Search

Abstract This research investigates the recognition of basketball techniques actions through the implementation of three-dimensional (3D) Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), aiming to enhance the accurate and automated identification of various actions in basketball games. Initially, basketball action sequences are extracted from publicly available basketball action datasets, followed by data preprocessing, including image sampling, data augmentation, and label processing. Subsequently, a novel action recognition model is proposed, combining 3D convolutions and Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) networks to model temporal features and capture the spatiotemporal relationships and temporal information of actions. This facilitates the facilitating automatic learning of the spatiotemporal features associated with basketball actions. The model’s performance and robustness are further improved through the adoption of optimization algorithms, such as adaptive learning rate adjustment and regularization. The efficacy of the proposed method is verified through experiments conducted on three publicly available basketball action datasets: NTURGB + D, Basketball-Action-Dataset, and B3D Dataset. The results indicate that this approach achieves outstanding performance in basketball technique action recognition tasks across different datasets compared to two common traditional methods. Specifically, when compared to the frame difference-based method, this model exhibits a significant accuracy improvement of 15.1%. When compared to the optical flow-based method, this model demonstrates a substantial accuracy improvement of 12.4%. Moreover, this method showcases strong robustness, accurately recognizing actions under diverse lighting conditions and scenes, achieving an average accuracy of 93.1%. The research demonstrates that the method reported here effectively captures the spatiotemporal relationships of basketball actions, thereby providing reliable technical assessment tools for basketball coaches and players.

The magnetostriction of Fe–Ga thin sheets can be significantly improved by secondary recrystallization, but the effect of the nano-heterogeneity on the magnetostriction of Fe–Ga thin sheets with preferred texture is still an open question. This paper studies the feasibility of tailoring nano-heterogeneity to enhance the magnetostriction of -oriented Fe–Ga thin sheets by aging treatment. The secondary recrystallization of Goss ({110}) texture with magnetostriction of 220 ± 12 ppm is achieved in Fe81Ga19 thin sheets after annealing at 950 °C. The magnetostriction and magnetic properties exhibit nonlinear changes with the increase of aging temperature. A peak magnetostriction of 244 ± 5 ppm is obtained in Fe81Ga19 thin sheets after aging at 450 °C, about 11% more than that of Fe–Ga thin sheets after secondary recrystallization. The effect of aging treatment on the magnetostriction of Fe–Ga thin sheets depends on the characteristics of the nano-scale L60 phase and causes lattice distortion. The increase of the volume fraction of the nano-scale L60 phase at the aging temperature of 450 °C leads to a much larger distortion and enhancement of the magnetostriction. As the aging temperature is lower than 400 °C or higher than 550 °C, the decrease of volume fraction or the coarsening of L60 phases, respectively, results in the decrease in the distortion of the A2 matrix.

Abstract Reconstructive phase transitions involving breaking and reconstruction of primary chemical bonds are ubiquitous and important for many technological applications. In contrast to displacive phase transitions, the dynamics of reconstructive phase transitions are usually slow due to the large energy barrier. Nevertheless, the reconstructive phase transformation from β- to λ-Ti3O5 exhibits an ultrafast and reversible behavior. Despite extensive studies, the underlying microscopic mechanism remains unclear. Here, we discover a kinetically favorable in-plane nucleated layer-by-layer transformation mechanism through metadynamics and large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. This is enabled by developing an efficient machine learning potential with near first-principles accuracy through an on-the-fly active learning method and an advanced sampling technique. Our results reveal that the β−λ phase transformation initiates with the formation of two-dimensional nuclei in the a b-plane and then proceeds layer-by-layer through a multistep barrier-lowering kinetic process via intermediate metastable phases. Our work not only provides important insight into the ultrafast and reversible nature of the β−λ transition, but also presents useful strategies and methods for tackling other complex structural phase transitions.

