A Quantum-Mechanical Study of Antiphase Boundaries in Ferromagnetic B2-Phase Fe2CoAl Alloy

In this study, we performed a quantum mechanical examination of thermodynamic, structural, elastic, and magnetic properties of single-phase ferromagnetic Fe2CoAl with a chemically disordered B2-type lattice with and without antiphase boundaries (APBs) with (001) crystallographic orientation. Fe2CoAl was modeled using two different 54-atom supercells with atoms on the two B2 sublattices distributed according to the special quasi-random structure (SQS) concept. Both computational models exhibited very similar formation energies (−0.243 and −0.244 eV/atom), B2 structure lattice parameters (2.849 and 2.850 Å), magnetic moments (1.266 and 1.274 μB/atom), practically identical single-crystal elastic constants (C11 = 245 GPa, C12 = 141 GPa, and similar C44 = 132 GPa) and auxetic properties (the lowest Poisson ratio close to −0.1). The averaged APB interface energies were observed to be 199 and 310 mJ/m2 for the two models. The studied APBs increased the total magnetic moment by 6 and 8% due to a volumetric increase as well as local changes in the coordination of Fe atoms (their magnetic moments are reduced for increasing number of Al neighbors but increased by the presence of Co). The APBs also enhanced the auxetic properties.

A descriptive and comparative neurocranium morphology of Anguilliformes fishes in Taiwan waters

Taiwan is one of the richest in the world in terms of eel fauna. In this study, we examined the osteological and morphological characteristics of eels under order Anguilliformes. Furthermore, we focused on the neurocranium of total of 30 Anguilliformes fishes under family Congridae (10), Muraenesocidae (1), Muraenidae (7), Nemichthyidae (1), Nettastomatidae (2), Ophichthidae (5), Synaphobranchidae (4), which are caught in Taiwanese waters. This paper shows the results of a comparative study on osteological characters of the neurocranium including the ratio of seven length characters using its NCL (neurocranium length), NCW (neurocranium width), OBL (orbit length), MFW (maximum frontal width), NCDB (neurocranium depth at basisphenoid), PEVW (premaxilla-ethmovomer width) and mPOBL (mid pre-orbital length), and 20 morphological diagnostic characters for 30 eel species. Results shows that species under family Nemichthyidae and Nettastomatidae have the highest values on the ratio of NCL/MFW, NCL/NCDB, and NCW/mPOBD. In morphological characters, it shows that species of the same family mostly share similar formation of the PEV plate and frontal structure. The usage of the length measurements and morphological diagnostic characters of neurocranium allowed for a more in depth understanding of how similar or different these eels can be. The neurocranial description and morphological characters may prove valuable for identification purposes and might be necessary tool for further studies on the status of order Anguilliformes.

An Ab Initio Study of Pressure-Induced Changes of Magnetism in Austenitic Stoichiometric Ni2MnSn

We have performed a quantum-mechanical study of a series of stoichiometric Ni2MnSn structures focusing on pressure-induced changes in their magnetic properties. Motivated by the facts that (i) our calculations give the total magnetic moment of the defect-free stoichiometric Ni2MnSn higher than our experimental value by 12.8% and (ii) the magnetic state is predicted to be more sensitive to hydrostatic pressures than seen in our measurements, our study focused on the role of point defects, in particular Mn-Ni, Mn-Sn and Ni-Sn swaps in the stoichiometric Ni2MnSn. For most defect types we also compared states with both ferromagnetic (FM) and anti-ferromagnetic (AFM) coupling between (i) the swapped Mn atoms and (ii) those on the Mn sublattice. Our calculations show that the swapped Mn atoms can lead to magnetic moments nearly twice smaller than those in the defect-free Ni2MnSn. Further, the defect-containing states exhibit pressure-induced changes up to three times larger but also smaller than those in the defect-free Ni2MnSn. Importantly, we find both qualitative and quantitative differences in the pressure-induced changes of magnetic moments of individual atoms even for the same global magnetic state. Lastly, despite of the fact that the FM-coupled and AFM-coupled states have often very similar formation energies (the differences only amount to a few meV per atom), their structural and magnetic properties can be very different.

