Solubility and metastable zone width measurement of 2,4-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid in (H2SO4 + H2O) system

The equilibrium solubility of 2,4-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid and super solubility as well as metastable zone width were measured in (H₂SO₄ + H₂O) system by the laser dynamic method at elevate temperature range from 298.15 K to 338.15 K. 2,4-Diaminobenzenesulfonic acid solubility dependence on the temperature and solvent composition were correlated by the modified Apelblat equation, (CNIBS)/Redlich-Kister model and Jouyban-Acree model. The correlated results by three correlation models were in good accord with the experimental values according to relative average deviations (RD), root-mean-square deviations (RMSD), and correlation coefficients (R²). The metastable zone width increased with temperature and sulfuric acid content. The dissolution enthalpy, dissolution entropy and the Gibbs energy were calculated from the experimental values, which indicated that dissolution process of the 2,4-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid was endothermic. The solubility and calculation models of 2,4-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid in (sulfuric acid + water) system could provide the basic data to the crystallization and purifying of the 2,4-diaminobenzenesulfonic acid.     

Superhigh selective capture of volatile organic compounds exploiting cigarette butts-derived engineering carbonaceous adsorbent

Herein, we develop cost-efficient superhigh-performance of engineering carbonaceous adsorbent from cigarette butts using combined wet-impregnated and re-dispersed method of KOH, which optimizes the implant approach of activator, breaking the restriction of selective capture of toluene using traditional activated carbon. The Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) surface area and pore volume of targeted adsorbent can attain 3088 m²·g^-1 and 1.61 cm³·g^-1, respectively, by optimizing the temperature-dependent synthetic factor effect of the adsorbent. The adsorption capacity of resultant adsorbent for presenting volatile benzene and toluene shows a positive correlation with increasing carbonization temperature of carbon precursor. Besides, we demonstrated the unsmoked and smoked butts derived adsorbents afford feeble difference in saturated adsorbed capacity of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). The highest adsorption capacity of sample CF-800 for benzene and toluene in CF group is as high as 1268.1 and 1181.6 mg·g^-1 respectively, slightly higher than that of sample UF-800, but far outperforming reported other adsorbents. The predicted adsorption selectivity of CF-800 and UF-800 for C₇H₈/H₂O (g) using the DIH (difference of isosteric heats) equation reach up to ca. 3800 and 7500 respectively, indicating the weak adsorbability of water vapor on the developed adsorbent and greater superiority of the smoked butts derived adsorbents in selective capture of VOCs at low relative humidity in the competitive adsorption process for practical mixed VOCs.     

Pre-treatment to Improve the Bake-hardening Response in the Naturally Aged Al-Mg-Si Alloy

This paper describes pre-treatment methods to improve the bake-hardening response of naturally aged AA6022(Al-0.6Mg-1.0Si),which is an alloy used in automotive body panels.These methods are used to accelerate the artificial aging process,which proceeds 30-day period of natural aging.The precipitation behavior of the sheets of this aluminum alloy was analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry(DSC) and electrical conductivity measurements,and subsequently confirmed by microstructure observations by transmission electron microscopy(TEM).Tensile tests and microhardness measurements were performed to determine the mechanical properties of the samples.Under simulated paint-baking conditions(30 min at 170 ℃),the microhardness and the yield strength(YS) of the pre-strained + pre-aged samples were found to be 113 HV and 225 MPa,respectively.These values are considerably higher than those of pre-aged samples,and they did not decrease significantly during the initial stage of artificial aging.     

Development and long-term in vivo evaluation of a biodegradable urethane-doped polyester elastomer

We have recently reported upon the development of crosslinked urethane-doped polyester (CUPE) network elastomers, which was motivated by the desire to overcome the drawbacks presented by crosslinked network polyesters and biodegradable polyurethanes for soft tissue engineering applications. Although the effect of the isocyanate content and post-polymerization conditions on the material structure-property relationship was examined in detail, the ability of the diol component to modulate the material properties was only studied briefly. Herein, we present a detailed report on the development of CUPE polymers synthesized using diols 4, 6, 8, 10, or 12 methylene units in length in order to investigate what role the diol component plays on the resulting material's physical properties, and assess their long-term biological performance in vivo. An increase in the diol length was shown to affect the physical properties of the CUPE polymers primarily through lowered polymeric crosslinking densities and elevated material hydrophobicity. The use of longer chain diols resulted in CUPE polymers with increased molecular weights resulting in higher tensile strength and elasticity, while also increasing the material hydrophobicity to lower bulk swelling and prolong the polymer degradation rates. Although the number of methylene units largely affected the physical properties of CUPE, the choice of diol did not affect the overall polymer cell/tissue-compatibility both in vitro and in vivo. In conclusion, we have established the diol component as an important parameter in controlling the structure-property relationship of the polymer in addition to diisocyanate concentration and post-polymerization conditions. Expanding the family of CUPE polymers increases the choices of biodegradable elastomers for tissue engineering applications.     