IntroductionUpper extremity deficits (UED) is a common and impactful complication among stroke survivors. Virtual reality (VR)-based rehabilitation holds potential for enhancing rehabilitation intensity and engagement by stimulating tasks. While several clinical studies have examined the effectiveness and safety of VR-based rehabilitation, there is a need for further research to improve consistency in outcomes.Materials and methodsThe study will incorporate randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concerning the effects of VR-based rehabilitation on upper extremity (UE) function in stroke survivors. A comprehensive search of databases including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, Cinahl, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan-fang, and Chinese Biology Medicine Database will be performed from inception to the start of the study. Primary outcomes will focus on upper limb motor function assessments such as the Fugl-Meyer Upper Extremity (FMUE), Box and Block Test (BBT), Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT), and Action Research Arm Test (ARAT). Secondary outcomes related to activities of daily living will include the Barthel Index (BI) and Functional Independence Measure (FIM). Research selection, data extraction, and quality assessment will be independently conducted by two researchers. The recently revised Cochrane risk of bias tool will be employed to evaluate study quality. Meta-regression and subgroup analyses will be utilized to identify effective therapy delivery modes and patterns. The assessment, development, and evaluation of recommendations approach will be applied to achieve a robust conclusion.DiscussionThis study provides a rigorous synthesis to evaluate optimal parameters-specifically intensity and duration-for VR-based rehabilitation interventions aimed at enhancing UE function in stroke survivors. Our secondary objective is to assess the impact of these parameters on rehabilitation outcomes. We anticipate an accurate, transparent, and standardized review process that will yield evidence-based recommendations for integrating VR technology into treating upper extremity dysfunction in stroke patients, offering clinicians effective strategies to enhance upper limb function.

Magneto-mechano-electric (MME) generators consisting of piezoelectric and magnetostrictive materials can convert the stray magnetic noise to useful electric energy for the wireless sensor networks utilizing the magnetoelectric coupling effect and magnetic interactions. In this paper, a scalable engineering approach was proposed to fabricate the laminate MME generator composed of a PZT/Fe–Ga/PZT sandwich structure. The Goss-oriented Fe81Ga19 thin sheet with a large magnetostriction of 244 ppm was produced by a simple and low-cost approach, and the commercial polycrystalline piezoelectric ceramic products (PZT-5H) were used as the PZT layers. The effect of grain orientation, device structure, magnetic field amplitude, and resonance frequency on the electrical output of the PZT/Fe–Ga/PZT MME generator was investigated. The electrical output of the MME generator containing the Goss-oriented Fe81Ga19 thin sheet reached an AC voltage of 4.58 V and the ME coefficient of 76.33 V/cm·Oe under a low excitation magnetic field of 26 Oe at a low resonance frequency of 26 Hz. The MME generator with a Goss-oriented Fe–Ga layer shows 4.7 times higher output voltage and ME coupling coefficient than that with the no-oriented polycrystalline Fe–Ga layer, but only 81% of the latter’s resonance frequency. This is related to the significant increase in magnetostriction due to the texture transition after secondary recrystallization annealing at the temperature of 950 °C. This paper provides a very promising solution to meet the self-power supply needs of the Internet of Things utilizing low-value and low-frequency magnetic fields.

Abstract Practice of tumor-targeted suicide gene therapy is hampered by unsafe and low efficient delivery of plasmid DNA (pDNA). Using HIV-Tat-derived peptide (Tat) to non-covalently form Tat/pDNA complexes advances the delivery performance. However, this innovative approach is still limited by intracellular delivery efficiency and cell-cycle status. In this study, Tat/pDNA complexes were further condensed into smaller, nontoxic nanoparticles by Ca2+ addition. Formulated Tat/pDNA-Ca2+ nanoparticles mainly use macropinocytosis for intercellular delivery, and their macropinocytic uptake was persisted in mitosis (M-) phase and highly activated in DNA synthesis (S-) phase of cell-cycle. Over-expression or phosphorylation of a mitochondrial chaperone, 75-kDa glucose-regulated protein (GRP75), promoted monopolar spindle kinase 1 (MPS1)-controlled centrosome duplication and cell-cycle progress, but also driven cell-cycle-dependent macropinocytosis of Tat/pDNA-Ca2+ nanoparticles. Further in vivo molecular imaging based on DF (Fluc-eGFP)-TF (RFP-Rluc-HSV-ttk) system showed that Tat/pDNA-Ca2+ nanoparticles exhibited highly suicide gene therapy efficiency in mouse model xenografted with human ovarian cancer. Furthermore, arresting cell-cycle at S-phase markedly enhanced delivery performance of Tat/pDNA-Ca2+ nanoparticles, whereas targeting GRP75 reduced their macropinocytic delivery. More importantly, in vivo targeting GRP75 combined with cell-cycle or macropinocytosis inhibitors exhibited distinct suicide gene therapy efficiency. In summary, our data highlight that mitochondrial chaperone GRP75 moonlights as a biphasic driver underlying cell-cycle-dependent macropinocytosis of Tat/pDNA-Ca2+ nanoparticles in ovarian cancer.

