Heat resistance of Escherichia coli O157:H7 in cook‐in‐bag ground beef as affected by pH and acidulant†

Summary The heat resistance of a four‐strain mixture of Escherichia coli O157:H7 was tested. The temperature range was 55–62.5 °C and the substrate was beef at pH 4.5 or 5.5, adjusted with either acetic or lactic acid. Inoculated meat, packaged in bags, was completely immersed in a circulating water bath and cooked to an internal temperature of 55, 58, 60, or 62.5 °C in 1 h, and then held for pre‐determined lengths of time. The surviving cell population was enumerated by spiral plating meat samples on tryptic soy agar overlaid with Sorbitol MacConkey agar. Regardless of the acidulant used to modify the pH, the D ‐values at all temperatures were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in ground beef at pH 4.5 as compared with the beef at pH 5.5. At the same pH levels, acetic acid rendered E. coli O157:H7 more sensitive to the lethal effect of heat. The analysis of covariance showed evidence of a significant acidulant and pH interaction on the slopes of the survivor curves at 55 °C. Based on the thermal‐death–time values, contaminated ground beef (pH 5.5/lactic acid) should be heated to an internal temperature of 55 °C for at least 116.3 min and beef (pH 4.5/acetic acid) for 64.8 min to achieve a 4‐log reduction of the pathogen. The heating time at 62.5 °C, to achieve the same level of reduction, was 4.4 and 2.6 min, respectively. Thermal‐death–time values from this study will assist the retail food processors in designing acceptance limits on critical control points that ensure safety of beef originally contaminated with E. coli O157:H7.     

Corrosion Control by water‐soluble extracts from leaves of economic plants

Water extracts from leaves of date palm, phoenix dactylifera, henna, Lawsonia inermis, and corn, Zea mays, were tested as corrosion inhibitors for steel, aluminum, copper and brass in acid chloride and sodium hydroxide solutions using weight loss, solution analysis and potential measurements. The inhibition action was found to critically depend on metal type and solution composition. Only, date palm and henna extracts were found highly effective in reducing corrosion rate of steel in acid chloride solutions and aluminum in sodium hydroxide solutions. The inhibition efficiency increased with increasing the concentration of the extract. The inhibition was interpreted in terms of chemisorption of some active ingredients in the leaves according to Temkin isotherm.     

New approach to environmentally benign epoxidation: the solid-phase-system using urea–H2O2 and recyclable dodecatungstate on apatite

On the basis of new concept using a solid disperse phase we have developed an efficient catalytic solid-phase-system for epoxidations of alkenes using urea–hydrogen peroxide (urea–H₂O₂) complex and cetylpyridinium dodecatungstate ((CetylPy)₁₀[H₂W₁₂O₄₂]) catalyst on fluorapatite (FAp). The recovered solid catalyst phase was reused to keep the catalytic activity after several times. In the conceptual idea it is a key point that in situ solid-phase-activation of the catalyst with urea–H₂O₂ proceeds to form microcrystals of the active species dispersed on the solid phase. The dispersion of the catalyst on FAp in the case of tungstic acid (H₂WO₄) was suggested by EPMA analysis. We proposed the peroxo type of species keeping the parent polyoxometalate framework as novel active species from FT-IR spectroscopic studies. FAp phase plays important roles of dispersing the active species on its surface to have high catalytic activity and of stabilizing the active species to lead to high reusability.     

A new alloy design concept for austenitic stainless steel with tungsten modification for bipolar plate application in PEMFC

The feasibility of a new alloy design concept utilizing the principle of ‘tungsten bronze effect’ is critically evaluated for the development of metallic bipolar plates for proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). An austenitic stainless steel (ASS) is modified with W and La to improve the stability of the passive film in an acidic environment as well as to reduce the contact resistance by the tungsten bronze effect. The experimental ASS containing W and La was evaluated in a simulated PEMFC environment of H₃PO₄ and H₂SO₄ solutions at 80 °C, and the electrical property was evaluated by performing a contact resistance test. The test results show that the ASS modified with W and La has good passive film stability for corrosion resistance and low contact resistance. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis clearly suggests the possibility of the tungsten bronze effect from the change in valency state of W⁶⁺ to W⁵⁺ in the passive film formed on the modified ASS. The feasibility of a new alloy design concept utilizing the ‘tungsten bronze effect’ is well demonstrated; however, more study is highly required for the development of metallic bipolar plates of PEMFC.     

Evaluation of different coating systems by electrochemical methods

Corrosion protection of organic coated steel is determined by free corrosion potential measurements and impedance spectroscopy. The results are classified by means of very basic considerations and evaluation figures are developed. These electrochemical data are correlated with the extent of the corrosion for each coating system. The evaluation figures are used for ranking coating systems and this ranking is correlated with the ranking with reference to the results of standardized and exposure tests.     

Enabling factors toward production of nanostructured steel on an industrial scale

Utilizing the existing properties of steel, a modern technological society has been constructed. While there are over 25,000 worldwide equivalent steels based on manipulating the eutectoid transformation, there exist only a handful of commercial nanostructured steel alloys based on manipulating the more complex glass devitrification transformation. Thus, research on nanostructured steels is in its infancy, and many further developments are expected with the demonstrated promise of developing new combinations of superior properties. In this article, seven enabling metallurgical factors are presented that ultimately allow a variety of nanostructured steel products to be produced in an ever-increasing array of industrial processing techniques. Additionally, a case example of the formation of nanostructured steel are given showing how these factors can be harnessed on an industrial scale.     

关贸总协定与钢铁产品出口贸易的若干问题

探讨了我国恢复关贸总协定缔约国地位后，钢铁产品进出口贸易中的一些问题，分析了几家钢铁公司的进出口情况，指出马钢公司产品出口应注意的问题。     

Effect of fretting amplitudes on fretting wear behavior of steel wires in coal mines

Given that fretting wear causes failure in steel wires, we carried out tangential fretting wear tests of steel wires on a self-made fretting wear test rig under contact loads of 9 and 29 N and fretting amplitudes ranging from 5 to 180 μm. We observed morphologies of fretted steel wire surfaces on an S-3000N scanning electron microscope in order to analyze fretting wear mecha-nisms. The results show that the fretting regime of steel wires transforms from partial slip regime into mixed fretting regime and gross slip regime with an increase in fretting amplitudes under a given contact load. In partial slip regime, the friction coefficient has a relatively low value. Four stages can be defined in mixed fretting and gross slip regimes. The fretting wear of steel wires in-creases obviously with increases in fretting amplitudes. Fretting scars present a typical morphology of annularity, showing slight damage in partial slip regime. However, wear clearly increases in mixed fretting regime where wear mechanism is a combination of plastic deformation, abrasive wear and oxidative wear. In gross slip regime, more severe degradation is present than in the other regimes. The main fretting wear mechanisms of steel wires are abrasive wear, surface fatigue and friction oxidation.     

筏板基础在自贡地区高层建筑设计中的应用研究

文章结合工程设计经验对自贡地区的高层建筑在选用天然筏板基础的设计过程中,对高层建筑基础设计中涉及到的重要的地基沉降计算、结构设计和地下水等有关问题的处理进行了具体分析,对在一般高层建筑中采用天然筏板基础的实用性和可行性从设计和施工两个方面进行了相关的工程探讨。