Load Testing of Historic Cast Iron Stairs at Cape Hatteras Lighthouse

The Cape Hatteras Lighthouse is the tallest brick structure of its kind in the United States. The national icon was closed to visitors after several pieces of the cast iron stairs, original to the structure, dislodged and fell inside the lighthouse. This finding led to the investigative efforts outlined in this paper, on the load carrying capacity of the stairs. This article summarizes the engineering effort in the condition assessment of the stairs, the review of visitor statistical data for likely load exposures during peak times, and the development of a unique load test program for the stairs of the historic structure. The load testing program was unique because of the physical constraints of the lighthouse shaft as well as the dimensions of the stair treads. In addition, the engineering team had the added objective of protecting the integrity of the national icon and performing the load test without exposing the historic stairs to an unnecessary risk of failure.     

Hydrogen storage capability of carbon nanotube Be@C120

PM3 (RHF) type semiempirical quantum chemical calculations have been carried out on (nH₂+Be)@C₁₂₀ systems where C₁₂₀ is a capped tube and n15. The results indicate that all these systems are stable but endothermic in nature. (7H₂+Be)@C₁₂₀ system has the lowest heat of formation value.     

Nondestructive and Laboratory Evaluation of Damage Gradients in Concrete Structure Exposed to Cryogenic Temperatures

This paper discusses the use of pulse velocity, dynamic Young’s modulus of elasticity, and air permeability of concrete to evaluate the extent of damage and damage gradients to a concrete structure exposed to thermal shock and subsequent cryogenic temperatures. Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is maintained in liquid form at cryogenic temperatures typically below ?160°C (?260°F). The elevated concrete pedestal and precast concrete piles supporting a LNG storage tank were exposed to cryogenic temperatures following a leak of the LNG. The engineering assessment of the concrete structure consisted of a nondestructive evaluation phase using ultrasonic pulse velocity and a subsequent laboratory phase based on concrete cores. Dynamic Young’s modulus of elasticity and air permeability index of 25?mm (1?in.) thick disks sawed from the cores were determined. Analyzing concrete disks at 25?mm (1?in.) increments permitted assessment of changes in these properties with depth and enabled evaluation of depth of damage and damage gradients. The laboratory study confirmed that the distressed zone was limited to a near-surface area of concrete as suggested by the results of pulse velocity testing.     

Graph-based multilevel temporal video segmentation

This paper presents a graph-based multilevel temporal video segmentation method. In each level of the segmentation, a weighted undirected graph structure is implemented. The graph is partitioned into clusters which represent the segments of a video. Three low-level features are used in the calculation of temporal segments’ similarities: visual content, motion content and shot duration. Our strength factor approach contributes to the results by improving the efficiency of the proposed method. Experiments show that the proposed video scene detection method gives promising results in order to organize videos without human intervention.     

Trans-differentiation of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells on decellularized bovine myocardial extracellular matrix-based films

In this study, we aimed at fabricating decellularized bovine myocardial extracellular matrix-based films (dMEbF) for cardiac tissue engineering (CTE). The decellularization process was carried out utilizing four consecutive stages including hypotonic treatment, detergent treatment, enzymatic digestion and decontamination, respectively. In order to fabricate the dMEbF, dBM were digested with pepsin and gelation process was conducted. dMEbF were then crosslinked with N-hydroxysuccinimide/1-Ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl)-carbodiimide (NHS/EDC) to increase their durability. Nuclear contents of native BM and decellularized BM (dBM) tissues were determined with DNA content analysis and agarose-gel electrophoresis. Cell viability on dMEbF for 3rd, 7th, and 14th days was assessed by MTT assay. Cell attachment on dMEbF was also studied by scanning electron microscopy. Trans-differentiation capacity of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) into cardiomyocyte-like cells on dMEbF were also evaluated by histochemical and immunohistochemical analyses. DNA contents for native and dBM were, respectively, found as 886.11?±?164.85 and 47.66?±?0.09?ng/mg dry weight, indicating a successful decellularization process. The results of glycosaminoglycan and hydroxyproline assay, and sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE), performed in order to characterize the extracellular matrix (ECM) composition of native and dBM tissue, showed that the BM matrix was not damaged during the proposed method. Lastly, regarding the histological study, dMEbF not only mimics native ECM, but also induces the stem cells into cardiomyocyte-like cells phenotype which brings it the potential of use in CTE.     

Preparation of N‐doped graphene powders by cyclic voltammetry and a potential application of them: Anode materials of Li‐ion batteries

Nowadays, doped graphenes are attracting much interest in the field of Li‐ion batteries since it shows higher specific capacity than widely used graphite. However, synthesis methods of doped graphenes have secondary processes that requires much energy. In this study, in situ synthesis of N‐doped graphene powders by using of cyclic voltammetric method from starting a graphite rod in nitric acid solution has been discussed for the first time in the literature. The N‐including functional groups such as nitro groups, pyrrolic N, and pyridinic N have been selectively prepared as changing scanned potential ranges in cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemical performance as anode material in Li‐ion batteries has also been covered within this study. N‐doped graphene powders have been characterized by electrochemical, spectroscopic, and microscopic methods. According to the X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman results, N‐doped graphene powders have approximately 16 to 18 graphene rings in their main structure. The electrochemical analysis of graphene powders synthesized at different potential ranges showed that the highest capacity was obtained 438 mAh/g after 10 cycles by using current density of 50 mA/g at N‐GP4. Furthermore, the sample having higher defect size shows better specific capacity. However, the more stable structure due to oxygen content and less defect size improves the rate capabilities, and thus, the results obtained at high current density indicated that the remaining capacity of N‐GP1 was higher than the others.     