Preparing Fe–Ga sheets with excellent magnetostrictive coefficients by rolling and annealing methods can greatly promote the development of high-efficiency magnetostrictive devices. 0.3 mm thick Fe–Ga thin sheet was produced by the one-stage large-reduction cold rolling method without intermediate annealing. Trace V and Nb elements addition improves the rolling formability of the Fe–Ga sheet by precipitating a large number of (Nb,V)C particles. The evolution of precipitation, microstructure, texture, and magnetostrictive coefficients in the Fe–Ga sheet was investigated. The microstructure of primary recrystallization is composed of homogenous distribution of fine grains with an average grain size of about 22 μm. The composite inhibitors composed of MnS and (Nb,V)C precipitates with a particle size of 40∼80 nm suppress the matrix grains effectively. The primary recrystallization texture consists of a strong γ texture with a peak at {111} and a relatively strong {114} texture. The secondary recrystallization of Goss grain occurs at the annealing temperature of 900 °C and is completed at 1100 °C by the combined effects of the existing inhibitor and texture. The Fe–Ga thin sheets composed of several millimeter-sized grains of Goss texture accompanied by small grains oriented by {114} were obtained after annealing at 1100 °C, and its measured magnetostriction value is about 238 ppm. The present work proposes a promising routine to produce high-performance Fe–Ga thin sheets.

The complex deformation styles of large intraplate strike-slip fault systems in the multi-stage superimposed basin are hot topics worldwide. This article proposes structural models and evolution processes for such strike-slip fault systems in the Tarim Basin based on high-resolution 3D seismic data and deep wells. Our analyses reveal that strike-slip fault in the Tarim Basin formed with different structural styles in five tectonic layers from the Sinian to the Permian that accompanies the Sinian rift systems and uplift, the Lower–Middle Cambrian reversed faults and salt tectonics, the Ordovician fault-karst systems, the Silurian to the Carboniferous en-echelon transtensional faults, and the Permian volcanic structures. Influenced by the multi-tectonic layers and complex evolution history, the strike-slip faults performed as multi-layer flower structures and various fault types. The evolution history of paleo-uplifts also influenced the distribution characteristics of strike-slip faults, such as X, diamond, and V shapes in the Tabei uplift and T shapes in the Tazhong uplift. The strike-slip faults formed in late Cambrian stage were associated with unconformities, inverted structures, and growth strata in deep layers. The different tectonic evolution models of the Tabei and the Tazhong uplift were built, which shows pre-existing structures, the lithological combinations from the rift basin to the marine basin, and the change of regional tectonic stress from the Cambrian to Permian are controlling factors of the strike-slip fault systems. These models provide a new interpretation method for intraplate strike-slip fault systems worldwide.

