Occurrence and characteristics of Vibrio vulnificus in retail marine shrimp in China

Vibrio vulnificus is a gram-negative bacterium that naturally occurs in estuarine waters and marine environment. Consumption of seafood contaminated with V. vulnificus or exposure to the contaminated water causes septicemia, gastroenteritis or wound infections in humans. This study aimed at identifying the prevalence of V. vulnificus in shrimps in Chinese seafood market. From June to September 2009, 239 samples encompassing six shrimp species were collected from ten cities in China. To quantify the prevalence and the levels of V. vulnificus in shrimps, the most probable number (MPN) method was used combining with the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) which was used to classify the isolates by detecting V. vulnificus hemolysin gene (vvhA). One hundred and forty out of 239 samples were positive for V. vulnificus, with the geometric mean level at 153.3 MPN/g. The prevalence and levels of V. vulnificus in shrimps varied in different geographic areas, with the values for the samples in the South cities (179.6 MPN/g) remarkably higher than that in the North cities (7.6 MPN/g). In addition, we found that 61.7% (79/128) of the V. vulnificus positive samples contained C-type (Clinical) strains and 8 contained E-type (Environmental) strains. The antimicrobial susceptibility of the isolates to 12 antibiotics was tested as well. Most of the 169 isolates remained susceptible to the majority of antimicrobials tested, whereas some strains tend to be less sensitive to amikacin, ampicillin, tetracycline and gentamicin. In conclusion, V. vulnificus is commonly found in retail marine shrimp in Chinese seafood market, and most of the shrimp samples contained C-type strains, which may pose a potential threat to human health.     

Molecular Dynamics Study of the Structural and Mechanical Properties of Skutterudite CoSb<Subscript>3</Subscript>: Surface Effect

Molecular dynamics simulations of the structural and mechanical properties of single-crystalline CoSb₃ have been carried out at room temperature. Special emphasis was given to the surface effect. Four different boundary conditions were applied to represent a wide range of surface-atom fractions. The LAMMPS program in conjunction with a multibody potential was employed. First, free relaxation was performed to obtain the corresponding stable configurations. The atomic rearrangements and energy distributions were observed. Then, uniaxial tensile deformation was simulated at a constant strain rate. The stress–strain responses and structural evolutions were examined during the process. Comparison of simulation results between different boundary conditions was carefully made. It was found that, when the scale of the single-crystalline CoSb₃ model becomes nanometric and the fraction of the surface atoms increases, the mechanical performance becomes substantially worse. Nonetheless, the deformation mechanism and intrinsic mechanical nature are very similar.     

Understanding the Friction Mechanisms Between the Human Finger and Flat Contacting Surfaces in Moist Conditions

Human hands sweat in different circumstances and the presence of sweat can alter the friction between the hand and contacting surface. It is, therefore, important to understand how hand moisture varies between people, during different activities and the effect of this on friction. In this study, a survey of fingertip moisture was done. Friction tests were then carried out to investigate the effect of moisture. Moisture was added to the surface of the finger, the finger was soaked in water, and water was added to the counter-surface; the friction of the contact was then measured. It was found that the friction increased, up until a certain level of moisture and then decreased. The increase in friction has previously been explained by viscous shearing, water absorption and capillary adhesion. The results from the experiments enabled the mechanisms to be investigated analytically. This study found that water absorption is the principle mechanism responsible for the increase in friction, followed by capillary adhesion, although it was not conclusively proved that this contributes significantly. Both these mechanisms increase friction by increasing the area of contact and therefore adhesion. Viscous shearing in the liquid bridges has negligible effect. There are, however, many limitations in the modelling that need further exploration.     

Experimental investigation and thermodynamic calculation of the phase equilibria in the Co-Nb-Ta ternary system

The isothermal sections of the Co-Nb-Ta ternary system at 900 °C, 1000 °C, 1100 °C, 1200 °C, 1300 °C have been experimentally determined by electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques on the equilibrated alloys. On the basis of the experimental data investigated in the present work, the phase equilibria in the Co-Nb-Ta system has been thermodynamically assessed by using CALPHAD (CALculation of PHAse Diagrams) method, and a consistent set of the thermodynamic parameters leading to reasonable agreement between the calculated results and experimental data was obtained.     

NiCuZn ferrite flakes prepared using a sol-gel bubble method and its magnetic properties

Ni_0.23Cu_0.11Zn_0.66Fe₂O₄ ferrite flakes, with thickness of about 8 μm and average diameter of 20-35 μm, were prepared using a sol-gel bubble method. Morphology, phase evolution, static and dynamic magnetic properties of the flakes and their composites were studied. Magnetic measurements showed that easy magnetization direction of the flaky filler composite was parallel to its sample plane. Composites made of silicone resins and flakes had higher complex permeability, which can be attributed to the reduction in demagnetization factor due to their flaky shapes. This sol-gel bubble method should be also applicable to fabricating flakes of other multi-component oxides.     

Effect of C/Ti ratio on self-propagating high-temperature synthesis reaction of Sn-Ti-C system for fabricating Ti2SnC ternary compounds

Ti₂SnC ternary compound was successfully synthesized utilizing laser ignited self-propagating high-temperature synthesis (SHS) of Sn-Ti-C system with the different C/Ti molar ratio. When C/Ti ratio is 0.7, Ti₆Sn₅ as the main phase appears, and a small amount of TiC is also found, most of the Ti₆Sn₅ phases synthesized exhibit the polygon-shaped coarse appearance with an obviously sintered morphology, and the distinct transgranular and intergranular microcracks can be observed. When C/Ti ratio increases over the range from 0.8 to 1.0, the relative content of Ti₂SnC increase and the plate-like shape Ti₂SnC appears. Furthermore, the sintered density increases firstly and then decreases with the increasing of C/Ti ratio.     

Dynamic behavior of a Zr-based metallic glass at cryogenic temperature

The dynamic behavior of a Zr-based bulk metallic glass at cryogenic temperature is investigated by a miniaturized split Hopkinson pressure bar apparatus. As that at room temperature, the failure stress decreases suddenly and then tends to hold steady along with increasing strain rate at cryogenic temperature, but the strain rate regime corresponding to the sudden decrease of the failure stress moves up. The failure stress also increases along with decreasing temperature, whereas there is no obvious change for the plasticity.     

In situ continuously monitoring the early age microstructure evolution of cementitious materials using ultrasonic measurement

The early age microstructure evolution was continuously monitored by using a specially improved ultrasonic monitoring apparatus. The influence of water-to-binder ratios, mineral admixtures, aggregates and temperature were systematically investigated. The experimental results show that concrete can be clearly classified into four stages, while only the three stages can be observed without coarse aggregates. In addition, pre-percolation threshold, percolation threshold and full connectivity of the solid phase were identified. The microstructure formation is promoted with the reduced water-to-binder ratios, increased temperature, silica fume and aggregates addition, while the reverse phenomenon is observed when fly ash and slag are incorporated.