HAMMER: hierarchical attribute matching mechanism for elastic registration

A new approach is presented for elastic registration of medical images, and is applied to magnetic resonance images of the brain. Experimental results demonstrate very high accuracy in superposition of images from different subjects. There are two major novelties in the proposed algorithm. First, it uses an attribute vector, i.e., a set of geometric moment invariants (GMIs) that are defined on each voxel in an image and are calculated from the tissue maps, to reflect the underlying anatomy at different scales. The attribute vector, if rich enough, can distinguish between different parts of an image, which helps establish anatomical correspondences in the deformation procedure; it also helps reduce local minima, by reducing ambiguity in potential matches. This is a fundamental deviation of our method, referred to as the hierarchical attribute matching mechanism for elastic registration (HAMMER), from other volumetric deformation methods, which are typically based on maximizing image similarity. Second, in order to avoid being trapped by local minima, i.e., suboptimal poor matches, HAMMER uses a successive approximation of the energy function being optimized by lower dimensional smooth energy functions, which are constructed to have significantly fewer local minima. This is achieved by hierarchically selecting the driving features that have distinct attribute vectors, thus, drastically reducing ambiguity in finding correspondence. A number of experiments demonstrate that the proposed algorithm results in accurate superposition of image data from individuals with significant anatomical differences.     

Effects of heat shock on the thermotolerance, protein composition, and toxin production of Vibrio parahaemolyticus

Vibrio parahaemolyticus, an important seafood-associated enteropathogen, usually encounters different adverse conditions in its native or food-processing environment, and the stresses resulting from these conditions may affect the survival of this pathogen and thus change its risk with regard to food hygiene. In this study, we investigated the thermotolerance of V. parahaemolyticus under sublethal heat shock and characterized this response by examining the changes in protein profiles and toxin production. Logarithmically grown cells heat shocked at 42 degrees C for 30 min were more resistant to thermal inactivation at 47 degrees C than were unshocked cells. After the 25 degrees C culture was heat shocked, 24 species of proteins were induced, while 13 species were inhibited, as indicated by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. DnaJ-, GroEL-, and GroES-like proteins with molecular sizes of 47, 62, and 12 kDa, respectively, were detected by immunoblotting with antibodies raised against the Escherichia coli proteins. During 1 to 8 h of heat shock, GroEL-like protein was produced in substantial amounts and was present in the periplasmic and extracellular fractions, while DnaJ- and GroES-like proteins were present mainly in the total cellular fraction. DnaK-like protein was not detected; nevertheless, the presence of the dnaK-like genetic element was revealed by Southern blotting. Production of thermostable direct hemolysin, the major virulence factor in V. parahaemolyticus, was enhanced in the cells heat shocked at 42 degrees C but not in those heat shocked at 37 degrees C.     

Nanocrystalline alpha-Ni(OH)2 prepared by ultrasonic precipitation

Nanocrystalline alpha-Ni(OH)2 was prepared by an ultrasonic precipitation/stirring method. Results of X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, infrared, and thermogravimetric measurements confirm that the sample obtained is alpha phase. Compared with the sample prepared without ultrasonic stirring, the crystal structure of the alpha phase sample has been changed from beta phase. The crystalline size of the sample is about 20 nm, which is smaller than the sample produced without ultrasonic stirring (70 nm).     

Photon absorption in resonant-cavity-enhanced gaas far-infrared detectors

Interface reflection has been demonstrated to play an important role in GaAs multilayer homojunction far-infrared (FIR) detectors. A transfer matrix method that is able to provide a true optical field distribution within an FIR detector has been employed to optimize photon absorption and structure. The dependence of photon absorption on the reflectivity and the phase shift of the bottom mirror in a resonant-cavity-enhanced GaAs FIR detector has been investigated. Weak wavelength selectivity has been observed for both resonant and off-resonant FIR, which is a unique advantage for detector application. In comparison with the experimental result, a 20.8% increase in quantum efficiency was found in an optimized FIR detector.     

Relaxed alignment tolerance of monolithic ring lasers

An investigation of relaxed alignment tolerance in monolithic ring lasers is presented. It was found that the relaxed alignment tolerance is strongly dependent on the out-of-plane angle. A preferred region for the out-of-plane angle is proposed. In this region the resonator has greatly relaxed alignment tolerances, and the unidirectional operation can be obtained under a much-lower magnetic field. Two lasers have been constructed in the region, and satisfactory performance was found, in good agreement with the theoretical analysis.