This study performed field surveys and investigated the formal and technological characteristics of traditional buildings in the Southern area of Hubei province, China, and reviewed the related historical archives and literature. This study is helpful for architects or urban administrators to understand how traditional vernacular buildings contribute to energy saving. After field surveying and mapping of these traditional buildings, this study found that the materials and the constructions of traditional buildings as well as the pattern and the layout are different from current buildings, which might lead to the high effective energy saving of traditional houses. This type of architecture can effectively improve the living environment through adjusting temperature, and improve illumination and ventilation according to the conducted testing. Also, the thermal and heat environments of traditional vernacular buildings are analyzed using BIM software. The results of the analysis demonstrate that these type of buildings can maintain great thermal and heat environment by similar building structures and materials, which also could meet the current standards in Hubei. These works demonstrate that traditional vernacular buildings could be as samples for architects when they want to make an effort on green building.

Two nano-scaled hexagonal distortions in high temperature BCC phase during cooling is commonly observed in many alloys systems. Although efforts have been made on studying the lattice softening of the BCC structure during cooling, the distortion mechanisms are less addressed. Thus, the formation of two hexagonal structures in the β precipitates in a Cu-40Zn alloy treated by ECP was thoroughly investigated. Results show that the β precipitates contain two kinds of nano-sized and diffuse atomic clusters one with a η structure obeying the Burgers OR and the other a ω structure obeying the Blackburn OR. They were each formed through a two-stepped atomic displacement. For the η structure, the first step is the atomic shuffle of each second 110β plane in the β direction and the second is a structure change mainly by a {1 1¯ 2} β shear. For the ω structure, the first is an atomic shuffle on each second and third {112¯}β plane in the ± [111]β directions and then normal strains in three mutually perpendicular directions. The concomitant formation of the two structures minimizes the lattice distortion of single formation. The present results provide new information on the formation mechanism of the two hexagonal structures in a BCC matrix.

For Heusler-type Ni–Mn–Ga ferromagnetic shape-memory alloys, the configuration of the martensite variants is a decisive factor in achieving a large magnetic shape-memory effect through field-induced variant reorientation. Based upon the spatially resolved electron backscatter diffraction technique, the microstructural evolution associated with the martensitic transformation from austenite to seven-layered modulated (7M) martensite was investigated on a polycrystalline Ni53Mn22Ga25 alloy. It was clearly shown that grain interior nucleation led to the formation of diamond-shaped 7M martensite within the parent austenite matrix. This diamond microstructure underwent further growth through an isotropic expansion with the coordinated outward movement of four side habit planes, followed by an anisotropic elongation with the forward extension of a type-I twin pair. A two-step growth model is proposed to describe the specific morphology and crystallography of 7M martensite. In addition, the habit planes were revealed to possess a stepped structure, with the {1 0 1}A plane as the terrace and the {0 1 0}A plane as the step. The characteristic combination of martensite variants and the underlying mechanism of self-accommodation in the martensitic transformation have been analysed in terms of the minimum total transformation strain, where the deformation gradient matrix was constructed according to the experimentally determined orientation relationship between the two phases. The present results may deepen the understanding of special martensite microstructures during the martensitic transformation in ferromagnetic shape-memory alloys.

Strengthening η texture (⟨001⟩//rolling direction) through secondary recrystallization can significantly improve the magnetostriction coefficient of Fe-Ga thin sheets and expand the use of Fe-Ga alloys in high-frequency applications. However, the secondary recrystallization of Goss texture in Fe-Ga thin sheets deteriorates significantly with the thinning of the sheet thickness under the current inhibitors of micron-sized NbC particles or precipitates. In this paper, a new composite inhibitor system, composed of nano-sized MnS and Nb(C,N) precipitates, is proposed to induce the secondary recrystallization Goss texture in Fe-Ga thin sheets with thicknesses less than 0.3 mm. The density and size of MnS and Nb(C,N) is designed based on the effect of alloy composition and hot rolling parameters on the precipitation kinetics of MnS and Nb(C,N), including the relative nucleation rate-temperature (NrT) and precipitation-time-temperature (PTT) curves. It is found that the stored deformation energy increases the maximum nucleation rate and the fastest precipitation temperature. A large number of lamellar and rectangular precipitates (MnS and Nb(C,N)) with a size of 5∼20 nm were precipitated after hot-rolling at a temperature of 800∼1,050 °C and a total thickness reduction of 80%. These nano-sized inhibitors provide a strong pinning effect for the primary recrystallized grains, and induce abnormal grain growth of Goss grains at an annealing temperature of 950∼1,050 °C. Resultingly, centimeter-sized Goss grains with a small deviation angle and maximum magnetostriction coefficient of 264 ppm are successfully achieved in Fe-Ga alloy thin sheets with a thickness of 0.25 mm.

