molecular variability does not support a species boundary between P. exaltata and P. hacquetii. These assumed species should be merged into one bearing the name Pedicularis hacquetii following the priority rule, as also proposed by several early morphology-based taxonomic studies. The cpDNA variability pattern supports an evolutionary scenario involving a distribution centre (refugium) in the Eastern Carpathians from which the species expanded to the more westerly parts of its extant geographical range. Low population differentiation in AFLPs, high gene diversity and high DW index in isolated populations indicate that this expansion was contiguous rather than based on long-distance dispersal. Under such a scenario, the White Carpathian population is considered one of isolated relict populations scattered throughout the Carpathians and the East European Plain. A complete phylogeographic reconstruction of P. hacquetii s.l., however, requires ancient DNA analysis of herbarium specimens of nowadays extinct populations of the East European Plain. Extant habitats of P. hacquetii s.l. consist of species-rich dry-mesic to mesic (sub)montane grasslands and subalpine tall-herb growths, which may be relics of vegetation widespread in the late Glacial/early Holocene, when the contiguous expansion of the species possibly proceeded. The analysis of species with high fidelity to P. hacquetii s.l. throughout its range indicated that middle altitudes of south-western White Carpathians belong to the regions most suitable for the taxon within the Czech Republic and Slovakia. We found no support for the late introduction/long-distance dispersal scenarios and consider the relic survival scenario most parsimonious for the White Carpathians. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coercivity in rare-earth permanent magnets depends on the size and shape of magnetic grains. Recent experimental studies have revealed that, however, atomic scale structures around the grain-boundaries of magnets also play a crucial role to determine their coercivity. In this paper, we construct an effective spin model for the Nd 2 Fe 14 B structure based on first-principles calculations to describe atomistic magnetization dynamics of the magnetic grains, incorporating the information of the electronic states of the system. We find that the Nd ions located on the surfaces of the grains may have planar magnetic anisotropy, and that they can cause coercivity reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The launch of gravity-dedicated satellite missions at the beginning of the new millennium led to an accuracy improvement of global Earth gravity field models (GGMs). One of these missions was the Gravity field and steady-state Ocean Circulation Explorer (GOCE) launched in 2009. As the first European Space Agency's Earth Explorer Mission, the satellite carried a novel instrument, a 3-D gradiometer, which allowed measurement of the second-order directional derivatives of the gravitational potential (gravitational gradients) with a uniform quality and a near-global coverage. The main mission goal was to determine the static Earth's gravity field with the ambitious precision of 1-2 cm in terms of geoid heights and 1 mGal in terms of gravity anomalies for spatial resolution of 100 km (half wavelength at the equator). More than three years of the outstanding measurements resulted in three levels of data products (Level 0, Level 1b and Level 2), six releases of GGMs, and several global grids of gravitational gradients. The grids, which represent a step between gravitational gradients measured directly along the GOCE orbit and those represented by GGMs, found their usage mainly in geophysical applications. In this contribution, we validate the official Level 2 product GRD_SPW_2 using height anomalies over two test areas located in central and northern Europe (Czechia/Slovakia and Norway). A mathematical model based on the least-squares spectral weighting is employed with corresponding spectral weights estimated for validation of gravitational gradient grids. This model continues gravitational gradients from the mean orbital altitude of GOCE down to the irregular Earth's surface (not to a sphere) and transforms them to height anomalies in one computational step. Analytical downward continuation errors of the model are estimated using a closed-loop test. Prior to the comparison of height anomalies estimated from gravitational gradients with their reference values derived from Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS)/levelling over the two test areas, the gravitational gradients and reference data are corrected for all systematic effects such as the tide system conversion. Moreover, the high-frequency part of the gravitational signal is estimated and subtracted from reference data as it is attenuated in the gravitational gradients measured by GOCE. A relative improvement between the release 6 and release 2 gradient grids reaches 48 % in terms of height anomalies in Czechia/Slovakia. The relative improvement in Norway is even more significant and reaches 55 % . The release 6 of the official Level 2 product GRD_SPW_2 gained the absolute accuracy with the standard deviation of 8.7 cm over Czechia/Slovakia and 9.3 cm over Norway. Article Highlights: A mathematical model based on the least-squares spectral weighting for validation of the official Level 2 product GRD_SPW_2 is presented Possibilities of the spectral combination method for the downward continuation of gravitational gradients and their transformation into height anomalies are investigated A review of quality of the official Level 2 product GRD_SPW_2 with respect to GNSS/levelling points over two test areas (Czechia/Slovakia and Norway) is provided [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please be informed that the wrong table was inadvertently published in the following paper [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses methods for selecting criteria used for stopping iterative regularization methods applied to solving continuation of gravity observed at or outside the Earth's surface down to the geoid. This computational step is required for determination of the gravimetric geoid by the Stokes approach. For surface gravity data measured with spatial resolutions at the kilometer level and higher, their downward continuation becomes ill posed and its solution numerically unstable. Two iterative methods often used for solving this problem, namely the Landweber and conjugate gradient least-squares (CGLS) methods, are investigated using a sample of surface gravity data synthesized from a global gravitational model over a mountainous test area in Colorado, USA. Five different commonly used stopping criteria are applied to both iterative methods and neither of them, except L-curve, succeed to stop the iterative process at the reasonable solution. A simple approach is proposed to stop the iterative methods exploiting stochastic properties of surface gravity data. Results of numerical tests suggest that a rather simple stopping criterion based on stochastics parameters of surface gravity data estimated using a leave-one-out cross-validation procedure yields results superior to those based on the L-curve approach which is best performing among the five standard methods for selecting the stopping criterion. Results based on the Landweber method outperform those based on the CGLS method. Iterative methods based on optimum numbers of iterations represent an alternative to commonly used regularization techniques for solving ill-posed inverse problems, such as Tikhonov, that require optimal estimates of regularization parameters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The structure of Ni 8 Ti 5 was solved and refined from precession electron diffraction tomography data using dynamical refinement approach. It has trigonal symmetry R -3 m ( a = 12.24(5) Å, c = 15.33(5) Å) with a structure related to the structure of Ni 4 Ti 3 . The greatest challenge of the structure determination was the assignment of atomic types due to the proximity of scattering powers of Ti and Ni. Several approaches to determination of atom type distribution over atomic positions were used; (1) analysis of the Wyckoff position multiplicities, (2) refinement of displacement parameters, and (3) geometrical analysis of the structure and comparison with known structures. These approaches consistently pointed to one distribution, which was confirmed by a significant improvement of the refinement figures of merit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]