Lithium chloride extraction by n-butanol

Lithium chloride extraction with n-butanol has been studied using synthetic solutions containing different quantities of lithium chloride, sodium chloride, potassium chloride and calcium chloride. Based on distribution coefficients, separation factors and McCabe-Thiele representation of the results, a process has been proposed for separation and recovery of lithium chloride. This process has been successfully applied for production of lithium chloride from leach solutions at the laboratory scale. The purity of this lithium chloride product was as high as 99.6%.     

Hardening mechanisms in Al-Sc alloys

The hardening mechanism in Al-Sc alloys with scandium content of 0.11 and 0.19 at% is studied. Applying theoretical results due to the yield stress and work hardening of two phase alloys as a function of volume fraction and precipitate particle size, it is shown that after ageing at above 300° C the Orowan mechanism operates in these alloys. Using the experimental results, the volume fraction and average radius of the precipitate particles are determined.     

Superplasticity of AlMgSi alloys

Commercial AlMgSi alloy sheets produced by thermomechanical treatment are found to be superplastic between 500 and 570°C at strain rates of 10^–5–10^{–3 –1} The strain rate sensitivity,m, is about 0.4. It was found that the highly alloyed sample contains pre-existing cavities in higher volume fraction than the alloy of lower concentration. An exponential growth of cavity volume fraction was found during superplastic deformation which is characteristic of plasticity controlled cavitation. The growth rate of the cavity volume fraction can be decreased by applying back pressure.     

Acidolysis of coal fly ash by Aspergillus niger

The kinetics of aluminium extraction were investigated, using as-received and calcined fly ash samples and a pure culture of Aspergillus niger. This fungus metabolized sucrose to citric and oxalic acids, which were involved in the acidolysis of fly ash. Aluminium extraction from as-received fly ash was only 5–8%, whereas from calcined fly ash it was up to 93.5%. The order of reaction and the overall reaction rate constant were determined by the van't Hoff technique with respect to the concentration of calcined fly ash. A linearized form of a modified Monod expression was applied to the experimental data to assess the kinetic constants for the acidolysis process. Statistically designed experiments were carried out with calcined fly ash and synthetic solutions containing citric and oxalic acids to determine the optimum leaching conditions. The acidolysis reaction mechanism is discussed.     

Ferrous iron oxidation and uranium extraction by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans

The microbiological oxidation of ferrous iron in batch and continuous systems has been investigated in relation to uranium extraction from a low-grade ore by Thiobacillus ferrooxidans. The influence of the parameters, agitation, and aeration on oxygen saturation concentration, rate of oxygen mass transfer, and rate of ferrous iron oxidation was demonstrated. The kinetic values, Vmax and K were determined using an adapted Monod equation for different dilution rates and initial concentrations of ferrous iron. The power requirements for initial leaching conditions were also calculated. Uranium extraction as high as 68% has been realized during nine days of treatment. Regrinding the leach residue and its subsequent leaching yielded 87% uranium solubilization.     

Hypertrophy of Rat Skeletal Muscle Is Associated with Increased SIRT1/Akt/mTOR/S6 and Suppressed Sestrin2/SIRT3/FOXO1 Levels

Despite the intensive investigation of the molecular mechanism of skeletal muscle hypertrophy, the underlying signaling processes are not completely understood. Therefore, we used an overload model, in which the main synergist muscles (gastrocnemius, soleus) of the plantaris muscle were surgically removed, to cause a significant overload in the remaining plantaris muscle of 8-month-old Wistar male rats. SIRT1-associated pro-anabolic, pro-catabolic molecular signaling pathways, NAD and H₂S levels of this overload-induced hypertrophy were studied. Fourteen days of overload resulted in a significant 43% (p < 0.01) increase in the mass of plantaris muscle compared to sham operated animals. Cystathionine-β-synthase (CBS) activities and bioavailable H₂S levels were not modified by overload. On the other hand, overload-induced hypertrophy of skeletal muscle was associated with increased SIRT1 (p < 0.01), Akt (p < 0.01), mTOR, S6 (p < 0.01) and suppressed sestrin 2 levels (p < 0.01), which are mostly responsible for anabolic signaling. Decreased FOXO1 and SIRT3 signaling (p < 0.01) suggest downregulation of protein breakdown and mitophagy. Decreased levels of NAD⁺, sestrin2, OGG1 (p < 0.01) indicate that the redox milieu of skeletal muscle after 14 days of overloading is reduced. The present investigation revealed novel cellular interactions that regulate anabolic and catabolic processes in the hypertrophy of skeletal muscle.     

Growth characteristics of copper of tungsten grown through cementation,vapor deposition and electroplating

The growth characteristics of thin copper deposits grown through cementation, electrodeposition and vapor deposition were evaluated through imaging the coated samples in the field ion microscope at 78 K utilizing a 90% He-10% Ne gas mixture. Although the thicknesses of overgrowths were found to be varied with the method and time of deposition, copper in thin overgrowths (less than approximately 50 atom layers) was observed to grow epitaxially on the tungsten substrate surface. In thicker layer growths the epitaxial growth was found to change to a misfit zone with excessive defect structures followed by a polycrystalline copper arrangement. A prominent feature of these thick overgrowths was observed to be their instability under field-induced stresses of the field ion microscope imaging, thus rendering a layer-by-layer evaluation through the three-zone arrangement quite difficult.The initial tungsten surface was recovered upon controlled field evaporation only in the vapor deposition experiments while in the electroplating and cementation experiments the tungsten surface recovered was quite different from the original substrate imaged, thus indicating that an initial dissolution followed by deposition of copper had taken place in the electroplating and cementation processes. In spite of this initial surface reaction, the copper overgrowths were found to be deposited epitaxially. The observed epitaxy of the face-centered cubic copper on body-centered cubic tungsten substrate end forms at thin coverages was consistent with earlier studies of vapor deposition utilizing the copper overgrowth- tungsten substrate system.     

Physicochemical, crystallinity, pasting and morphological properties of bean starch oxidised by different concentrations of sodium hypochlorite

The effect of bean starch oxidation at different active chlorine concentrations (0.5%, 1.0% and 1.5%) on the physicochemical, crystallinity, pasting and morphological properties of starch was investigated. The carbonyl content, carboxyl content, starch colour, swelling power, solubility, gel hardness, X-ray crystallinity, pasting properties, gelatinisation characteristics and morphology of the starches were evaluated. The bean starch oxidised with 0.5% active chlorine had the characteristic of a slightly crosslinked starch. As compared to the native and 0.5% active chlorine-oxidised starches, active chlorine at 1.0% and 1.5% increased the carbonyl content, carboxyl content and solubility of the starches. Moreover, these concentrations of active chlorine decreased the swelling power, gel hardness, relative crystallinity, breakdown, peak viscosity and setback, as compared to the native and 0.5% active chlorine-oxidised starches. The starch granules oxidised with 1.5% active chlorine had imperfections in their structure, and its surface appears to be rougher than the other granules.