Maximization of total surface area of Pt-SnO<Subscript>2</Subscript>/Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> catalyst by the Taguchi method

The maximization of the total surface area of Pt-SnO₂/Al₂O₃ catalyst was studied by using the Taguchi method of experimental design. The catalysts were prepared by sol-gel method. The effects of HNO₃, H₂O and aluminum nitrate concentrations and the stirring rate on the total surface area were studied at three levels of each. L₉ orthogonal array leading nine experiments was used in the experimental design. The parameter levels that give maximum total surface area were determined and experimentally verified. In the range of conditions studied it was found that, medium levels of HNO₃ and H₂O concentration and lower levels of aluminum nitrate concentration and stirring rate maximize the total surface area.     

Films formed from polystyrene latex/clay composites: A fluorescence study

This study reports a steady-state fluorescence (SSF) technique for studying film formation from surfactant-free polystyrene (PS) latex and Na-montmorillonite (SNaM) composites. The composite films were prepared from pyrene (P)-labeled PS particles and SNaM clay at room temperature and annealed at elevated temperatures in 10-min intervals above glass transition temperature (t₃) of polystyrene. During the annealing processes, the transparency of the film improved considerably. Scattered light (I_s) and fluorescence intensity (I_p) from P were measured after each annealing step to monitor the stages of film formation. Evolution of transparency of composite films was monitored by using photon transmission intensity, I_tr. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to detect the variation in physical structure of annealed composite films. Minimum film formation temperature, T_q, and healing temperatures, T_h, were determined. Void closure and interdiffusion stages were modeled and related activation energies were determined. It was observed that both activation energies increased as the percent of SNaM was increased in composite films.     

Studying high impact fix-inducing changes

As software systems continue to play an important role in our daily lives, their quality is of paramount importance. Therefore, a plethora of prior research has focused on predicting components of software that are defect-prone. One aspect of this research focuses on predicting software changes that are fix-inducing. Although the prior research on fix-inducing changes has many advantages in terms of highly accurate results, it has one main drawback: It gives the same level of impact to all fix-inducing changes. We argue that treating all fix-inducing changes the same is not ideal, since a small typo in a change is easier to address by a developer than a thread synchronization issue. Therefore, in this paper, we study high impact fix-inducing changes (HIFCs). Since the impact of a change can be measured in different ways, we first propose a measure of impact of the fix-inducing changes, which takes into account the implementation work that needs to be done by developers in later (fixing) changes. Our measure of impact for a fix-inducing change uses the amount of churn, the number of files and the number of subsystems modified by developers during an associated fix of the fix-inducing change. We perform our study using six large open source projects to build specialized models that identify HIFCs, determine the best indicators of HIFCs and examine the benefits of prioritizing HIFCs. Using change factors, we are able to predict 56 % to 77 % of HIFCs with an average false alarm (misclassification) rate of 16 %. We find that the lines of code added, the number of developers who worked on a change, and the number of prior modifications on the files modified during a change are the best indicators of HIFCs. Lastly, we observe that a specialized model for HIFCs can provide inspection effort savings of 4 % over the state-of-the-art models. We believe our results would help practitioners prioritize their efforts towards the most impactful fix-inducing changes and save inspection effort.     

Dual Polymer Conditioning of Water Treatment Residuals

Conditioning of either wastewater biosolids or water treatment residuals conventionally utilizes a single polymer to improve subsequent dewatering. The sequential addition of two polymers has been reported to enhance biosolids dewaterability, but comparable benefits have not been demonstrated for water treatment residuals. This paper evaluated the use of cationic and nonionic polymers, singly and in combination (dual), to investigate whether dual polymer conditioning of residuals offers any advantages, and to determine whether the results could be accommodated by current mechanistic understandings. For this purpose, lab-scale tests used capillary suction time (CST), supernatant viscosity, zeta potential, streaming current, turbidity, floc size, and rheometric analyses. Comparisons of CST and viscosity results for single and dual polymer additions indicated that dual polymer use gave moderately improved dewaterability, possibly due to the increased mixing utilized for dual polymer addition. Using a cationic polymer produced a less turbid supernatant. Zeta potential and streaming current were not good indicators of conditioning efficacy when a nonionic polymer was used. Rheometric analyses were only meaningful in one selected method for treatment of the data: the area under the rheogram up to a shear rate of 30?inverse?s. Overall, implementation of dual polymer use does not appear warranted.     

