Influence of T5 heat treatment on the microstructure and lubricated wear behavior of ternary ZnAl40Cu2 and quaternary ZnAl40Cu2Si2.5 alloys

A ternary ZnAl40Cu2 and a quaternary ZnAl40Cu2Si2.5 alloys were produced by permanent mold casting and subjected to T5 heat treatment at a temperature of 150 °C for 24 hours. The structural, mechanical and lubricated wear properties of these alloys were investigated in the as-cast and heat-treated conditions and the results were compared with those of SAE 65 (CuSn12) plain bearing bronze. Microstructure of the ternary alloy consisted of aluminum-rich α, eutectoid conversion product of α+η and ϵ phase located in the interdendritic channels. In addition to these phases, silicon particles were observed in the microstructure of the quaternary alloy. T5 heat treatment caused a considerable amount of reduction in the hardness, tensile strength and wear resistance of ZnAl40-based ternary and quaternary alloys, but improved their ductility and stability. These alloys in the as-cast and heat-treated conditions exhibited lower wear volume or higher wear resistance than SAE 65 bearing bronze. Among the experimental alloys, the optimum mechanical properties and wear performance were obtained from ZnAl40Cu2Si2.5 alloy in both as-cast and heat-treated conditions. Adhesion appeared to be the main wear mechanism for the ZnAl40-based alloys, but abrasion dominated the wear of SAE 65 bronze.     

Porous polyurethane film fabricated via the breath figure approach for sustained drug release

The breath figure (BF) method is an effective process for fabricating porous polymeric films. In this study, we fabricated porous polymer films from thermoplastic polyurethane (PU) through static BF with CHCl₃ as a solvent under 55–80% relative humidity. The porous PU films were prepared within various pore structures and sizes, which were adjustable, depending on the fabrication conditions. The humidity and exposure time were examined as variable parameters affecting the surface morphology, wettability, and cytotoxicity. Atorvastatin calcium, a hyperlipidemic agent, was loaded into the porous films during the casting process, and the drug-loading and drug-releasing behaviors of the porous PU membranes were evaluated. Approximately 60–80% of the drug was released in 14 days. The films exhibited sustained drug-release performances because of the hydrophobicity and nonbiodegradable nature of PU for perivascular drug administration. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47658.     

Malware clustering using suffix trees

Clustering is an important problem in malware research, as the number of malicious samples that appear every day makes manual analysis impractical. Although these samples belong to a limited number of malware families, it is difficult to categorize them automatically as obfuscation is involved. By extracting relevant features we can apply clustering algorithms, then only analyze a couple of representatives from each cluster. However, classic clustering algorithms that compute the similarity between each pair of samples are slow when a large collection is involved. In this paper, the features will be strings of operation codes extracted from the binary code of each sample. With a modified suffix tree data structure we can find long enough substrings that correspond to portions of a program’s code. These substrings must be filtered against a database of known substrings so that common library code will be ignored. The items that have common substrings above a certain threshold will be grouped into the same cluster. Our algorithm was tested with data extracted from real-world malware and constructed quality clusters.     

A microfluidic toolbox for cell fusion

Cellular fusion is a key process in many fields ranging from historical gene mapping studies and monoclonal antibody production, through to cell reprogramming. Traditional methodologies for cell fusion rely on the random pairing of different cell types and generally result in low and variable fusion efficiencies. These approaches become particularly limiting where substantial numbers of bespoke one‐to‐one fusions are required, for example, for in‐depth studies of nuclear reprogramming mechanisms. In recent years, microfluidic technologies have proven valuable in creating platforms where the manipulation of single cells is highly efficient, rapid and controllable. These technologies also allow the integration of different experimental steps and characterisation processes into a single platform. Although the application of microfluidic methodologies to cell fusion studies is promising, current technologies that rely on static trapping are limited both in terms of the overall number of fused cells produced and their experimental accessibility. Here we review some of the most exciting breakthroughs in core microfluidic technologies that will allow the creation of integrated platforms for controlled cell fusion at high throughput. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effect of packaging materials and storage temperature on the quality of sour cherry nectar

The purpose of this research was to determine the effects of the packaging materials and size on the stability of monomeric anthocyanins, polyphenols, antioxidant activity, ascorbic acid, colour index and hydroxyl methyl furfural (HMF) during the 12‐month shelf life of sour cherry nectars at 4 °C and 20 °C. Sour cherry nectars were aseptically filled out into packaging of different sizes and materials. The packaging included cartons of two different sizes (200 and 1000 mL) and aluminium cans (330 mL). Results showed that the nectars were of better quality when stored at lower temperatures. HMF generally increased significantly for all nectars during storage. Conversely, the total polyphenol content and the antioxidant activity of the nectars stored in aluminium cans and the larger‐sized carton packaging decreased during storage. Lower anthocyanin loss and colour change were found in the nectars stored in aluminium cans. However, the better packaging material was found to be the large‐sized carton package when HMF was analysed.