Fretting wear behaviour of plasma nitrided Ti-6Al-4V fretted against unnitrided Ti-6Al-4V and alumina counterbodies

Ti-6Al-4V samples were plasma nitrided at 520°C in two environments (nitrogen and a mixture of nitrogen and hydrogen in the ratio of 3:1) for two different time periods (4 h and 18 h). Fretting wear tests were conducted on unnitrided and nitrided samples for 50,000 cycles using two counterbody materials (unnitrided Ti-6Al-4V and alumina). Gross slip prevailed at a normal load of 4.9 N while mixed stick-slip prevailed at 9.8 N. Tangential force coefficient values of plasma nitrided samples were lower than those of unnitrided samples. The tangential force coefficient nearly stabilised after thousand cycles in case of samples tested against Ti-6Al-4V counterbody. On the other hand, it showed a continuously increasing trend in case of specimens tested against alumina counterbody. The samples nitrided for 4 h exhibited higher hardness and lower tangential force coefficient compared to the specimens nitrided for 18 h. The samples nitrided in nitrogen-hydrogen mixture environment exhibited higher hardness and lower tangential force coefficient compared to the specimens nitrided in nitrogen. The samples plasma nitrided in nitrogen-hydrogen mixture for 4 h exhibited the highest hardness and the lowest tangential force coefficient. The wear volume of the plasma nitrided samples was lower than that of the unnitrided samples. Owing to tribochemical reactions, the wear volume of unnitrided and nitrided samples fretted against alumina ball was higher than that of the samples fretted against Ti-6Al-4V. A consistent trend was not observed regarding which nitriding condition would result in lower wear volume at different loads.     

8 MeV electron irradiation effect on the dielectric and optical properties of iminodiacetic acid doped ferroelectric triglycine sulphate crystals

Single crystal of iminodiacetic acid (5 mol%) doped Tri Glycine Sulphate (IDATGS) was grown by slow evaporation from its aqueous solution at constant temperature, using solution growth method. The dielectric constant (ε′) and pyroelectric current (I_P) were measured over the temperature range of 30-60 °C in the ferroelectric direction. The measured values of ε′ and I_P were found to be smaller compared to pure triglycine sulphate (TGS) crystal parameters. But increased transition temperature was observed for doped crystals. Curie Weiss constants C_P and C_f in the paraelectric and ferroelectric phases were also determined. The doped crystal was irradiated with graded dosages from 5 to 80 kGy of electron beam from 8 MeV Microtron at room temperature and radiation effects on optical and dielectric properties were studied. The UV-Vis absorption spectrum indicates that the UV lower cutoff shifts towards the higher wavelength region (red shift) and the optical band gap is found to be decreasing with the increase of electron dose. It is also observed that the electron irradiation effects in pure and doped TGS were found to be long lasting. The dielectric study shows that there is a gradual reduction in dielectric constant at T_C and shifting of Curie temperature towards lower temperature region with the increase in electron radiation dose. The material figures of merit were found increased after the crystal was irradiated. Induced changes in the physical and optical properties due to irradiation may help one to tailor the device quality and characteristics.     

Cystone,an ayurvedic herbal drug imparts protection to the mice against the lethal effects of gamma-radiation: a preliminary study

The effect of 5, 10, 20, 40, 60, 80, 100, 120, and 160 mg/kg body weight (b.wt.) of aqueous extract of cystone (an ayurvedic herbal medicine) administered intraperitoneally was studied on the radiation-induced mortality in mice exposed to 10 Gy of gamma-radiation. Treatment of mice with different doses of cystone, consecutively for five days before irradiation, delayed the onset of mortality and reduced the symptoms of radiation sickness when compared with the non-drug treated irradiated controls. The pretreatment of mice with different doses of cystone before exposure to 10 Gy of gamma-radiation resulted in a dose-dependent elevation in the survival up to 40 mg/kg b.wt., where the highest number of survival (55.55%) was observed by 30 days post irradiation, when compared with the 10 Gy irradiated control (6.66%). Thereafter, the number of survivors declined and reached a nadir at 160 mg/kg, where no survivors could be observed. The optimum protection against irradiation was observed for 40 mg/kg cystone, where the highest number of survivors were reported by 30 days post irradiation and it was 8.34-fold greater than that of the irradiated control group.     

