Work Hardening,Dislocation Structure,and Load Partitioning in Lath Martensite Determined by <Emphasis Type="Italic">In Situ</Emphasis> Neutron Diffraction Line Profile Analysis

A lath martensite steel containing 0.22 mass pct carbon was analyzed in situ during tensile deformation by high-resolution time-of-flight neutron diffraction to clarify the large work-hardening behavior at the beginning of plastic deformation. The diffraction peaks in plastically deformed states exhibit asymmetries as the reflection of redistributions of the stress and dislocation densities/arrangements in two lath packets: soft packet, where the dislocation glides are favorable, and hard packet, where they are unfavorable. The dislocation density was as high as 10¹⁵ m^?2 in the as-heat-treated state. During tensile straining, the load and dislocation density became different between the two lath packets. The dislocation character and arrangement varied in the hard packet but hardly changed in the soft packet. In the hard packet, dislocations that were mainly screw-type in the as-heat-treated state became primarily edge-type and rearranged towards a dipole character related to constructing cell walls. The hard packet played an important role in the work hardening in martensite, which could be understood by considering the increase in dislocation density along with the change in dislocation arrangement.     

Efficacy of acidified sodium chlorite treatments in reducing Escherichia coli O157:H7 on Chinese cabbage

Efficacy of acidified sodium chlorite for reducing the population of Escherichia coli O157:H7 pathogens on Chinese cabbage leaves was evaluated. Washing leaves with distilled water could reduce the population of E. coli O157:H7 by approximately 1.0 log CFU/g, whereas treating with acidified chlorite solution could reduce the population by 3.0 log CFU/g without changing the leaf color. A similar level of reduction was achieved by washing with sodium chlorite solution containing various organic acids. However, acidified sodium chlorite in combination with a mild heat treatment reduced the population by approximately 4.0 log CFU/g without affecting the color, but it softened the leaves. Moreover, the efficacy of the washing treatment was similar at low (4 degrees C) and room (25 degrees C) temperatures, indicating that acidified sodium chloride solution could be useful as a sanitizer for surface washing of fresh produce.     

Improved sensitive determination method for bromate in bread

An effective clean-up procedure was developed to determine trace levels of bromate in bread by high-performance liquid chromatography with post-column flow reactor detection. Bromate was extracted from bread with deionized pure water. After centrifugation, the supernatant was filtered through a paper filter. The filtrate was filtered through a 0.2 micron nylon filter and chloride ion was removed by an IC-SP M Ag cartridge column or On-Guard Ag cartridge column. The eluate was applied to an Oasis MAX anion exchange cartridge column. The column was washed with 20% acetic acid and water. Bromate was then eluted with 0.5% sodium nitrate solution. The eluate was determined by HPLC with post column flow reactor detection. The method had a quantitation limit of 2 ng/g in bread products. Recoveries of bromate from bread ranged from 68 to 72% at a spiked bromate level of 2-10 ng/g.     

Direct observation of defect-mediated cluster nucleation

Ion implantation is widely used to introduce electrically or optically active dopant atoms into semiconductor devices. At high concentrations, the dopants can cluster and ultimately form deactivating precipitates, but deliberate nanocrystal formation offers an approach to self-assembled device fabrication. However, there is very little understanding of the early stages of how these precipitates nucleate and grow, in no small part because it requires imaging an inhomogenous distribution of defects and dopant atoms buried inside the host material. Here we demonstrate this, and address the long-standing question of whether the cluster nucleation is defect-mediated or spontaneous. Atomic-resolution illustrations are given for the chemically dissimilar cases of erbium and germanium implanted into silicon carbide. Whereas interstitial loops act as nucleation sites in both cases, the evolution of nanocrystals is strikingly different: Erbium is found to gather in lines, planes and finally three-dimensional precipitates, whereas germanium favours compact, three-dimensional structures.     

Structure of skin layer in injection-molded polypropylene

The structure of skin layer in injection-molded polypropylen which displayed a clear two-phase structure of skin and core has been studied by means of wide-angle x-ray diffraction, small-angle x-ray scattering, melting behavior, density, dynamic viscoelasticity, and tensile test. In skin layer, the c-axis and a^*-axis were highly oriented to the machine direction (MD), and the plane of the lamellar structure of about 160 Å in thickness was in normal to MD. The density was about 0.907 g/cm³, which was nearly the same as that of core layer. Although the majority of crystallites melted in the same temperature range as in that of the core layer, there was about 5.3% higher temperature melting structure (T_m = 182°C). The dynamic tensile modulus E′ in MD decreased more slowly with increasing temperature than that of the core layer and held high modulus in the range of ca. 30°C, just above the temperature at which E′ of the core layer suddenly dropped. E′ in MD was higher than that in TD in the temperature range below 33°C, which was slightly higher than the primary absorption temperature, and the order reversed above 33°C. The tensile yield stress in MD was 1.5 times higher than that of the core layer. The skin layer in MD ruptured just after yielding and did not show necking. The tensile yield stress in TD was about half of that in MD about 0.7 times that of the core layer. The necking stress in TD was about 0.6 times that of the core layer. In general, a polypropylene melt crystallizes under a high shear stress in injection molding. From these facts, it was concluded that the skin layer is composed of so-called “shishkebab”-like main skeleton structures, whose axis is parallel to MD, piled epitaxially with a^*-axis-oriented imperfect lamellar substructure.     

