Classroom furniture and anthropometric characteristics of Iranian high school students: Proposed dimensions based on anthropometric data

The study evaluated the potential mismatch between classroom furniture dimensions and anthropometric characteristics of 978 Iranian high school students (498 girls, 480 boys), aged 15-18 years. Nine anthropometric measurements (stature, sitting height, sitting shoulder height, popliteal height, hip breadth, elbow-seat height, buttock-popliteal length, buttock-knee length and thigh clearance) and five dimensions from the existing classroom furniture were measured and then compared together (using match criterion equations) to identify any potential mismatch between them. The results indicated a considerable mismatch between body dimensions of the students and the existing classroom furniture, with seat height (60.9%), seat width (54.7%) and desktop height (51.7%) being the furniture dimensions with a higher level of mismatch. The levels of mismatch varied between the high-school grade levels and between genders, indicating their special requirements and possible problems. The proposed dimensions of the classroom furniture more appropriate for the students were given. This additional information on students' anthropometry can be used by local furniture industries as a starting point for designing more appropriate furniture for school children, or used by schools to aid in furniture selection.     

Effect of organic additives on hydrogen permeation into an iron membrane studied by frequency analysis techniques

The effects of thiourea and benzotriazole on the hydrogen permeation into iron were studied using a Devanathan-Stachurski electrochemical double cell equipped with a thin iron membrane. Hydrogen was cathodically generated on the entry side and fully oxidized on the exit side. The spectral analysis of both the electrochemical impedance on the entry side and the permeation transfer function between the ac current signals on the two faces of the membrane were recorded according to a method recently proposed. The modifications of the impedance diagrams and the transfer function diagrams induced by the presence of the organic additives were interpreted at the light of the mechanistic model of the transfer function which was recently derived. It is concluded that both additives inhibit the hydrogen evolution reaction, but thiourea promotes hydrogen penetration by inhibiting the recombination reaction, whereas benzotriazole adsorption inhibits the formation of the H_ads and therefore their penetration into the metal matrix.     

Study of microstructure, phases and microhardness of metallic coatings deposited by flame thermal spray

The recharging technique by thermal spraying offers the opportunity of renovating the worn surface parts of a machine element to give it again a new technical life despite its previous degradation in service. This process has consequently interesting economic impacts. In order to improve the adherence between 100Cr6 steel deposits and the substrate material (left worn crankshafts), company SNC ATRA of Béjaïa uses at present a composite formed by (100Cr6 steel/molybdenum bond coat of 0.2 mm thick/crankshaft substrate). As a matter of fact, it is shown in the present work that the molybdenum bond coat is not appropriate since, for the 0.2 mm thickness, lateral cracks are observed in the middle of the bond coat. On the other hand, our experiment is that a deposit of 100Cr6 steel projected directly on the substrate seems more promising since no gaps or cracks were detected at the “deposit/substrate” interface of this two-material composite. Lastly, phase analysis using X-ray diffraction confirmed that during spraying process, a stable -phase (bcc) of 100Cr6 wire was transformed to a new phase of γ-phase (fcc). The coatings exhibited the higher microhardness which would contribute to increase wear resistance.     

Facile synthesis and characterization of CdTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> nanoparticles by Pechini sol–gel method

In this work, CdTiO₃ nanoparticles were synthesized through reaction between Cd(CH₃COO)₂.2H₂O, Ti(OC₄H₉)₄, trimesic acid as a new chelating agent and ethanol as solvent by Pechini sol–gel method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns showed that CdTiO₃ nanostructures have rhombohedral structure with diameter of about 35.61 nm. The structure, morphology and size of CdTiO₃ nanoparticles were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, SEM and EDAX. The optical properties of the products were studied by DRS. Based on the results of experiments, it was found that temperature and time of calcination, pH and the solvent of reaction are important parameters for formation of CdTiO₃ nanoparticles. Utilizing trimesic acid (benzene-1,3,5-tricarboxylic acid) as a new chelating agent for preparation of CdTiO₃ nanostructures was initiative of this work.     