Per-pass analysis of acute ischemic stroke clots: impact of stroke etiology on extracted clot area and histological composition

BackgroundInitial studies investigating correlations between stroke etiology and clot composition are conflicting and do not account for clot size as determined by area. Radiological studies have shown that cardioembolic strokes are associated with shorter clot lengths and lower clot burden than non-cardioembolic clots.ObjectiveTo report the relationship between stroke etiology, extracted clot area, and histological composition at each procedural pass.MethodsAs part of the multi-institutional RESTORE Registry, the Martius Scarlett Blue stained histological composition and extracted clot area of 612 per-pass clots retrieved from 441 patients during mechanical thrombectomy procedures were quantified. Correlations with clinical and procedural details were investigated.ResultsClot composition varied significantly with procedural passes; clots retrieved in earlier passes had higher red blood cell content (H4=11.644, p=0.020) and larger extracted clot area (H4=10.730, p=0.030). Later passes were associated with significantly higher fibrin (H4=12.935, p=0.012) and platelets/other (H4=15.977, p=0.003) content and smaller extracted clot area. Large artery atherosclerotic (LAA) clots were significantly larger in the extracted clot area and more red blood cell-rich than other etiologies in passes 1–3. Cardioembolic and cryptogenic clots had similar histological composition and extracted clot area across all procedural passes.ConclusionLAA clots are larger and associated with a large red blood cell-rich extracted clot area, suggesting soft thrombus material. Cardioembolic clots are smaller in the extracted clot area, consistent in composition and area across passes, and have higher fibrin and platelets/other content than LAA clots, making them stiffer clots. The per-pass histological composition and extracted clot area of cryptogenic clots are similar to those of cardioembolic clots, suggesting similar formation mechanisms.

Joint gas and stellar dynamical models of WLM: an isolated dwarf galaxy within a cored, prolate DM halo

ABSTRACT We present multitracer dynamical models of the low-mass (M* ∼ 107), isolated dwarf irregular galaxy WLM in order to simultaneously constrain the inner slope of the dark matter (DM) halo density profile (γ) and flattening (qDM), and the stellar orbital anisotropy (βz, βr). For the first time, we show how jointly constraining the mass distribution from the H i gas rotation curve and solving the Jeans equations with discrete stellar kinematics lead to a factor of ∼2 reduction in the uncertainties on γ. The mass-anisotropy degeneracy is also partially broken, leading to reductions on uncertainty by ${\sim} 30{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ on Mvir (and ${\sim} 70{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ at the half-light radius) and ${\sim} 25{{\ \rm per\ cent}}$ on anisotropy. Our inferred value of γ = 0.3 ± 0.1 is robust to the halo geometry, and in excellent agreement with predictions of stellar feedback-driven DM core creation. The derived prolate geometry of the DM halo with qDM = 2 ± 1 is consistent with Lambda cold dark matter simulations of dwarf galaxy haloes. While self-interacting DM (SIDM) models with σ/mX ∼ 0.6 can reproduce this cored DM profile, the interaction events may sphericalize the halo. The simultaneously cored and prolate DM halo may therefore present a challenge for SIDM. Finally, we find that the radial profile of stellar anisotropy in WLM (βr) follows a nearly identical trend of increasing tangential anisotropy to the classical dwarf spheroidals, Fornax and Sculptor. Given WLM’s orbital history, this result may call into question whether such anisotropy is a consequence of tidal stripping in only one pericentric passage or if it instead is a feature of the largely self-similar formation and evolutionary pathways for some dwarf galaxies.

