Thermal stability and high-temperature wear of Ti–TiN and TiN–CrN nanomultilayer coatings under self-mated conditions

Ti–TiN and TiN–CrN nanomultilayers were thermally stable retaining uniform and sharp layer interfaces up to 24 h at 773 K, without any oxidation or phase transformation accompanying each individual layer. Decreasing the multilayer spacing resulted in an increase in the hardness in both cases. The coating hardness was found to be independent of the substrate type, when applied on HS718, Ti64 and HCHCr substrates. In scratch testing, the multilayers displayed a better resistance to the onset of failure, as compared to the monolayer TiN. The substrate plasticity played an important role in determining the coating failure mode. Self-mated wear tests revealed the CrN–TiN system to exhibit the best wear behaviour, both at room temperature and at 773 K. The Ti–TiN coatings are more accommodative with all three substrates, as compared to TiN–CrN and TiN.     

Controlling bacterial contamination of an enteral formula through the use of a unique closed system: contamination, enteral formulas, closed system

Contamination of enteral diets may play an essential role in formula tolerance and safety for patients. Contaminated enteral formula commonly support microbiological growth. Commercially sterile liquid formulas received from the manufacturer are required by the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) to be shelf-stable and free from enteric pathogens. This study examined the use of large volume, closed system containers in a typical nursing home. Large volume (1500 mL) containers with unique pierceable caps and piercing spikes were studied to determine their ability to reduce the incidence of microbiological contamination due to their design and ability to decrease handling requirements. This study took place in a room of a typical nursing home. In this clinical setting, 211 containers and administration spike sets were evaluated following a 36-h hangtime. Contamination was virtually nondetectable. Nursing staff in a clinical facility can effectively utilize a large volume, prefilled, ready-to-use feeding system to achieve delivery of noncontaminated product for up to 36 h hangtime.     

Effect of coupling agents on thermal and electrical properties of mica/epoxy composites

The influence of 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane, 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane, and neoalkoxytric(dioctyl pyrophosphato)zirconate on thermal expansion behavior, dielectric strength, and arc resistance of mica/epoxy composites has been investigated. The addition of mica up to 30% resulted in the reduction of thermal expansion with respect to neat resin. However, the coefficient of linear thermal expansion of 30% mica treated with aminosilane was the least among the various coupling agent-coated filler/epoxy composites. Mica (30%)/epoxy composites showed the highest dielectric strength values (26 kV/mm), but the highest arc resistance was obtained in zirconate-treated mica (30%)/epoxy composite. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

State of the academic field of IS in India

The field of information systems (IS) remains ill-defined, facing problems of recognition and identity crisis. Several papers and debates have been dedicated on this topic for over three decades. The focus of these debates have largely centered on the state of the IS field in Americas and Europe and with a limited study conducted in the Asia–Pacific context. This study attempts to assess the field in the Indian context and highlight the challenges and issues faced by IS faculties in India. Based on literature survey of the seminal papers in the field, we identified the salient topics of interest to IS researchers: identity of the IS field; diversity of the field; research approaches, methods and rigor; reference disciplines; journals and conferences; and IS course and curriculum. A two-phase study was carried out to explore the interest generated by the IS field in India. In the first phase, secondary data review of leading business schools in India was carried out to understand their focus on IS as an academic discipline. In the second phase, we conducted interviews of IS researchers from the premium business schools in India. In our study, we analyze the research focus of IS faculties in B-schools in India, analyze the composition of the faculty pool and the nature of research work undertaken by them. Our study points at the restricted focus of IS researchers in India around a few narrow areas, with a significant breadth of topics not being explored for research. We found the identity struggle of the field to be prominent, which was further compounded by the limited number of active, IS researchers. The growing importance of qualitative techniques in IS research, the challenges of developing a sound base in multiple reference disciplines and the need for making IS course interesting for business school students were some of the other significant observations. Our study also highlighted the paradox of the success of the IT industry in India leading to reduced enrollment of IS courses in B-Schools. We conclude by providing recommendations to B-school deans and directors.     