In this work, the reversible magnetoresistance properties in a Ni46Co3Mn35Cu2In14 polycrystalline alloy were studied. By using Co substitution for Ni to improve the magnetic properties and Cu substitution for Mn to reduce the transformation hysteresis, large magnetic field dependence of the transformation temperature up to 6.8 K T−1 and low transformation hysteresis of 11.5 K were achieved. Such optimized magnetostructural transformation parameters allowed the complete and reversible magnetic field induced inverse martensitic transformation to be realized under the field of 5 T, giving rise to a giant reversible magnetoresistance of −73.5%.

Texture and microstructure evolution during high-temperature plane-strain compression in Fe-3.0 wt.% Si alloy has been investigated by micro-texture analysis and modeling. In this study, hot deformation test is performed on the temperature range of 900 °C~1150 °C with a strain rate scope of 0.01 s−1~5 s−1, and the effect of deformation parameters is investigated by means of electron backscattered diffraction. Nucleation and growth assisted by strain-induced boundary migration result in strong {001} and {001} texture components with low Taylor factors, and the grain size of λ fiber increases significantly by consuming the {111} and {111} texture components with high Taylor factors. The critical Taylor factor above which nucleation by strain-induced boundary migration cannot occur, decreases continuously during hot deformation. With the decreasing critical Taylor factor, the increment rate of low-Taylor-factor orientation depends more sensitively on Taylor factor than the decrement rate of high-Taylor-factor orientation. The boundary separating enhanced and weakened orientations moves towards lower Taylor factor with the deformation proceeding, and medium-Taylor-factor texture components may experience a reversed change from enhancement to weakness. A quantitative model is proposed to describe texture development by incorporating the oriented nucleation probability dependent on a variable critical Taylor factor and the selective growth driven by a variable Taylor factor difference between adjacent grains. The present work can provide an efficient method for optimizing hot deformation texture by means of strain-induced boundary migration.

The characteristics of magnetostructural coupling play a crucial role in the magnetic field-driven behaviour of magnetofunctional alloys. The availability of magnetostructural coupling over a broad temperature range is of great significance for scientific and technological purposes. This work demonstrates that strong magnetostrucural coupling can be achieved over a wide temperature range (222 to 355 K) in Co-doped high Mn-content Mn50Ni42−xCoxSn8 (0 ≤ x ≤ 10) melt-spun ribbons. It is shown that, over a wide composition range with Co content from 3 to 9 at.%, the paramagnetic austenite first transforms into ferromagnetic austenite at TC on cooling, then the ferromagnetic austenite further transforms into a weakly magnetic martensite at TM. Such strong magnetostructural coupling enables the ribbons to exhibit field-induced inverse martensitic transformation behaviour and a large magnetocaloric effect. Under a field change of 5 T, a maximum magnetic entropy change ΔSM of 18.6 J kg−1 K−1 and an effective refrigerant capacity RCeff of up to 178 J kg−1 can be achieved, which are comparable with or even superior to those of Ni-rich Ni–Mn-based polycrystalline bulk alloys. The combination of high performance and low cost makes Mn–Ni–Co–Sn ribbons of great interest as potential candidates for magnetic refrigeration.

With the blowout development of cloud-computing market,start-up enterprises gradually increase the demand for cloud business.For the cost-sensitive customers,using the traditional government-enterprise PPPoE in the LSN environment could reduce the wastage of public IPv4 addresses.Meanwhile,ICT services based on cloud-computing was provided for customers.Several solutions which mixed the traditional government-enterprise gateway solution and the latest LSN scene were presented.Through the analysis of advantages and disadvantages of each scheme,reference for government-enterprise customers dialing-up to access internet in LSN environment was presented.

