Survival of rotavirus SA-11 on vegetables

Survival of rotavirus on lettuce, radishes, and carrots was studied to evaluate the potential of rotavirus transmission by vegetables irrigated with wastewater. The vegetables were contaminated with rotavirus SA-11 and stored at 4°C and room temperature in covered and uncovered containers to simulate post harvest conditions. Virus decay rates were greater on radishes and carrots than lettuce. Decay rates of rotavirus on lettuce, radish, and carrot ranged from ?0·057 to ?0·479 (log₁₀ pfu/day). Rotavirus SA-11 survived on lettuce, radish, and carrot for 25 to 30 days at 4°C but at room temperature survival was very different for the various vegetables varying from 5 to 25 days. Greatest survival was always observed on the lettuce. These data suggest that rotaviruses can survive long enough on contaminated vegetables as to be transmitted by this vehicle.     

Predicting Youth Access to Tobacco: The Role of Youth Versus Store-Clerk Behavior and Issues of Ecological Validity.

Twenty-one 15- to 17-year-olds attempted to purchase cigarettes in 232 stores in the manner that confederates typically do in access studies, as well as in the manipulative ways (e.g., lying about their ages) that youth smokers do, thereby modeling youth access to tobacco within versus outside of studies, respectively. Youth typical-research versus manipulative behavior was contrasted with clerk behavior (requests for youth ID cards) to examine the relative contributions of both to youth access to tobacco for the 1st time. Results revealed that clerk behavior was the strongest predictor of cigarette sales to youth and hence underscore the need for interventions with merchants. Sales nonetheless were higher under youth-manipulative conditions and thereby highlight the low ecological validity of access research. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Thermal and thermoelastic properties of fast extrusion furnace (FEF) carbon black loaded SBR vulcanizates

The effect of FEF carbon black as filler on the thermal capacity c, diffusivity a, and thermal conductivity λ, of styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) composites in the temperature range 300–420 K was studied. The filler strongly increases the thermal diffusivity, whilst strongly decreasing the thermal capacity and the thermal conductivity (except at high FEF content ≥80 phr). The influence of the filler on the thermoelastic behaviour of the same composites was also investigated. It was found that the thermoelastic temperature change (ΔT) increased with carbon black concentration as well as the entropy change per unit extension.     

Radiation polymerization of acrylonitrile in a viscous system with styrene

Radiation polymerization of acrylonitrile in a viscous system with styrene was performed at ambient temperature by using γ‐rays. It is found that the overall rate of polymerization was accelerated after critical conversion due to the gel effect. As the molar fraction of styrene in monomer feed (f_St) is increased, both the total polymer conversion and molar fraction of acrylonitrile in the copolymer feed (F_AN) were decreased. The monomer reactivity ratios for acrylonitrile and styerne were determined to be r₁ (AN) = 0.25 and r₂ (St) = 2.0, respectively. The copolymers obtained were characterized by Fourier transformed infrared spectra (FTIR), X‐ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), ¹H‐NMR, and pyrolysis mass spectrometry (PMS). It was found that the slight addition of styrene to acrylonitrile strongly changes crystallinity, morphology, and thermal decomposition of the resulting polymer. ¹H‐NMR measurment of AN/St copolymer showed the appearance of aromatic proton signals and shifted the resonance of the methylene proton to lower chemical shifts. The mass spectra of AN/St copolymers showed fragments of pyrolysates corresponding to oligonitriles with styrene end groups. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 268–275, 2002; DOI 10.1002/app.10324     

Effect of Zn and Pb as alloying elements on the electrochemical behavior of brass in NaCl solutions

The electrochemical behavior of brasses with various Zn content (5.5–38 mass%) and brass (Cu–38Zn) with different Pb contents (1–3.4 mass%) in 0.6 M NaCl was investigated. The effects of temperature, immersion time, and concentration of chloride ions on the behavior of the different alloys were studied. The pitting corrosion behavior of Cu–Zn alloys and leaded–brass alloys in 0.6 M NaCl solution was also investigated. Open-circuit potential measurements (OCP), polarization techniques and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) were used. The results show that the increase in the Zn content increases the corrosion rate of the brass alloys in chloride solutions, while the increase of Pb content in Cu–38Zn–Pb decreases the corrosion rate of the alloy. Long immersion time of the alloys in the aqueous electrolyte improves their stability due to the formation of passive film on the alloy surface. The breakdown potential is shifted to more negative direction with increasing the Zn content, whereas it shifts towards positive values with increasing Pb content. Equivalent circuit model for the electrode/electrolyte interface under different conditions was proposed to illustrate the electrochemical processes taking place at the interface. The electrochemical behavior of the different alloys was discussed in view of the fitting results.     

Corrosion control of Cu-Ni alloys in neutral chloride solutions by amino acids

The corrosion inhibition of Cu-Ni alloys was investigated in aqueous chloride solutions using amino acids as environmentally safe materials. The corrosion rate was calculated in absence and presence of the corrosion inhibitor using polarization and impedance techniques. The inhibition efficiency of the different amino acids was also calculated.The experimental results have shown that a simple amino acid like glycine can be used as efficient corrosion inhibitor for the Cu-Ni alloys in neutral chloride solutions. An inhibition efficiency of about 85% could be achieved at very low concentrations of the amino acid (0.1 mM). For low Ni content alloy (Cu-5Ni), 2.0 mM cysteine shows a remarkable high (∼96%) corrosion inhibition efficiency. The experimental impedance data were fitted to theoretical data according to a proposed equivalent circuit model for the electrode/electrolyte interface, and the mechanism of the corrosion inhibition process was suggested. Different adsorption isotherms were tested and the corrosion inhibition process was found to depend on the adsorption of the amino acid molecules and/or the deposition of corrosion products on the alloy surface. The adsorption free energy of cysteine on Cu-5Ni (−37.81 kJ mol⁻¹) reveals a strong physical adsorption of the inhibitor on the alloy surface.     

A study of the methylolation of phenol using gel permeation chromatography

Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) was used to investigate the course of the sodium hydroxide catalysed methylolation of phenol in dilute aqueous solution. At low concentrations, the initial rate of methylolation was directly proportional to the concentrations of sodium hydroxide and of formaldehyde. By computer integration of the rate equations for the methylolation of phenol, of 2-methylol phenol and of 4-methylol phenol, the experimental rate curves were simulated and optimal values for the rate constants of all the methylolation steps were obtained.