A Particle Swarm Optimization Assessment for the Determination of Non-Darcian Flow Parameters in a Confined Aquifer

Being one of the preliminary in-situ testing methods, aquifer pumping tests would provide significant insights which form a basis for the aquifer characterization. The use of Darcian based flow models to describe the groundwater flow would be ineffective for the aquifer pumping tests under certain circumstances. Non-Darcian flow models could therefore construct more accurate portrayal of physical reality for the assessment of aquifer testing. The interpretation of flow parameters obtained from non-Darcian flows via classical curve matching methods seems extremely difficult to acquire a unique match since the well-defined type curves have not been developed. In this study, an evolutionary optimization based algorithm, called as Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO), was established to determine the flow parameters namely power index, storativity and the turbulent factor which serves as an apparent hydraulic conductivity. The proposed PSO based parameter estimation scheme was implemented for a number of numerical test cases and the estimation performance was evaluated by comparing with available population based algorithms. The results reveal that the PSO based estimation approach is successfully able to identify the flow parameters in an accurate and fast manner. A number of sensitivity analyses were also conducted to draw the limitations of the introduced PSO based technique. The positive findings from this study pointed the potential capability of using PSO as a viable algorithm to process the complex relations in the flow.

     

Encoding Information on the Excited State of a Molecular Spin Chain

The quantum states of nano-objects can drive electrical transport properties across lateral and local-probe junctions. This raises the prospect, in a solid-state device, of electrically encoding information at the quantum level using spin-flip excitations between electron spins. However, this electronic state has no defined magnetic orientation and is short-lived. Using a novel vertical nanojunction process, these limitations are overcome and this steady-state capability is experimentally demonstrated in solid-state spintronic devices. The excited quantum state of a spin chain formed by Co phthalocyanine molecules coupled to a ferromagnetic electrode constitutes a distinct magnetic unit endowed with a coercive field. This generates a specific steady-state magnetoresistance trace that is tied to the spin-flip conductance channel, and is opposite in sign to the ground state magnetoresistance term, as expected from spin excitation transition rules. The experimental 5.9 meV thermal energy barrier between the ground and excited spin states is confirmed by density functional theory, in line with macrospin phenomenological modeling of magnetotransport results. This low-voltage control over a spin chain's quantum state and spintronic contribution lay a path for transmitting spin wave-encoded information across molecular layers in devices. It should also stimulate quantum prospects for the antiferromagnetic spintronics and oxides electronics communities.     

Structural,Electrical and Photoresponse Properties of Si-based Diode with Organic Interfacial Layer Containing Novel Cyclotriphosphazene Compound

The electrical and photoresponse properties of Al/p-Si/organic layer/Al diode were investigated. Organic layer containing novel 2,2-bis[spiro(7,8-dioxy- 4-methylcoumarin)]-4,4,6,6-bis[spiro(2’,2”-dioxy-1’,1”- biphenylyl)]cyclotriphosphazene compound was coated by drop casting method on p-Si having ohmic contact. The structural characterization of novel cyclotriphosphazene compound was confirmed by using ¹H, ¹³C and ³¹P-NMR, elemental analysis and FT-IR spectroscopic techniques. The diode exhibits a photoconducting and photodiode behavior under solar light illumination. The electrical parameters such as ideality factor, barrier height and series resistance of the diode were determined from I-V characteristics. It is seen that the photocurrent of the diode under illumination is higher than dark current. Also, the frequency dependence of capacitance (C) and conductance (G) was explained on the basis of interface states. It is evaluated that the hybrid photodiode can be used as a photosensor in organic photodetector applications.     

Antioxidant abietane diterpenoids from Salvia barrelieri

The root extract of endemic Algerian Salvia species Salvia barrelieri Ettling and its diterpenoids were investigated for potential antioxidant activity. From its acetone extract, a new natural abietane diterpenoid 7-oxoroyleanone-12-methyl ether (1) and six known diterpenoids 7α-acetoxyroyleanone-12-methyl ether (2), royleanone (3), horminone (4), 7-acetylhorminone (5), cryptojaponol (6) and inuroyleanol (7) were isolated, and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic means. Among the diterpenoids, the new diterpenoid 7-oxoroyleanone-12-methyl ether (1) showed highest superoxide anion scavenging activity while inuroyleanol (7) showed both the highest 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging activity and inhibition of lipid peroxidation in β-carotene–linoleic acid system. These findings indicate that S. barrelieri extract as well as isolated abietane diterpenes, particularly inuroyleanol are promising antioxidants which can be used as food additives.