The mechanical and magnetic properties of Ni–Mn–Sb intermetallic compounds are closely related to the martensitic transformation and martensite variant organization. However, studies of these issues are very limited. Thus, a thorough crystallographic investigation of the martensitic transformation orientation relationship (OR), the transformation deformation and their impact on the variant organization of an Ni50Mn38Sb12 alloy using scanning electron microscopy/electron backscatter diffraction (SEM/EBSD) was conducted in this work. It is shown that the martensite variants are hierarchically organized into plates, each possessing four distinct twin-related variants, and the plates into plate colonies, each containing four distinct plates delimited by compatible and incompatible plate interfaces. Such a characteristic organization is produced by the martensitic transformation. It is revealed that the transformation obeys the Pitsch relation ({0{\overline 1}{\overline 1}}A // {2{\overline 2}{\overline 1}}M and 〈0{\overline 1}1〉A // 〈{\overline 1}{\overline 2}2〉M; the subscripts A and M refer to austenite and martensite, respectively). The type I twinning plane K1 of the intra-plate variants and the compatible plate interface plane correspond to the respective orientation relationship planes {0{\overline 1}{\overline 1}}A and {0{\overline 1}{\overline 1}}A of austenite. The three {0{\overline 1}{\overline 1}}A planes possessed by each pair of compatible plates, one corresponding to the compatible plate interface and the other two to the variants in the two plates, are interrelated by 60° and belong to a single 〈11{\overline 1}〉A axis zone. The {0{\overline 1}{\overline 1}}A planes representing the two pairs of compatible plates in each plate colony belong to two 〈11{\overline 1}〉A axis zones having one {0{\overline 1}{\overline 1}}A plane in common. This common plane defines the compatible plate interfaces of the two pairs of plates. The transformation strains to form the variants in the compatible plates are compatible and demonstrate an edge-to-edge character. Thus, such plates should nucleate and grow simultaneously. On the other hand, the strains to form the variants in the incompatible plates are incompatible, so they nucleate and grow separately until they meet during the transformation. The results of the present work provide comprehensive information on the martensitic transformation of Ni–Mn–Sb intermetallic compounds and its impact on martensite variant organization.

With the rise of virtualization technology,the architecture of traditional data center is disrupted.There exit a large number of interconnected needs among the data centers,such as data center active-active,data center redundancy,data synchronous backup,data migration,integrated data store,shared virtual resource pool,virtual machine drift and so on.Thereby,a large amount of east-west flow was generated,it is necessary to build a reliable,flexible,secure,and easy to deploy layer-2 and layer-3 network to meet the requirement of DCI (data center interconnection).The network architecture of EVPN VxLAN was analyzed,there hasn’t been successful large-scale business case for implementation of multi-vendor DCI EVPN VxLAN networking.Combined with current status of LSN data center of Shanghai Telecom,the deployment of DCI via existing network was proposed and achieved.

Exploring novel materials with superior elastocaloric effect (eCE) is a central issue for the development of eCE refrigeration technique. In this work, we report a giant adiabatic temperature change ΔTad of −20.4 K in the 〈100〉-textured all-d-metal Ni50Mn31.75Ti18.25 bulk alloy. The ΔTad value, comparable to that of the sate-of-the-art Ni–Ti alloys, surpasses the existing conventional Ni–Mn-based alloys. Investigations show that the giant ΔTad is attributed to the large lattice volume change during martensitic transformation and the negligible negative contribution of magnetic entropy change owing to its weak magnetism. By performing X-ray diffraction measurements and ab-initio calculations, the weak magnetism is found to be intrinsically related to the B2 ordered structure in which the magnetic moments of the antiferromagnetically coupled Mn atoms located at 4a and 4b sites are cancelled out each other. Both experimental and theoretical studies confirm that Ni–Mn–Ti alloys possess the significantly enhanced mechanical properties compared with the conventional Ni–Mn-based alloys. Electronic structure investigations reveal that this could be ascribed to the replacement of d-d interaction for the strongly covalent p-d hybridization. Outstanding elastocaloric effect of the all-d-metal alloy opens a door for searching novel promising materials used as the elastocaloric refrigerants. Keywords: Ferroelasticity, Elastocaloric effect, Martensitic transformation, Ductility, First-principles calculation