Absorption of di-linoleoylphosphatidylcholine after oral administration

Essentiale and Lipostabil contain "essential" phospholipids from the soybean, mainly 1,2-dilinoleoyl-phosphatidylcholine (CAS 998-06-1, DLPC) which is considered as the main active ingredient. A single oral dose of d15-DLPC loaded with deuterium 9 times in the choline and 6 times in the linoleic acid of the 1-position was given to volunteers. Sera from 11 blood samples taken within 48 h after application were examined by means of mass spectrometry with regard to d9-choline and d6-linoleic acid in the 1- and 2-position of serum phosphatidylcholines (PC) as well as in the serum triglycerides. d9-choline, i.e. the total of d15-PC and d9-PC, showed maximum values of 5.6% of the total serum PC concentration. Normally, about 1.3% of PC in the human serum is DLPC. Serum 1-linoleoyl-PC was increased by 32-40% after oral application of d15-DLPC. A minor uptake of d6-linoleic acid into the 2-position of serum PC, which is rich in linoleic acid, and into the serum triglycerides was observed with peak values of 2.3% and 6.1%, resp. The uptake of polyunsaturated PC species like DLPC and 1-linoleoyl-PC into the liver after oral application of drugs containing such species in high amounts like "essential" phospholipids with about 50% of DLPC let expect therapeutic effects on membranes into which this special species is incorporated.     

Horizontal Voting Ensemble Based Predictive Modeling System for ColonCancer

Colon cancer is the third most commonly diagnosed cancer in the world. Most colon AdenoCArcinoma (ACA) arises from pre-existing benign polyps in the mucosa of the bowel. Thus, detecting benign at the earliest helps reduce the mortality rate. In this work, a Predictive Modeling System (PMS) is developed for the classification of colon cancer using the Horizontal Voting Ensemble (HVE) method. Identifying different patterns in microscopic images is essential to an effective classification system. A twelve-layer deep learning architecture has been developed to extract these patterns. The developed HVE algorithm can increase the system’s performance according to the combined models from the last epochs of the proposed architecture. Ten thousand (10000) microscopic images are taken to test the classification performance of the proposed PMS with the HVE method. The microscopic images obtained from the colon tissues are classified into ACA or benign by the proposed PMS. Results prove that the proposed PMS has ~8% performance improvement over the architecture without using the HVE method. The proposed PMS for colon cancer reduces the misclassification rate and attains 99.2% of sensitivity and 99.4% of specificity. The overall accuracy of the proposed PMS is 99.3%, and without using the HVE method, it is only 91.3%.     

Application of polymerase chain reaction for the correlation of Salmonella serovars recovered from greyhound feces with their diet

The polymerase chain reaction was employed to correlate Salmonella serovars isolated from fecal material of greyhounds suffering from gastroenteritis with those isolated from the diet fed to the greyhounds prior to onset of diarrhea. Kennels around the Abilene, Kansas, area were contacted and supplied with materials needed to collect a portion of the diet each day. With the onset of diarrhea, the kennels were instructed to ship the fecal material and diet from the previous 10 days to the laboratory for testing. Forty-one fecal samples and corresponding diets were screened for Salmonella, Clostridium perfringens, Campylobacter jejuni, Staphylococcus aureus, Staphylococcus intermedius, and pathogenic (piliated) Escherichia coli by direct culture using standard procedures. The fecal material was also screened for coronavirus and parvovirus using electron microscopy. Thirty-five "normal" fecal samples were screened for all of the above mentioned microorganisms as a control. In addition, the fecal material was screened for E. coli verotoxins I and II and clostridial enterotoxins. A total of 61 Salmonella isolates were recovered from the 41 samples of feces and diet submitted for testing; 31 were recovered from the feces and 30 from the diet. Four Salmonella isolates were recovered from the normal fecal samples. Results obtained by PCR, plasmid profiles, antigenic analysis, and antibiogram profiles indicated that 16 of the 31 isolates recovered from the fecal material were the same strain as that recovered from the diet.