Sensitivity analysis of HIV infection response to treatment via stochastic modeling

This work focuses on the analysis of HIV infection dynamics during the initial stages of infection when the viral load is low and random fluctuations may have a significant effect on the dynamics of the disease. Deterministic models that describe the expected progress of the infection cannot be employed to predict the probability of infection establishment at the primary stage. Consequently, stochastic simulations are used to determine the probability of successful infection in an average patient. A stochastic model based on Gillespie's algorithm is derived which includes mutant species and employed to determine the sensitivity of HIV infection to different treatment strategies such as single therapy and combination therapy with various efficacy values. The effect of treatment latency on virus clearance probability is also investigated.     

Purification and partial characterization of antithrombin III from bovine skeletal muscle and possible role of thrombin in postmortem apoptosis development and in efficiency of low voltage electrical stimulation

Thrombin/antithrombin III (AT-III) proteolytic system is well known for its function in blood coagulation. Thrombin is expressed in skeletal muscle but nothing is known about the presence of AT-III in the tissue. In postmortem muscle this system has been and is still totally ignored. We therefore successfully attempted to purify AT-III from bovine skeletal muscle and characterized the purified protein (identified as AT-III by N-ter sequencing and mass spectrometry finger print) for its physicochemical and inhibitory properties. As the human blood serpin, muscle AT-III is thermolabile and stable only at alkaline pH (pH 9–10). The muscle serpin inhibits strongly thrombin in a heparin dependent manner and trypsin. Phosphatidylserine (PS) externalization demonstrated in the present work suggested that prothrombin can be activated to thrombin through binding of the activator complex on the external PS groups. PS externalization is concomitant with shrinkage of muscle fibers indicating that muscle cells are engaged in the cell death program known as apoptosis few minutes after death. We then discussed the potential role of this proteolytic system in postmortem apoptosis development as well as in the control of low voltage electrical stimulation efficiency.     

Use of a new natural clay to produce poly(methyl methacrylate)‐based nanocomposites

Nanocomposites of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) filled with 3 wt% of modified natural Algerian clay (AC; montmorillonite type) were prepared by either in situ polymerization of methyl methacrylate initiated by 2,2′‐azobisisobutyronitrile or a melt‐mixing process with preformed PMMA via twin‐screw extrusion. The organo‐modification of the AC montmorillonite was achieved by ion exchange of Na⁺ with octadecyldimethylhydroxyethylammonium bromide. Up to now, this AC montmorillonite has found applications only in the petroleum industry as a rheological additive for drilling muds and in water purification processes; its use as reinforcement in polymer matrices has not been reported yet. The modified clay was characterized using X‐ray diffraction (XRD), which showed an important shift of the interlayer spacing after organo‐modification. The degree of dispersion of the clay in the polymer matrix and the resulting morphology of nanocomposites were evaluated using XRD and transmission electron microscopy. The resulting intercalated PMMA nanocomposites were analysed using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The glass transition temperature of the nanocomposites was not significantly influenced by the presence of the modified clay while the thermal stability was considerably improved compared to unfilled PMMA. This Algerian natural montmorillonite can serve as reinforcing nanofiller for polymer matrices and is of real interest for the fabrication of nanocomposite materials with improved properties. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Analytical versus numerical analysis of back grading in CIGS solar cells

Band gap grading is able to improve the performance of CIGS solar cells. In order to get a better understanding of the parameters influencing the effect of a grading, a closed form analytical expression of the current density is derived. The advantages and drawbacks of this analytical expression with respect to numerical simulation results are assessed. The analytical analysis has limited validity due to restrictions on the absorption characteristic and on the recombination in the space charge layer. Nevertheless it leads to good results, it has the advantage of being faster than numerical simulations and it clarifies the interrelation of the meaningful parameters.