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An in situ optical microscopy combined with ex situ electron backscatter diffraction testing was applied to a pristine single-crystal magnesium specimen under monotonic tension along the c-axis. An intrusion-like co-zone twin-twin structure is observed for the first time at the micron scale. In situ observation reveals that the intrusion-like twin-twin structure consists of multiple twin-twin boundaries (TTBs) and incoherent twin boundaries (I-CTBs) following energetically favorable formation sequences. The initial interaction results in the impinging TTBI and the acute-angle TTBA. In the local junction region on the obtuse angle side, the impinging twinning dislocations (TDs) further deposit near TTBI due to the preferred local twinning shear stress, leading to the incoherent curve of the impinging twin boundary adjacent to TTBI. Shortly after, the barrier twin boundary on the obtuse angle side migrates and encompasses the incoherent impinging twin boundary. The combination of sequential TTBI, TTBA, and I-CTBs formed locally on the obtuse angle side shapes the final configuration of the intrusion-like twin-twin structure at the micron scale. 

Stress-strain responses and twinning characteristics are studied for a rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy under three different stress states: tension along the normal direction (NDT), compression along the rolled direction (RDC), and torsion about the normal direction (NDTOR) using companion specimens interrupted at incremental strain levels. Tension twinning is extensively induced in twinning-favorable NDT and RDC. All the six variants of tension twin are activated under NDT, whereas a maximum of four variants is activated under RDC. Under NDTOR, both tension twins and compression twins are activated at relatively large strains and twinning occurs in a small fraction of favored grains rather than in the majority of grains. Secondary and tertiary twins are observed in the favorably-orientated grains at high strain levels. Deformation under each stress state shows three stages of strain hardening rate: fast decrease (Stage I), sequential increase (Stage II), and progressive decrease (Stage III). The increase in the hardening rate, which is more significant under NDT and RDC as compared to NDTOR, is attributed to the hardening effect of twin boundaries and twinning texture-induced slip activities. The hardening effect of twin boundaries include the dynamic Hall-Petch hardening induced by the multiplication of twin boundaries (TBs) and twin-twin boundaries (TTBs) as well as the hardening effect associated with the energetically unfavorable TTB formation. When the applied plastic strain is larger than 0.05 under NDT and RDC, the tension twin volume fraction is higher than 50%. The twinning-induced texture leads to the activation of non-basal slips mainly in the twinned volume, i.e. prismatic slips under NDT and pyramidal slips under RDC. The low work hardening under NDTOR is due to the prevailing basal slips with reduced twinning activities under NDTOR. 

The mechanical response and microstructure evolution in a rolled AZ31B magnesium alloy were experimentally characterized using companion thin-walled tubular specimens under free-end monotonic torsion. The tubular specimens were made with their axes along the normal direction of the rolled magnesium plate. The shear stress-shear strain response shows a subtle sigmodal shape that is composed of four distinctive stages of strain hardening. Basal slips and tension twinning are operated throughout the shear deformation. Both tension twinning and compressing twinning are favored. Growth and interaction of tension twins with multiple variants lead to formation of twin-twin boundaries (TTBs). The collective hardening effects by twin boundary (TB) and TTB result in a unique rise of the strain hardening rate in Stage II and III. In addition to primary twins, tension-compression double twins and tension-compression-tension tertiary twins with detectable sizes are observed in the tension-twin favorable grains whereas compression-tension double twins are detected in the tension-twin unfavorable grains; all of which become more observable with the increasing shear strain. During Stage IV deformation where TTB formation exhausts, non-basal prismatic slips become more significant and are responsible for the progressive decrease in strain hardening rate in this stage. Swift effect, which is commonly observed in textured materials, is evidenced under free-end torsion. The origin of Swift effect is confirmed to be dislocation slips at a shear strain less than 5% but is predominantly due to tension twinning at a larger plastic strain. 

While researchers of social-ecological systems acknowledge existence of formal and informal institutions affecting social-ecological governance, the role of informal sector in the land use change remains understudied. Moreover, existing studies of informal land use are focused mostly on urban areas, such as informal settlements. We argue that the remote regions would be another important area for inquiries. Informal, e.g. unobserved by official records, land use changes there are related to high-speed dynamics of resource extraction projects and location mostly in the regions of traditional land use practices of indigenous people. In particular, we focus on informal roads, which in the Arctic and Subarctic remote regions often remain understudied due to their small size, chaotic, temporal or even seasonal nature, private ownership or traditional subsistence functions. Despite their absence on official maps, they have significant social, economic and environmental impact on local, predominantly indigenous, communities. The study area: the north of Irkutsk region and Republic of Buryatia that the last decades has undergone rapid changes of traditional way of life of "old settlers", native Buryats and Evenks, collapse of the Soviet economy, development of oil and gas extractive industries and infrastructure, environmental regulations to protect the Lake Baikal and tourism development. The data was obtained in 2016-2018 at the municipal and local levels using interviews, observations, statistics and cartographic tools. As a result, we identified formal and informal elements of transportation infrastructure with common set of characteristics (e.g. time of development; purpose; present conditions; changes in location; use) and distinguished the specifics of their maintenance requirements, the forms of ownership, seasonality and local traditions. The future plans to use remotely-sensed data, coordinated visual mapping sessions, and field studies for understanding land use changes due to development of informal road networks will be discussed in the presentation. 

Small RNAs (sRNAs), ~20–25 nucleotide (nt) in size, regulate various biological processes in plants through directing sequence-specific gene silencing. sRNAs are derived from either single- or double-stranded precursor RNAs. Proper levels of sRNAs are crucial for plant growth, development, genomic stability, and adaptation to abiotic and biotic stresses. Studies have identified the machineries controlling sRNA levels through biogenesis and degradation. This chapter covers recent progresses related to mechanisms governing small RNA biogenesis and degradation.