Mechanical properties of polymers filled with alkyl dihydrogen phosphate treated calcium carbonate

Poly(ethylene) (PE) or poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) (EVA) and alkyl dihydrogen phosphate ester (APEn, C_nH_2n+1OPO(OH)₂, n = 1, 4, 10, 12, 16) treated calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) were mixed on a two roll mill. In order to improve the affinity of polymer-CaCO₃ interface, the CaCO₃ surface was treated through chemical reaction with various APEn types. The effect of carbon number of APEn on the tensile elongation and the adhesion properties between CaCO₃ particles and polymer matrix was investigated. In the case of PE/CaCO₃ series, tensile elongation, modulus of oriented samples and adhesion of polymer-CaCO₃ interface increased with carbon number of APEn (n ≦ 12). In the EVA/CaCO₃ series, the dependence of the tensile elongation on the carbon number of APEn was not clearly recognized; the adhesion at the phase interface was improved with the decrease of carbon number of APEn (n ≦ 12).     

Ammonium hexafluorosilicate increased acid resistance of bovine enamel and dentine

Although diamine silver fluoride (AgF: (NH₃)₂AgF) stains teeth black, it is known as a very effective agent to prevent the dental caries progress. In order to find another fluoride that has a similar anticariogenic effect without changing tooth color, we prepared ammonium hexafluorosilicate (SiF: (NH₄)₂SiF₆), in which the silver of AgF is replaced with silicon. In this study, the anticariogenic effect of SiF was evaluated using bovine teeth. Fluoride solutions, SiF, AgF, acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF), and sodium fluoride (NaF), were applied to bovine enamel and dentine blocks, and the depth of demineralization was measured after exposure to a demineralizing solution for 24 h. Also, fluoride was applied to a simulated dentine caries specimen to evaluate the caries progress-preventing ability. For the dentine specimens, mineral loss ( Z) was also measured with microradiography. We found that SiF treated enamel showed better acid resistance than specimens treated with NaF or APF. AgF treated enamel also showed similar acid resistance, but was stained black. SiF and AgF treated caries-affected dentine showed reduced demineralization when exposed to a demineralization solution for 24 h. Mineral loss ( Z) was reduced to 85% and 75%, respectively. Although the acid resistance of the SiF treated teeth was inferior to that of the AgF treated teeth, we consider that SiF has good potential as anticariogenic agent, since it increased acid resistance without changing tooth color.     

Characterization of lytic enzyme activities of Lactobacillus gasseri with special reference to autolysis

Lactobacillus gasseri JCM 1130 and JCM 1131(T) exhibited autolytic activity in agar containing autoclaved cells of each strain as substrate. By zymogram analysis of JCM 1131(T), two lytic bands with apparent molecular masses of 54.5 and 35 kDa, were detected. Similarly, JCM 1130 yielded two lytic bands with apparent molecular masses of 35 and 33.5 kDa. In simple buffers as well, JCM 1131(T) suffered a drastic decrease in cell turbidity, but JCM 1130 did not undergo the decrease. The optimal pH for autolysis of JCM 1131(T) was in the range of 6.0-7.0, and the lysis was completely inhibited at pH 4-5. The lysis of JCM 1131(T) was suppressed by NaCl, in a concentration-dependent way. When subjected to UV irradiation or mitomycin C (MMC) treatment, cultures of both strains elicited conspicuous turbidity decrease after 2-4 h of growth, suggesting the occurrence of prophage induction. The 35-kDa lytic band of JCM 1131(T) and the 33.5-kDa protein of JCM 1130 were considerably increased by UV irradiation.     

Formation of methyl nitrite and methyl nitrate during plasma treatment of diesel exhaust

FTIR spectroscopy was used to identify CH3ONO and CH3ONO2 as products of the nonthermal plasma treatment of simulated diesel exhaust. This is the first observation of CH3ONO formation in such systems. The yield of CH3ONO relativeto CH3ONO2 scaled linearly with the average [NO]/ [NO2] ratio in the system. A plot of [CH3ONO]/[CH3ONO2] versus [NO]/[NO2] gives a slope of 1.81 +/- 0.30. This result is indistinguishable from the literature value of the rate constant ratio k(CH3O + NO)/k(CH3O + NO2) = (2.6 x 10(-11))/ (1.5 x 10(-11)) = 1.73 +/- 0.37. The experimental observations suggest that reactions of CH3O radicals with NO and NO2 are the sources of CH3ONO and CH3ONO2 in such systems. The linear relationship between the yields of CH3ONO and CH3ONO2 provides a means of estimating the yield of these compounds during nonthermal plasma treatment of diesel exhaust.     

Solid-state variation of troglitazone drug substance by using a different recrystallization method

Rapid and slow crystallization methods (A and B) were applied for troglitazone, an equal mixture of four stereoisomers. Differences in the powder x-ray diffractometry patterns and hygroscopic patterns were observed among the samples crystallized by these methods, suggesting that troglitazone has solid-state variation. In this article, troglitazone recrystallized by method A was evaluated to clarify its structural characteristics and physical property. The crystal structure of predried troglitazone recrystallized by method A was proved to be a dihydrate. By drying, it changed reversibly to an anhydrate, which is the same structure as the RS/SR form, keeping the same enantiomer ratio. The solubility of the troglitazone by method A higher than that by method B at all enantiomer levels. But making the troglitazone amorphous equalized the enantiomeric solubilities of the substances by both methods as well as increased the intrinsic solubilities. Troglitazone by both methods was proved to be stable and retained the ratio of the stereoisomers.