Molecular dynamics simulations are used to investigate the plastic deformation behavior of Cu50Zr50/Cu amorphous/crystalline (A/C) multilayered nanofilms with different interface directions, number ...of layers and temperatures under the imprinting process. The results show that the loading force of multilayered nanofilms grows with increasing thickness of layers and decreasing temperature. Specifically, the maximum stress is larger with increasing layer thickness, this shows an inverse Hall-Petch relationship between the stress and the layer thickness. The local stress is focused around the stamp and rises up as increasing imprinting depth. The plastic deformation behaviors are realized by dislocations or stacking faults in crystalline layers and shear transformation zones (STZs) or shear bands in amorphous layers. Additionally, the propagation of shear bands or spatial correlation of STZs in an amorphous layer can be disrupted at the amorphous/crystalline interfaces (ACIs). The centrosymmetry parameter (CSP) and dislocation analysis (DXA) reveal the nucleation of stacking faults at the ACIs and the Shockley partial dislocation account for 80% in the total dislocations in all cases. The affected region extends and displacement of atoms becomes more irregular as increasing temperature. Besides, the radial distribution function (RDF) reveals the structure of the material is more stable at low temperature. The transverse interface specimens and thinner layer thickness, and high temperature are facilitated to material formability.
The figure shows the CSP analysis and displacement vector of amorphous Cu50Zr50/crystalline Cu atoms under the imprinting process for different interface directions. Display omitted
•The stress-layer thickness diagram is indicated in the inverse Hall-Petch relationship.•The shear band propagation depends on the different interface directions.•The nucleation of the stacking fault and dislocation mainly occur at the ACIs.•The Cu crystalline layers act as a barrier to the propagation of the STZs at the ACIs.•The direction of the interface affects greatly the displacement vector of the atoms.
Patients dually infected with hepatitis C virus (HCV)/hepatitis B virus (HBV) have a higher risk of developing advanced liver disease or hepatocellular carcinoma compared with monoinfected patients. ...Yet, there is a similar rate of sustained virologic response (SVR) after peginterferon alfa‐2a and ribavirin combination therapy in these patients compared with HCV‐monoinfected patients and a high hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) seroclearance rate. The durability of hepatitis C and B clearance in coinfected patients was investigated in a 5‐year follow‐up study. Patients with active HCV genotype 1, both HBV‐coinfected (n = 97) and HBV‐monoinfected (n = 110), underwent 48‐week combination therapy with peginterferon alfa‐2a plus ribavirin. In patients with active HCV genotype 2 or 3, both HBV‐coinfected (n = 64) and monoinfected (n = 50) patients underwent 24‐week combination therapy. A total of 295 (91.9%) patients completed treatment and 24 weeks posttreatment follow‐up; 264 (89.5%) patients agreed to receive additional follow‐up for up to 5 years after the end of treatment. After a median follow‐up of 4.6 ± 1.0 years, six of the 232 patients achieving SVR developed HCV RNA reappearance, including five HCV genotype 1/HBV‐coinfected patients and one HCV genotype 2/3‐monoinfected patient. Subgenomic analysis of the HCV core gene indicated that five patients developed delayed recurrence of HCV infection. Overall, the cumulative recurrence rate of HCV infection was 2.3% (0.4%/year; 95% confidence interval CI, 0.9%‐5.5%). The cumulative HBsAg seroclearance rate was 30.0% (95% CI, 21.5%‐42.0%); with 33.1% (95% CI, 21.8%‐50.1%) in the 48‐week combination therapy group and 24.3% (95% CI, 13.7%‐42.9%) in the 24‐week therapy group. Conclusion: Peginterferon alfa‐2a and ribavirin therapy provides good HCV SVR durability and a high accumulative HBsAg seroclearance rate in patients who are coinfected with HCV and HBV. (HEPATOLOGY 2013;)
In this study, Ag or Al-doped TiO2/ZnO heterostructure nanocatalysts were prepared using a sol-gel method for photocatalysis to evaluate the degradability. The photocatalytic behavior was evaluated ...by the degradation of methylene blue (MB) under ultraviolet (UV) light irradiation. Photocatalytic studies suggested that 1 mol% Ag-doped TiO2/ZnO (TiO2/ZnO = 0.75/0.25) heterostructure nanocatalysts showed higher photocatalytic activity, and that the degradation efficiency can reach 83% in 4 h, 14% higher than that for pure TiO2. Finally, the photocatalysis mechanism for the Ag-doped TiO2/ZnO heterostructure nanocatalysts is discussed.
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•Ag or Al-doped TiO2/ZnO heterostructure nanoparticles were successfully prepared using the sol-gel method.•The best ratio of pure TiO2/ZnO is 0.75:0.25, and its photodegradation efficiency is 70% after UV irradiation for 4 h.•The best Ag or Al doped ratio is 1 mol%, and their photodegradation efficiency are 83.65% and 66.36%, respectively.•All the photocatalysts have better efficiency than pure TiO2, and the MB solution can be completely degraded after 24 h.