Using of Photoluminescent Tile for Evacuation of the Buildings During Electrical Failure

Photoluminescent pigments could be successfully applied on the wall tiles, floor tiles and porcelain tiles as well as glass substrates （glass mosaics, borders, and cutted glass with various designs）. For this applications, these products can be used for different purposes. In this study, these pigments are applied on the ceramic tiles and glass mosaics/tiles with traditional ceramic production line. These products are intentended to provide guidance in the event of a power failure. With this study also aimed to prevent potential accidents and injury during evacuation of building.     

Microbial profile and bacterial characterisation of naturally debittered Hurma olives compared to non‐debittered Erkence variety during ripening period

Naturally debittered Hurma olive is grown in a specific area in Karaburun peninsula in Turkey. It is characterised by its sweet taste and it differs from other varieties by losing its bitterness caused by phenolic compounds during its maturation period on the tree. Therefore, Hurma olive does not require any further debittering process to be served as table olive. This study was particularly interested in the comparison of the microbial profile of Hurma olive during its 8 weeks of maturation period in two subsequent harvest years and Erkence (not naturally debittered) olive. In addition, main bacterial profile of both Hurma and Erkence olives were isolated and identified. Aerobic mesophilic microorganism (AMM), lactic acid bacteria (LAB), Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, Staphylococci, Micrococcaceae, yeasts and moulds (Y&Ms) were detected (counted and isolated) in the olive drupes during the maturation period. Isolated bacteria were identified as different spp. of Bacillaceae, Enterobacteriaceae, Micrococcoceae and Pseudomonadaceae.     

The Role of Oncostatin M and Its Receptor Complexes in Cardiomyocyte Protection,Regeneration, and Failure

Oncostatin M (OSM), a member of the interleukin-6 family, functions as a major mediator of cardiomyocyte remodeling under pathological conditions. Its involvement in a variety of human cardiac diseases such as aortic stenosis, myocardial infarction, myocarditis, cardiac sarcoidosis, and various cardiomyopathies make the OSM receptor (OSMR) signaling cascades a promising therapeutic target. However, the development of pharmacological treatment strategies is highly challenging for many reasons. In mouse models of heart disease, OSM elicits opposing effects via activation of the type II receptor complex (OSMR/gp130). Short-term activation of OSMR/gp130 protects the heart after acute injury, whereas chronic activation promotes the development of heart failure. Furthermore, OSM has the ability to integrate signals from unrelated receptors that enhance fetal remodeling (dedifferentiation) of adult cardiomyocytes. Because OSM strongly stimulates the production and secretion of extracellular proteins, it is likely to exert systemic effects, which in turn, could influence cardiac remodeling. Compared with the mouse, the complexity of OSM signaling is even greater in humans because this cytokine also activates the type I leukemia inhibitory factor receptor complex (LIFR/gp130). In this article, we provide an overview of OSM-induced cardiomyocyte remodeling and discuss the consequences of OSMR/gp130 and LIFR/gp130 activation under acute and chronic conditions.     

Poly(ε‐caprolactone) composites containing gentamicin‐loaded β‐tricalcium phosphate/gelatin microspheres as bone tissue supports

In this work, novel antibacterial composites were prepared by using poly(ε‐caprolactone) (PCL) as the main matrix material, and gentamicin‐loaded microspheres composed of β‐tricalcium phosphate (β‐TCP) and gelatin. The purpose is to use this biodegradable material as a support for bone tissue. This composite system is expected to enhance bone regeneration by the presence of β‐TCP and prevent a possible infection that might occur around the defected bone region by the release of gentamicin. The effects of the ratio of the β‐TCP/gelatin microspheres on the morphological, mechanical, and degradation properties of composite films as well as in vitro antibiotic release and antibacterial activities against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus were investigated. The results showed that the composites of PCL and β‐TCP/gelatin microspheres had antibacterial activities for both bacteria. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013