Regolith textures on Mercury and the Moon

<p>The surfaces of Mercury and the Moon are covered with a layer of fragmental, highly heterogeneous material known as regolith. Regolith-related processes form short-scale textures seen in the high-resolution images. We carried out a survey of such textures on Mercury and compared them to better-known lunar analogs.</p><p>We surveyed the images obtained by MDIS NAC camera onboard the MESSENGER orbiter toward the end of the mission. We select images of the highest resolution and the finest sampling (less than 2.5 m/pix). We selected and screened ~3000 best images of that data set. To compare the typical surface morphology on Mercury to the Moon we used LROC NAC images. To facilitate the comparison we selected a representative set of LROC images that have the same sampling and sunlight incidence angles as the surveyed MDIS images, and degraded their quality.</p><p>Primarily, lunar and hermian surfaces as seen at high resolution are similar. The majority of decameter-scale topographic features are smooth and subdued due to the presence of regolith layer and its gardening. The majority of small impact craters are shallow and subdued. On the Moon, regolith-covered slopes, both steep and gentle, often have a specific subtle decameter-scale pattern referred as “elephant hide” or “leathery texture”. Its origin is unknown; however, it is almost certainly related to regolith transport. On Mercury, such a pattern is typically not observed: we identified it in a few occasions only.</p><p>Sharp slope breaks, “crisp” morphology and the absence of superposed degraded craters indicate geologically young “fresh” features that are characterized by thin or recently disturbed regolith. We observed fresh morphologies in one large young crater on Mercury; they were similar to their lunar counterparts. Hollows are unique “fresh” hermian features that have no close lunar analogs. They show exceptional sharpness at the highest resolution images, which indicates that their formation is ongoing or extremely recent. We found two more types of fresh morphologies that do not have close lunar analogs. (1) Finely-Textured Slope Patches (FTSP) are patches of finely (meter-scale) textured slopes with sharp outlines. This texture is characterized by a wavy chaotic pattern and occurs amid typical intercrater plains and old impact basins; there are no large young craters or hollows nearby, nor resolvable albedo or color peculiarities close to FTSP locations. They show semblance to some kinds of terrestrial landslides, which might suggest a variant of slide of thick regolith as their formation mechanism. (2) Chevron texture resembles scouring by wind or water in terrestrial environment; however, this cannot suggest a similar formation mechanism hermian conditions. Chevron texture found in one small part of the region with the super resolution images; it is oriented in the same direction. We initially a suggested that it could be related to a ray of a large young crater, but this was not perfectly consistent with observations.</p><p>In addition to the expected morphological similarity of regolith textures on the Moon and Mercury, the hermian surface displaces localized traces of geologically recent processes in the regolith having no lunar analogs.</p>

Chemical compositions of amphiboles and their references to formation conditions of granitoids from Nam Rom and Song Ma massifs, Northwest Vietnam

In this paper, the mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of amphiboles and plagioclases of granitoids from the Nam Rom and Song Ma massifs have been investigated to understand their formation conditions. The Nam Rom amphibole and plagioclase are subhedral to euhedral fine- to medium-grained crystals. Whereas, the Song Ma amphibole and plagioclase are anhedral to subhedral fine-grained crystals. Geochemical compositions of amphiboles suggest that Nam Rom and Song Ma amphiboles are edenite and ferro-edenite, respectively. Nam Rom edenite has higher contents of basic constituents (Mg and Ca) and lower contents of felsic constituents (Na and K) compared with the Song Ma ferro-edenite. On the other hand, Si-(Na+K) and Si-Ca apfu ratios of the Nam Rom edenite and the Song Ma ferro-edenite and Al/(Na+K)-Al/(Ca+Na+K) atom per formula unit (apfu) ratios of the Nam Rom edenite and andesine and the Song Ma ferro-edenite, andesine and oligoclase are similar. Formation conditions of the Nam Rom and Song Ma granitoids were calculated using amphibole-plagioclase geobarometer. The Nam Rom granitoid was formed at 3.07-5.32 kbar (10.1-17.6 km under paleo-surface) and 750-785°C. The Song Ma granitoid was formed at 1.04-3.08 kbar (3.4-10.2 km under paleo-surface) and 715-745°C. Therefore, Nam Rom and Song Ma granitoids are thought to be crystallized from the same magma. The former was formed from the immature and more basic stage of magma; the latter was formed from the mature and more felsic stage of magma.