4.5 wt.% Si grain-oriented electrical steel sheets were successfully produced by hot rolling, normalizing, warm rolling and annealing, and texture evolution was investigated using macro- and micro-texture analysis. It is found that the recrystallization texture of sheets is very sensitive to the warm rolling reduction, and 83-87% warm rolling reductions are more favorable to η texture (//RD, rolling direction) evolution during secondary recrystallization, and consequently the magnetic induction B8 is significantly improved to 1.69-1.70 T in this rolling reduction range. The decreased B8 in the 89% warm rolled sheet is ascribed to the obviously decreased primary recrystallization η fiber, which leads to the insufficient quantity of η grains in the early stage of abnormal grain growth. The results obtained in the current work can provide an efficient way to improve the recrystallization texture of 4.5 wt.% Si grain-oriented electrical steel sheets.

Macro- and micro-texture of Fe-2.1 wt.% Si alloy sheets were investigated and analyzed by X-ray diffraction and electron backscattered diffraction techniques. A Goss ({110}) component accompanied by extremely weak γ (//ND, normal direction) fiber is successfully formed through the sheet thickness after primary recrystallization and considerable grain growth. Goss grains mainly nucleate at shear bands in various deformed matrices with orientations spreading from //ND to //ND fibers. The formation of dominant Goss recrystallization texture through the thickness can be attributed to the suppression of the nucleation at grain boundaries of γ deformed matrices and the promotion of the nucleation at shear bands in various deformed matrices, based on optimization of the initial texture and microstructure and the applied processing parameters.

Mg-containing high-Si aluminum alloys are heat-treatable alloys that are widely used in industry. Substantial attention has been paid to increasing the performance of such alloys by adding a small amount of Mn, which is an effective and common alloying element in aluminum alloys. In the present work, the solidification process of Mn-free Al-5Si-0.8Mg alloy and Al-5Si-0.8Mg-(0.45–1.97)Mn alloys are analyzed by the experimental results combined with thermodynamic calculation. The results showed that α-Al, Si, Mg2Si and π (Al8Mg3FeSi6) are predominant phases in the Mn-free Al-5Si-0.8Mg alloy while the π (Al8Mg3FeSi6) phase are transformed to α-Al(FeMn)Si phase with the addition of 0.45% Mn. With increasing Mn addition to 0.72%, the L→α-Al was replaced by L→α-Al(FeMn)Si and a primary α-Al(FeMn)Si phase appeared. Further increasing the Mn to 1.97%, the solidification reactions remained unchanged. However, the size and number of the primary α-Al(FeMn)Si phase gradually increased, while the divorced eutectic phenomenon of quaternary eutectic structure gradually weakened. Meanwhile, the Mg2Si phase in the quaternary eutectic structure gradually transformed from blocky to fine eutectic lamellar, and the quaternary eutectic structure was significantly refined. Primary blocky α-Al(FeMn)Si began to form when the Mn content was higher than 0.75%.

We propose a relativistic theory for spin density matrices of vector mesons based on Kadanoff-Baym equations in the closed-time-path formalism. The theory puts the calculation of spin observables such as the spin density matrix element ρ00 for vector mesons on a solid ground. Within the theory we formulate ρ00 for φ mesons into a factorization form in separation of momentum and spacetime variables. We argue that the main contribution to ρ00 at lower energies should be from the φ fields that can polarize the strange quark and antiquark in the same way as electromagnetic fields. The key observation is that there is correlation inside the φ meson wave function between the φ field that polarizes the strange quark and that polarizes the strange antiquark. This is reflected by the fact that the contributions to ρ00 are all in squares of fields that are nonvanishing even if the fields may strongly fluctuate in spacetime. The fluctuation of strong force fields can be extracted from ρ00 of unflavored vector mesons as links to fundamental properties of quantum chromodynamics.

