In this paper, we report the study of degradation for a kind of ideal mandrel material called poly-α-methylstyrene based on theoretical and experimental methods. First-principles calculations reveal two types of process: depolymerization and hydrogen-transfer-induced chain scission. The energy barrier for the former (0.68–0.82 eV) is smaller than that for most of the latter (1.39–4.23 eV). More importantly, reaction rates suggest that the former is fast whereas the latter is mostly slow, which can result in a difference of 5–31 orders of magnitude at 550 K. Furthermore, a thermogravimetric experiment shows that the activation energy of 2.53 eV for degradation is between those of fast and slow processes, corresponding to the theoretical average value of multiple reaction paths. Thus, a mandrel degradation model combining fast and slow processes is established at the atomic level. Our work provides a direction for research into the key technology of target fabrication in inertial confinement fusion.

In inertial confinement fusion experiments that involve short-laser pulses such as fast ignition (FI), diagnosis of neutrons is usually very challenging because high-intensity γ rays generated by short-laser pulses would mask the much weaker neutron signal. In this paper, fast-response scintillators with low afterglow and gated microchannel plate photomultiplier tubes are combined to build neutron time-of-flight (nTOF) spectrometers for such experiments. Direct-drive implosion experiments of deuterium-gas-filled capsules were performed at the Shenguang-II Upgrade (SG-II-UP) laser facility to study the compressed fuel areal density (〈ρR〉) and evaluate the performance of such nTOF diagnostics. Two newly developed quenched liquid scintillator detectors and a gated ultrafast plastic scintillator detector were used to measure the secondary DT neutrons and primary DD neutrons, respectively. The secondary neutron signals were clearly discriminated from the γ rays from (n, γ) reactions, and the compressed fuel areal density obtained with the yield-ratio method agrees well with the simulations. Additionally, a small scintillator decay tail and a clear DD neutron signal were observed in an integrated FI experiment as a result of the low afterglow of the oxygen-quenched liquid scintillator.

Experimental and numerical investigations on the interaction of a planar shock wave with two-dimensional (2-D) and three-dimensional (3-D) light gas cylinders are performed. The effects of initial interface curvature on flow morphology, wave pattern, vorticity distribution and interface movement are emphasized. In experiments, a wire-restriction method based on the soap film technique is employed to generate N $_{2}$ cylinders surrounded by SF $_{6}$ with well-characterized shapes, including a convex cylinder, a concave cylinder with a minimum-surface feature and a 2-D cylinder. The high-speed schlieren pictures demonstrate that fewer disturbance waves exist in the flow field and the evolving interfaces develop in a more symmetrical way relative to previous studies. By combining the high-order weighted essentially non-oscillatory construction with the double-flux scheme, numerical simulation is conducted to explore the detailed 3-D flow structures. It is indicated that the shape and the size of 3-D gas cylinders in different planes along the vertical direction change gradually due to the existence of both horizontal and vertical velocities of the flow. At very early stages, pressure oscillations in the vicinity of evolving interfaces induced by complex waves contribute much to the deformation of the 3-D gas cylinders. As time proceeds, the development of the shocked volume would be dominated by the baroclinic vorticity deposited on the interface. In comparison with the 2-D case, the oppositely (or identically) signed principal curvatures of the concave (or convex) SF $_{6}$ /N $_{2}$ boundary cause complex high pressure zones and additional vorticity deposition, and the upstream interface from the symmetric slice of the concave (or convex) N $_{2}$ cylinder moves with an inhibition (or a promotion). Finally, a generalized 3-D theoretical model is proposed for predicting the upstream interface movements of different gas cylinders and the present experimental and numerical findings are well predicted.

This paper systematically compares the numerical implementation and computational cost between the Fourier spectral iterative perturbation method (FSIPM) and the finite element method (FEM) in solving partial differential equilibrium equations with inhomogeneous material coefficients and eigen-fields (e.g., stress-free strain and spontaneous electric polarization) involved in phase-field models. Four benchmark numerical examples, including inhomogeneous elastic, electrostatic, and steady-state heat conduction problems demonstrate that (1) the FSIPM rigorously requires uniform hexahedral (3D) and quadrilateral (2D) mesh and periodic boundary conditions for numerical implementation while the FEM permits arbitrary mesh and boundary conditions; (2) the FSIPM solutions are comparable to their FEM counterparts, and both of them agree with the analytic solutions, (3) the FSIPM is much faster in solving equilibrium equations than the FEM to achieve the accurate solutions, thus exhibiting a greater potential for large-scale 3D computations.

In C-Band transfer measuring systems, the Precise Orbit Determination (POD) precision of Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites is limited by signal biases such as the station delay biases, transponder delay biases, the ionospheric delay model bias, etc. In order to improve the POD precision, the signal biases of the Chinese Area Positioning System (CAPS) are calibrated using Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) and C-Band Transfer Ranging (CBTR) observations. Since the Changchun SLR site and C-Band station are close to each other, the signal biases of the Changchun C-Band station are calibrated using the co-location comparison method. Then the signal biases of the other two CAPS C-Band stations, located in Linton and Kashi, are calibrated using the combined POD method, with the signal biases of the Changchun C-Band station being fixed. After the signal biases are calibrated, the RMS of the line-of-sight residuals of the Changchun SLR observations decrease by 0·4 m, with the percentage improvement being 75·19%.

Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites play a significant role in the space segment of the Chinese Area Navigation System. The C-Band transfer ranging method developed by the National Time Service Center (NTSC) has been widely used in the Chinese Area Positioning System (CAPS), with its advantages of separating satellite ranging from time synchronization and being unaffected by weather. The explicit ranging correction models for the C-Band transfer ranging method are introduced in detail in this article for the first time. Precise Orbit Determination (POD) using C-Band pseudo-range observation of GEO satellite 2010-001A in July 2012 has been conducted. The residual Root Mean Square (RMS) of each site and POD are analysed with orbit difference over overlaps of adjacent orbit arcs. Moreover, the orbit of the GEO satellite has been evaluated by Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) data from both domestic and foreign SLR sites for the first time. The residual RMS of POD using C-Band observation is better than 0·1 m, and the orbit difference over overlaps of adjacent orbit arcs is better than 3 m. In addition, the residual RMS in line-of-sight for a SLR site in China are better than 1 m, while the RMS for the Yarragadee site in Australia is about 3·4 m. It has been shown that the GEO satellite orbit accords very well with the C-Band observation. Also, the distribution of CAPS stations affects the orbit precision. All sites in CAPS are now located in China with low and medium latitudes. The residual RMS of the SLR site in the southern hemisphere is larger than that of the site in China.

In this paper we investigate the differential geometry of 1-lightlike submanifolds in anti-de Sitter n-space as an application of the theory of Legendrian singularities. Based on some theory of lightlike submanifolds, we also introduce the notion of 1-lightlike horospherical Gauss curvature, which is important for us to study the singularities of 1-lightlike horospherical hypersurfaces. Moreover, we discuss the related geometric property of 1-lightlike horospherical hypersurfaces in anti-de Sitter n-space.

Although ascarid nematodes are important parasites of wild animals of public health concern, few species of ascarids from wild animals have been studied at the molecular level so far. Here, the classification and phylogenetic relationships of roundworms from 21 species of captive wild animals have been studied by sequencing and analysis of parts of the ribosomal 18S and 28S genes and the mitochondrial (mt) 12S gene. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred by 3 methods (NJ/MP/ML) based on the data of single gene sequences and concatenated sequences. Homology analysis indicated that the 18S sequences were conserved among roundworms from all 21 species and that 28S showed interspecies variability. Divergence levels displayed in 12S suggested that 12S appears to be either intra- or interspecifically variable. Evolutionary trees indicated that the ascarids split into 2 families, 4 genera and 7 species, with high bootstrap support for each clade. Combined trees suggested that Baylisascaris ailuri is more closely related to B. transfuga than to B. schroederi. This study provides useful molecular markers for the classification, phylogenetic analysis and epidemiological investigation of roundworms from wild animals.

This work uses a method based on indentation to characterize a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) elastomer submerged in an organic solvent (decane, heptane, pentane, or cyclohexane). An indenter is pressed into a disk of a swollen elastomer to a fixed depth, and the force on the indenter is recorded as a function of time. By examining how the relaxation time scales with the radius of contact, one can differentiate the poroelastic behavior from the viscoelastic behavior. By matching the relaxation curve measured experimentally to that derived from the theory of poroelasticity, one can identify elastic constants and permeability. The measured elastic constants are interpreted within the Flory–Huggins theory. The measured permeability indicates that the solvent migrates in PDMS by diffusion, rather than by convection. This work confirms that indentation is a reliable and convenient method to characterize swollen elastomers.

To develop a cationic UV curable, tough fouling-release coating for marine vessels, a difunctional oxetane monomer was used to copolymerize with the epoxy-siloxane oligomer at loading levels from 10% to 40% wt.. The resulting coatings showed enhanced solvent resistance, impact resistance and modulus, while remained hydrophobic before and after immersion in artificial sea water. In marine microorganism bioassay, these oxetane toughened coatings showed no leachate toxicity and the coating surfaces were non-toxic to biofilm growth. The fouling removal performance for these coatings was found to be microorganism dependent. Live barnacle reattachment assay showed that the toughened coatings had a removal force comparable to the reference silicone coatings Dow Corning T2 and 3140.

Inorganic and organic double templates were used to fabricate silica nanospheres and nanotubes with nanochannels perpendicular to the shells. Sphere and needle like CaCO3 nanoparticles, synthesized by a high gravity reactive precipitation method, were used as inorganic templates and C16H33N(CH3)3Br (C16-CTAB) was used as an organic surfactant template. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the nanoporous structure. The nanochannels were found perpendicular to the surface of nanospheres and nanotubes. The size of nanochannels is about 3~5 nm. The size of hollow nanosphers and nanotubes can be controlled by the inorganic CaCO3 nanoparticle templates and the nanochannels in the shells can be tuned by different surfactant micelles. The nanospheres and nanotubes with nanochannels perpendicular to the shells have a potential application in chemical bio-catalyst, bio-separation, and drug delivery.