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Feng, Pan

Publications and source records attributed to Feng, Pan.

Effects of pH on the nano/micro structure of calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H) under sulfate attack

Calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H), the most important Portland cement hydration product, determines the mechanical properties and durability of cementitious materials. In marine environment, C-S-H often suffers from sulfate attack – one of the most common and severe degradations for concrete. pH is considered as a critical factor in determining the deterioration behavior of C-S-H during sulfate attack, of which the significance may be overlooked. This study focused on the role of pH on the deterioration of C-S-H in terms of the composition and nano/micro structure under sulfate attack. The results show that lowering pH aggravates the decalcification of C-S-H, whereas a strong alkaline condition is beneficial to increase the resistance to deterioration. An increase in the mean chain length together with the proportion of large pores (>10 nm) is observed when C-S-H is subjected to low-pH sulfate attack (pH = 10–12), resulting in a relatively loose structure. The deep analysis on defective tobermorite model reveals that calcium at the interlayer of C-S-H nanostructure is readily removed under sulfate attack, thereby improving the potential of Si-O-Si groups formation and increases the mean chain length of C-S-H.

36 MATERIALS SCIENCE↗

Mechanism for atmosphere dependence of laser damage morphology in HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} high reflective films

We show in this paper single-shot and multi-shot laser-induced damage thresholds (LIDTs) of HfO{sub 2}/SiO{sub 2} high reflective films (the reflectance = 99.9%) are affected by the presence of a water layer absorbed on the surface of the porous films. When the water layer was removed with the process of pumping, the single-shot LIDT measured in vacuum dropped to {approx}48% of that measured in air, while the multi-shot LIDT in vacuum dropped to {approx}47% of its atmospheric value for the high reflective films. Typical damage micrographs of the films in air and in vacuum were obtained, showing distinct damage morphologies. Such atmosphere dependence of the laser damage morphology was found to originate from that formation of a water layer on the surface of porous films could cause an increase of horizontal thermal conductivity and a reduction of vertical thermal conductivity. Moreover, laser-induced periodic ripple damages in air were found in the SiO{sub 2} layer from the micrographs. A model of deformation kinematics was used to illustrate the occurrence of the periodic ripple damage, showing that it could be attributed to a contraction of the HfO{sub 2} layer under irradiation by the 5-ns laser pulses in air.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Silencing Fibronectin Extra Domain A Enhances Radiosensitivity in Nasopharyngeal Carcinomas Involving an FAK/Akt/JNK Pathway

Purpose: Fibronectin extra domain A (EDA) is known to play important roles in angiogenesis, lymphangiogenesis, and metastasis in malignant tumors. The present study examined the effect of EDA on the radioresistance potential of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC). Methods and Materials: EDA expression levels in blood samples and tumor tissues of NPC patients were tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and immunohistochemistry. Radiosensitivity was tested by colony survival assay. Apoptosis was determined by flow cytometry. The expressions of EDA, cleaved caspase 9, cleaved caspase 3, cleaved PARP, Bcl-2, and the levels of phosphorylated FAK, Akt, and JNK were measured by Western blot. Xenografts were used to confirm the effect of EDA on radiosensitivity in vivo. Results: EDA levels in blood samples of advanced NPC patients were much higher than those in early-stage patients. In tumor tissues, the positive expressions of EDA in NPC tumor tissues were shown to be correlated with the differentiation degrees of cancer cells and lymph node metastases. Additionally, the expression of EDA is positively correlated with the expression of antiapoptotic gene (Bcl2), but negatively correlated with the expressions of apoptotic genes (cleaved caspase-3, cleaved caspase-9, cleaved PARP). In vitro, EDA-silenced NPC cells CNE-2 shows substantially enhanced radiosensitivity with lower colony survival and more apoptosis in response to radiation. In vivo, EDA-silenced xenografts were more sensitive to radiation. At the molecular level, FAK/Akt/JNK signaling was demonstrated to be inactivated in EDA-silenced CNE-2 cells. Conclusions: EDA strongly affected the radiosensitivity of NPC cells. FAK/Akt/JNK signaling was found to be a potential signaling mediating EDA function.

62 RADIOLOGY AND NUCLEAR MEDICINE↗

Simple description of odd-A nuclei around the critical point of the spherical to axially deformed shape phase transition

An analytically solvable model, X(3/2j+1), is proposed to describe odd-A nuclei near the X(3) critical point. The model is constructed based on a collective core described by the X(3) critical point symmetry coupled to a spin-j particle. A detailed analysis of the spectral patterns for cases j=1/2 and j=3/2 is provided to illustrate dynamical features of the model. By comparing theory with experimental data and results of other models, it is found that the X(3/2j+1) model can be taken as a simple yet very effective scheme to describe those odd-A nuclei with an even-even core at the critical point of the spherical to axially deformed shape phase transition.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Mean-field plus various types of pairing models and an exact boson mapping of the standard pairing model

Exact solutions of Nilsson mean-field with various pairing interactions are reviewed. Some even-odd mass differences and moments of inertia of low-lying states for rare earth and actinide nuclei are calculated for the nearest-orbit pairing approximation as well as for the extended pairing model and compared to available experimental data. An exact boson mapping of the standard pairing Hamiltonian is also reported. Under the mapping, fermion pair operators are mapped exactly onto corresponding bosons. The image of the mapping is a Bose-Hubbard model with orbit-dependent hopping.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Performance of wireless sensor networks under random node failures

Networks are essential to the function of a modern society and the consequence of damages to a network can be large. Assessing network performance of a damaged network is an important step in network recovery and network design. Connectivity, distance between nodes, and alternative routes are some of the key indicators to network performance. In this paper, random geometric graph (RGG) is used with two types of node failure, uniform failure and localized failure. Since the network performance are multi-facet and assessment can be time constrained, we introduce four measures, which can be computed in polynomial time, to estimate performance of damaged RGG. Simulation experiments are conducted to investigate the deterioration of networks through a period of time. With the empirical results, the performance measures are analyzed and compared to provide understanding of different failure scenarios in a RGG.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