In this work, Ni53Mn22Ga25 and Ni51Mn27Ga22 ribbons with austenite and 7 M martensite at room temperature respectively, were prepared by melt-spinning. Through the detailed crystallographic analyses, the preferred orientation in ribbons was confirmed. It is shown that the austenite in Ni53Mn22Ga25 ribbons forms a preferred orientation with {400}A in parallel to ribbon plane, whereas the 7 M martensite in Ni51Mn27Ga22 ribbons develops the preferred orientation with {20−20}7M, {2020}7M, and {040}7M crystallographic planes parallel to the ribbon plane. Since {20−20}7M, {2020}7M, and {040}7M are originated from {400}A, the preferred orientation in ribbons thus can be inherited after the martensitic transformation. Such texture inheritance is attributed to the intrinsic orientation relationship between austenite and 7 M martensite. Keywords: Ni–Mn–Ga ribbons, Martensitic transformation, Texture, Crystallography

Solid-state refrigeration based on the caloric effects is promising to replace the traditional vapor-compressing refrigeration technology due to environmental protection and high efficiency. However, the narrow working temperature region has hindered the application of these refrigeration technologies. In this paper, we propose a method of combined caloric, through which a broad refrigeration region can be realized in a multiferroic alloy, Ni–Mn–Ga, by combining its elastocaloric and magnetocaloric effects. Moreover, the materials’ efficiency of elastocaloric effect has been greatly improved in our sample. These results illuminate a promising way to use multiferroic alloys for refrigeration with a broad refrigeration temperature region.

Polarized quarks and antiquarks in high-energy heavy-ion collisions can lead to the spin alignment of vector mesons formed by quark coalescence. Using the relativistic spin Boltzmann equation for vector mesons derived from Kadanoff-Baym equations with an effective quark-meson model for strong interaction and quark coalescence model for hadronizaton, we calculate the spin density matrix element ρ_{00} for ϕ mesons and show that anisotropies of local field correlations with respect to the spin quantization direction lead to ϕ meson's spin alignment. We propose that the local correlation or fluctuation of ϕ fields is the dominant mechanism for the observed ϕ meson's spin alignment and its strength can be extracted from experimental data as functions of collision energies. The calculated transverse momentum dependence of ρ_{00} agrees with STAR's data. We further predict the azimuthal angle dependence of ρ_{00} which can be tested in future experiments.

The microstructure and magnetocaloric properties of the melt-spun and annealed Mn50Ni40.5In9.5 ribbons were studied. It is shown that the post-annealing results in a considerable increase of the grain size for the initial austenite, where the columnar-shaped austenite grains almost run through the whole ribbon. Both the melt-spun and annealed ribbons consist of the mixture of austenite and martensite at room temperature, where a 8-layered modulated (8M) martensite structure was identified through selected area electron diffraction (SAED). Further High-angle Annular Dark-field (HAADF) characterizations reveal that the modulation period of 8M martensite is not homogeneous in one martensite plate. Due to strong magneto-structural coupling, the inverse martensitic transformation from a weak magnetic martensite to a strong magnetic austenite can be induced by the magnetic field, resulting in the inverse magnetocaloric effect around room temperature. For a field change of 5 T, the magnetic entropy change ΔSM of 3.7 J·kg−1·K−1 and 6.1 J·kg−1·K−1, and the effective refrigerant capacity RCeff of 52.91 J·kg−1 and 99.08 J·kg−1 were obtained for melt-spun and annealed ribbons, respectively. The improvement of the magnetocaloric properties after annealing should be attributed to the enhanced atomic ordering and magnetization difference between two phases, as well as the reduced hysteresis loss. In addition, both the melt-spun and annealed ribbons can work at a relatively wide temperature range, i.e., δTFWHM = 34 K for melt-spun ribbons and δTFWHM = 28 K for annealed ribbons.