分布式智能推动单片机市场的发展

移动计算和通信使世界变得越来越小.这一方面缩短了人们沟通时的响应时间,同时也使大多数非技术人员意识到计算机和软件已存在于众多日常用品中."信息高速公路"或因特网供应商每年约售出3亿台/件产品,手机制造商每年约销售5亿部手机.虽然这两个市场都很大,但仅单片机(MCU)市场每年销售量就超过50亿片,为众多日常用品提供智能,其中8位单片机的年销售量达到约30亿片.要想了解分布式智能市场,需要考察推动总体需求的动力、明确实现过程中的技术因素并确定一些新的应用.     

Evaluation of the radioprotective effect of the leaf extract of Syzygium cumini (Jamun) in mice exposed to a lethal dose of gamma-irradiation

The effects of various concentrations (5, 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, and 80 mg/kg body weight (b.wt.) of the leaf extracts of Syzygium cumini Linn. and Eugenia cumini (SCE, black plum, Jamun, family Myrtaceae) on the radiation-induced sickness and mortality in mice exposed to 10 Gy gamma-irradiation were studied. The treatment of mice with different doses of SCE, consecutively for five days before irradation, delayed the onset of mortality and reduced the symptoms of radiation sickness when compared with the nondrug-treated irradiated controls. All doses of SCE provied protection against the gastrointestinal death increasing the survival by 66.66% after treatment with 20, 30, and 40 mg/kg SCE versus a 12% survival in the irradiated control group (oil + irradiation). Similarly, SCE provided protection against the radiation-induced bone marrow death in mice treated with 10-60 mg/kg b.wt. of SCE. However, the best protection was obtained for 30 mg/kg b.wt. SCE, where the number of, survivors after 30 days post-irradiation was highest (41.66%) when compared with the other doses of SCE.     

Is Barrett's esophagus characterized by more pronounced acid reflux than severe esophagitis?

OBJECTIVE: Barrett's esophagus is related to gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD). However, only a small fraction of patients with GERD develop Barrett's esophagus. We evaluated whether gastroesophageal acid reflux is more pronounced in Barrett's patients than in patients with moderate or severe endoscopic esophagitis. METHODS: Retrospective evaluation of results of esophageal manometry and 24 hour ambulatory pH monitoring performed between 1990 and 1996 at the Leiden University Medical Center in those patients who also underwent endoscopy < or = 3 months before pH-metry. Included were 51 patients with Barrett's esophagus, 30 patients with severe esophagitis, 45 patients with moderate esophagitis, and 24 healthy control subjects. RESULTS: Patients with Barrett's esophagus had significantly increased acid reflux time (p < 0.01-0.05) compared to patients with moderate, but not compared to patients with severe esophagitis. Distal esophageal body motility and LES pressure were significantly (p < 0.01-0.05) reduced in patients with Barrett's esophagus compared to patients with moderate esophagitis but not compared to those with severe esophagitis. CONCLUSION: Although acid reflux is increased in patients with Barrett's esophagus and esophageal motility is impaired, other factors apart from acid exposure and motility contribute to the development of Barrett's esophagus.     

Frequency compensation of MOS operational transconductance amplifiers

Operational transconductance amplifiers (OTAs) can be compensated by a capacitor placed in the differential-to-single-ended (D/SE) conversion stage. the concept involved in shaping the magnitude and phase-frequency response of OTAs is to realize a low-frequency zero such that the effects of double poles prior to unity gain are not felt. It is sometimes possible to meet the objectives of gain and phase margin by providing compensation in more than one stage. the flexibility of the scheme devised is demonstrated by suggesting alternative ways (two-capacitor compensation) to realize desired root locations. the key point in achieving proper compensation always remains the appropriate choice of capacitor size. Thus the size of the compensation capacitor and placement of the compensation network have been presented here from the context of suitability for implementation in MOS foundries. the compensation schemes discussed are suitable in the second or additional gain stages.