We conduct direct numerical simulations and study the evolution of a pair of counter-rotating vortices in a stratified and turbulent environment beyond the first vortex linking (which is due to the Crow instability). The initial position of the two vortices is perpendicular to the direction of thermal stratification. We vary the Froude number, the background turbulence intensity and the Reynolds number, covering strong, weak and neutral stratification; low, moderate and high background turbulence; and low and moderate Reynolds numbers. We observe a second vortex linking in a weakly stratified environment for the first time. The second vortex linking is followed by turbulence bursts that lead to the rapid decay of the residual vortices after the first vortex linking, leading to a short-living vortex pair. This challenges the conventional view that residual vortices have a long life span, which is true only in an unstratified environment. In addition to the second vortex linking, we observe the following. First, strong background turbulence quickly breaks the two vortices. Second, the two vortices induce secondary and tertiary vortices and lose energy to gravitational waves in a strongly stratified ($Fr\leqslant 0.7$) environment.

The Jueluotage area, which is located in the southern branch of the Eastern Tianshan and northeast of the Tarim Basin, represents a vital locality for investigating intracontinental reactivation induced by the tectonic events at the Eurasian plate margin. This study applies zircon and apatite (U–Th)/He and apatite fission-track thermochronology to the Jueluotage area in the Eastern Tianshan. Our data and thermal history modelling show that the Jueluotage area experienced Triassic–Early Jurassic (˜240–180 Ma) cooling, reflecting the closure of the North Tianshan Ocean and subsequent far-field effects of collision/accretion of the Qiangtang Block and Kunlun terrane. Following this period of fast cooling, a differential exhumation process occurred between the various tectonic belts in the Jueluotage area. The Aqishan–Yamansu belt was exposed at the surface during the Triassic–Early Jurassic cooling phase and experienced subsequent burial, which continued until Early Cretaceous time when a pulse of exhumation occurred. However, the major fault zones (Kanggurtag ductile shear zone and Aqikkuduk Fault) and Central Tianshan arc have remained tectonically stable since Early Jurassic time. No Cenozoic rapid cooling was recorded by the low-temperature thermochronology results in this study, indicating that much of the Jueluotage area was exhumed to the upper crust in the late Mesozoic period.

The CoCrNiMox (x = 0, 0.1, and 0.2 in molar ratio) medium entropy alloys (MEAs) were fabricated by vacuum arc melting, followed by cold rolling and annealing treatments. The X-ray diffraction (XRD), electron back-scattered diffraction (EBSD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) were employed to characterize the microstructures. It has been shown that the CoCrNi MEA has a single FCC phase and the Mo-containing MEAs contain (Cr, Mo)-rich σ precipitates. In addition, the Mo addition caused significant grain refinement, due to the fact that the presence of σ phase exerts a strong pinning effect on the grain boundary migration. The hardness testing results indicate an increment in Vickers hardness from 187.5 ± 4.5 Hv of CoCrNi alloy to 309.5 ± 10.3 Hv of CoCrNiMo0.2 alloy. The yield strength and ultimate tensile strength also increase from 339 ± 2 to 644 ± 5 MPa and from 810 ± 5 to 1071 ± 17 MPa, respectively, but the elongation drops from 88.4 ± 4.0% to 29.5 ± 7.6%. The grain refinement and the precipitation of σ phase make synergistic contribution to the reinforcement of Mo-containing CoCrNi-based MEAs. The details and explanations in this study may guide the future design and research of the CoCrNi-based quaternary alloys with enhanced properties.

To reduce the seed length while maintaining the advantages of the cuboid KDP-type crystal, a long-seed KDP crystal with size $471~\text{mm}\times 480~\text{mm}\times 400~\text{mm}$ is rapidly grown. With almost the same high cutting efficiency to obtain third harmonic generation oriented samples, this long-seed KDP-type crystal can be grown with a shorter seed than that of the cuboid KDP-type crystal. The full width at half maximum of the high-resolution X-ray diffraction of the (200) crystalline face is 28.8 arc seconds, indicating that the long-seed KDP crystal has good crystalline quality. In the wavelength range of 377–1022 nm, the transmittance of the long-seed KDP crystal is higher than 90%. The fluence for the 50% probability of laser-induced damage (LID) is $18.5~\text{J}/\text{cm}^{2}$ (3 ns, 355 nm). Several test points survive when the laser fluence exceeds $30~\text{J}/\text{cm}^{2}$ (3 ns, 355 nm), indicating the good LID performance of the long-seed KDP crystal. At present, the growth of a long-seed DKDP crystal is under way.

Environmental protection is an issue that all developing countries must cope with when inviting foreign direct investment (FDI). However, the high correlation between FDI and pollution does not necessarily indicate that foreign firms are to blame. In this study, we apply firm-level panel data from Vietnam and unique information on waste discharge to demonstrate that foreign firms are actually more proactive in acquiring ISO14001 certification. ISO14001 is a voluntary environmental standard, the adoption of which improves a firm's performance in terms of waste control, and increases its welfare and productivity level. This study provides robust evidence that firms' efforts toward corporate social responsibility eventually benefit them as well.

The effects of the different shot peening parameters on the 6061 alloy specimens' surface have been investigated. It is found that the compressive residual stresses and the surface roughness of the surface layer for all shot-peened specimens are improved greatly. The maximum stress value and the maximum roughness are obtained by the shot flow rate of 5.5 lbs/min and air pressure of 20 psi. The microstructure observation results indicate that a nanostructured layer with an average grain size below 100 nm has been created on the top surface layer of each specimen. In the top surface nanostructured layer, the microhardness is enhanced. It is resulted from the grain refinement and the strain hardening. The results of electrochemical measurements, surface corrosion morphology observation, and EDS analysis indicate that the corrosion susceptibility of the 6061 alloy could be significantly enhanced by means of the shot-peening-induced surface nanocrystallization.

In the work, an in situ chemical synthesis approach has been developed to fabricate SnO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites in ethanol solution. X-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron, Fourier transform infrared and Raman spectrum revealed the formation of SnO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy showed that SnO2 nanoparticles had a crystal size of about 3–4 nm and homogeneously distributed on reduced graphene oxide matrix. The electrochemical performances of the SnO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites as anode materials were measured by the galvanostatic charge/discharge cycling. The results indicated that as-synthesized SnO2/reduced graphene oxide nanocomposites had a reversible lithium storage capacity of 1051 mAh/g and an enhanced cyclability, which can be attributed to increased electrode conductivity and buffer effect to volume change in the presence of a percolated reduced graphene oxide network embedded into the metal oxide electrodes.

The premixability of reagents used in chemical vapor deposition reactors is important to insure that gas feed lines and nozzles do not become clogged with particulates during operation. Even if reactants are to be kept separate until introduced into a reaction chamber, it is desirable to limit the number of particles formed. A reactor which utilizes laser light scattering to monitor particulate formation when gaseous reagents are mixed is described. The reaction of tin (IV) chloride with water is commonly used to produce tin oxide films by chemical vapor deposition. It was found by the light scattering experiment that at temperatures above about 110°C the number of particulates formed is greatly reduced. Therefore, it would be most desirable that these reagents be mixed above this temperature when depositing tin oxide from this reaction. The reaction of titanium tetrachloride with various amine was also investigated by this method. This reaction has been demonstrated to produce titanium nitride above 450°C. For each case, it was observed that there was a temperature above which the number of particulates was significantly reduced. This temperature was always below the optimal temperature for producing titanium nitride films.