Fluorine- and aluminum-codoped ZnO (FAZO) thin films are sputtered on Corning glass substrates using an RF magnetron sputtering system. The structural, electrical, and optical properties of the ...deposited thin films are investigated under the as-sputtered condition and after annealing at temperatures of 200–400 °C. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis results show that a higher annealing temperature is beneficial in improving the crystallinity of the FAZO films. An annealing temperature of 400 °C results in the lowest electrical resistivity (4.1 × 10−4 Ω·cm) and highest average transmittance (78.43%) among the deposited films. Moreover, an annealing temperature of 400 °C increases the energy bandgap from 3.06 eV under the as-sputtered condition to 3.21 eV after annealing and promotes a strong grain growth effect. As a result, the annealed FAZO film is an ideal material for solar cells and photosensor applications.
•The ZrxCu100-x film on Cu substrate has an amorphous structure.•The first peak values of RDF of the ZrxCu100-x film decrease as rising the Zr ratio.•After the annealing process, the nanostructure of ...ZrxCu100-x is improved.•The friction force and normal force decrease when the Zr proportion increases.•The indenter force/hardness of ZrxCu100-x film increase as decreasing the Zr ratio.
The molecular dynamics simulations method is applied to survey the deposition and annealing processes of ZrxCu100-x film on a Cu(001) surface. The influences of ZrxCu100-x compositions and depths on the force, deformation behavior, pile-up, and hardness are investigated using nano scratching and nanoindentation processes. We find out that the structure of ZrxCu100-x alloy has stability increases when decreasing the Zr content. The surface roughness of Zr-Cu film increases when improving the Zr content. After annealing, the morphology surface of the Zr-Cu amorphous alloy becomes smoother. The scratching forces and average friction coefficient of the Zr20Cu80 film surge as the scratching depth rises. While the pile-up height, normal force, and friction force decrease as increasing the Zr ratio. Under the plastic and elastic deformations, shear transformation zones are formed in the Zr-Cu amorphous film. While in the nanoindentation process, the hardness of ZrxCu100-x film amorphous film tends to decrease when increasing the Zr content.
In this decade, BixSb2-xTe3 of Bi2Te3-based thermoelectric (TE) materials has been proven effective in improving the TE properties and figure of merit (ZT) at room temperature of these materials. In ...this work, the mechanical and thermal properties of quintuple layers of the BixSb2-xTe3 nanofilms are studied by using non-equilibrium molecular dynamics simulation. The effects of different proportions of Sb content on deformation mechanism and thermal conductivity are determined. Results indicate that the mechanical and thermal properties of the BixSb2-xTe3 nanofilms are significantly affected by Sb content and differ greatly from those of pure Bi2Te3 nanofilms. Furthermore, the BixSb2-xTe3 nanofilms exhibit better tensile strength than pure Bi2Te3 nanofilms. Changes in Sb content strongly affect the concentration of SbTe antisite defects and alter thermal conductivity. The results of this investigation should benefit the potential application of the BixSb2-xTe3 nanofilms to TE devices and energy generation.
•We investigated the mechanical and thermoelectric properties of BixSb2-xTe3 nanofilms with different ratios of Bi:Sb at different temperatures using nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulation.•The BixSb2-xTe3 nanofilms with Sb-rich content increased the concentration of SbTe antisite defects and improved the thermal conductivity.•When x was less than or equal to 0.5, the BixSb2-xTe3 nanofilms exhibited the best mechanical and TE properties.
In this paper, we surveyed the effect of graphite thickness, impact velocity, substrate temperature, angle tilt of particle, incident angle, and Ni crystalline faces on the formation of graphene ...flakes, temperature, von Mises stress, and deformation. In the deposition process, graphene flakes are formed due to the impaction and attaching between the Ni substrate and graphite particles. The results reveal that there is a critical impact velocity leading to the graphene flakes that separated from the graphite particle and attached to the Ni substrate. The critical impact velocity decreases as increasing the thickness of graphite particles from 9 to 18 layers. In addition, the substrate temperature of the impact region and numbers of deposited graphene layers rise with the impact velocity increases. Notably, the elastic and plastic deformations of Ni substrate happen in the deposition process with high impact velocity. Furthermore, some dislocations are formed during and after the impact of the particle. The high-stress regions concentrate in the deposited graphene flakes and interfacial zone. The deposited graphene layer on Ni(001) creates a more stable structure than on surfaces Ni(111) and Ni(110). The graphene layer is successfully formed in the deposition process at an angle tilt from 0° to 10°.
•Graphene flake film is deposited on Ni substrate from graphite particle.•The critical impact speed of layer separation decreases as increasing the thickness of graphite particles.•The formation of the graphene layer becomes more difficult with increasing the angle tilt of graphite particle.•The high von Mises stress of C atoms occurs at the deposited graphene layers and interface zone.•Depositing on Ni(001) creates a more stable graphene structure than on Ni(111) and Ni (110).
The application of word associations has become increasingly widespread. However, the association norms produced by traditional free association tests tend not to exceed 10,000 stimulus words, making ...the number of associated words too small to be representative of the overall language. In this study we used text corpora totaling over 400 million Chinese words, along with a multitude of association measures, to automatically construct a Chinese Lexical Association Database (CLAD) comprising the lexical association of over 80,000 words. Comparison of the CLAD with a database of traditional Chinese word association norms shows that word associations extracted from large text corpora are similar in strength to those elicited from free association tests but contain a much greater number of associative word pairs. Additionally, the relatively small numbers of participants involved in the creation of traditional norms result in relatively coarse scales of association measurement, whereas the differentiation of association strengths is greatly enhanced in the CLAD. The CLAD provides researchers with a great supplement to traditional word association norms. A query website at
www.chinesereadability.net/LexicalAssociation/CLAD/
affords access to the database.
In this study, the high strain rate deformation behavior and the microstructure evolution of Zr-Cu-Al-Ni metallic glasses under various strain rates were investigated. The influence of strain and ...strain rate on the mechanical properties and fracture behavior, as well as microstructural properties was also investigated. Before mechanical testing, the structure and thermal stability of the Zr-Cu-Al-Ni metallic glasses were studied with X-ray diffraction (XRD) and differential scanning calorimeter. The mechanical property experiments and microstructural observations of Zr-Cu-Al-Ni metallic glasses under different strain rates ranging from 10
to 5.1 × 10³ s
and at temperatures of 25 °C were investigated using compressive split-Hopkinson bar (SHPB) and an MTS tester. An
transmission electron microscope (TEM) nanoindenter was used to carry out compression tests and investigate the deformation behavior arising at nanopillars of the Zr-based metallic glass. The formation and interaction of shear band during the plastic deformation were investigated. Moreover, it was clearly apparent that the mechanical strength and ductility could be enhanced by impeding the penetration of shear bands with reinforced particles.
Background/aims
Direct‐acting antivirals (DAAs) are highly effective in treating chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV)‐infected patients. The real‐world treatment outcome in Taiwanese patients on a ...nationwide basis is elusive.
Methods
The Taiwan HCV Registry (TACR) programme is a nationwide registry platform including 48 study sites, which is organized and supervised by the Taiwan Association for the Study of the Liver. The primary endpoint was sustained virological response (SVR12, undetectable HCV RNA 12 weeks after end‐of‐treatment).
Results
A total of 13 951 registered patients with SVR12 data available were analysed (mean age, 63.0 years; female, 55.9%; HCV genotype‐1 GT1, 57.9%; cirrhosis, 38.4%; preexisting hepatocellular carcinoma HCC, 10.6%; and hepatitis B virus coinfection, 7.7%). The overall SVR12 rate was 98.3%, with 98.7%, 98.0%, 98.4% and 97.4% in treatment‐naïve noncirrhotic, treatment‐naïve cirrhotic, treatment‐experienced noncirrhotic and treatment‐experienced cirrhotic patients, respectively. The SVR12 rate was > 95% across all subgroups except treatment‐experienced cirrhotic patients who received sofosbuvir/ribavirin (88.7%), treatment‐naïve noncirrhotic patients (94.8%) and treatment‐experienced cirrhotic (94.8%) patients who received daclatasvir/asunaprevir. The most important factor associated with treatment failure was DAA adherence < 60% ( adjusted odds ratio aOR/95% confidence interval CI: 117.1/52.4‐261.3, P < .001), followed by GT3/GT2 (aOR/CI: 5.78/2.25‐14.9, P = .0003 and aOR/CI: 1.55/1.05‐2.29, P = .03, compared with GT1), active hepatocellular carcinoma (aOR/CI: 4.29/2.57‐7.16, P < .001), the use of sofosbuvir/ribavirin (aOR/CI: 2.51/1.67‐3.77, P < .001) and daclatasvir/asunaprevir (aOR/CI: 3.29/1.94‐5.58, P < .001), decompensated liver cirrhosis (aOR/CI: 2.50/1.20‐5.22, P = .02) and high HCV viral loads (aOR/CI: 2.16/1.57‐2.97, P < .001).
Conclusions
DAAs are highly effective in treating Taiwanese HCV patients in the real‐world setting. Maintaining DAA adherence and selecting highly efficacious regimens are keys to ensure treatment success.
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