Nucleation and Growth of Anatase Crystallites on Cotton Fabrics at Low Temperatures

Anatase nanocrystalline titania coatings were produced on cotton fabrics from alkoxide solutions using a low-temperature sol–gel process under ambient pressure. Titania coatings of the anatase form were obtained via a classical hydrolysis and condensation reaction of titanium isopropoxide that was followed by a boiling water treatment for 180 min. Spectroscopic and microscopic characterizations of the titania thin films showed that the anatase form is predominant throughout the film after the boiling water treatment and that the size of the grains is about 20 nm. The titania coating on fabrics is a promising process for use as an antibacterial photocatalyst in the textile industry.     

Superhydrophobic Silica Nanocomposite Coating by a Low-Temperature Process

We successfully prepared transparent and durable superhydrophobic silica-coating films on cotton substrates at low temperatures. The coatings were produced via cohydrolysis and polycondensation of a hexadecyltrimethoxysilane (HDTMS), tetraethoxyorthosilcate (TEOS), and 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) mixture. The hydrophobic properties of the nanocomposite coatings were determined using contact-angle and water-gain measurements. The water contact angle for the coated substrates was 141°, whereas, before coating, the contact angle was 0° because of the superhydrophilic nature of cotton. The nanocomposite coating has new applications in daily used materials, especially those with low heat resistance, such as textiles and plastics, and as an environmentally friendly water-repellent substitute for fluorine compounds.     

Enka Hijyen：快速发展的土耳其纸尿裤生产商

Enka Hijyen公司是土耳其一家新进入婴儿纸尿裤行业的生产商,其业务预计将在近期加速增长,目标是在未来几年能够满足本地和区域市场的需求。Enka Hijyen的母公司Imam Kayali控股集团成立于1928年。开始是一家出售汽车零件的小型父子商店,如今已实现指数式增长,扩大为拥有700多名员工的集团公司。ImamKayali控股集团在评估了不断变化的婴儿纸尿裤市场的复杂性和盈利空间后,于2016年第1季度开始涉足纸尿裤行业。     

The effect of surface roughness on the efficiency of the cyclic potentiodynamic passivation (CPP) method in the improvement of general and pitting corrosion resistance of 316LVM stainless steel

The influence of surface roughness on the efficiency of a cyclic potentiodynamic passivation (CPP) method employed to increase the general and pitting corrosion resistance of 316LVM stainless steel was investigated. The results show that a decrease in surface roughness of both the surface on which the passive film was formed naturally and by the CPP method, results in an increase in general corrosion resistance of the material, while for the CPP-modified surface, a notable increase in pitting corrosion resistance was also observed. It was further demonstrated that the CPP method is highly effective in increasing the general and pitting corrosion resistance of 316LVM, and that its efficiency does not depend on the surface roughness.     

Triboelectric and Piezoelectric Effects in a Combined Tribo‐Piezoelectric Nanogenerator Based on an Interfacial ZnO Nanostructure

In this contribution, combined triboelectric and piezoelectric generators (TPEG) with a sandwich structure of aluminum‐polydimethylsiloxane/polyvinylidene fluoride composite‐carbon (Al‐PPCF‐Carbon) are fabricated for the purpose of mechanical energy harvesting. Improved by the surface modification of PPCF with zinc oxide (ZnO) nanorods through a hydrothermal method, the TPEG generates an open‐circuit voltage (V_oc) of ≈40 V, a short‐circuit current (I_sc) of 0.28 μA with maximum power density of ≈70 mWm^?2_, and maximum conversion efficiency of 34.56%. Subsequently, in order to understand the transduction mechanism of the triboelectric and piezoelectric effects, analyses focusing on the potential composition ratio in the final output and the impact of ZnO interfacial nanostructure are carried out. The observed potential ratio between triboelectric and piezoelectric effects is 12.75:1 and the highest potential improvement by ZnO nanorods of 21.8 V is achieved by the TPEG fabricated with spacer. Finally, the relationships between the voltage, power density, conversion efficiency, and the external load resistances are also discussed. Overall, the fabricated TPEG is proved to be a simple and effective nanogenerator in mechanical energy conversion with enhanced output potential and conversion efficiency.     

A Novel EDA Tool for VLSI Test Vectors Management

In today’s semiconductor industry, where time-to-profit is a critical factor to remain competitive, missing the tight market window might have serious implications including the risk of product cancellation. This places severe pressure on every aspect related to the design and the verification of semiconductor chips to get the design ready for manufacturing in the shortest time possible. To avoid the need for costly corrective steps and silicon re-spins during post-silicon verification, thorough pre-silicon verification is essential to catch any design fault and estimate the design overall reliability before the design is manufactured. This paper presents a novel EDA tool that helps the verification team improve the verification process in several ways. It can be used to generate useful statistics regarding the complexity and the coverage of the created test vectors. Experimental results prove that the verification team can successfully use the proposed tool to set their target coverage and intelligently select the set of test vectors that achieves that target using the minimum number of computing cycles.

Study of three‐dimensional natural convection and entropy generation in an inclined solar collector equipped with partitions

Three‐dimensional natural convection in an inclined solar collector equipped with partitions has been investigated numerically. The presence of partitions improves the performances of the collector by increasing the heat transfer near the absorber. A parametric study was done for various partitions length and Rayleigh numbers, while Prandtl number and inclination angle were fixed at 0.71 and 45°, respectively. Results are reported in terms of isosurfaces of temperature, isotherms, particles trajectories, velocity vector projection, average Nusselt number along the absorber plate and entropies generation contours.     

Gut Microbiota Extracellular Vesicles as Signaling Molecules Mediating Host-Microbiota Communications

Over the past decade, gut microbiota dysbiosis has been linked to many health disorders; however, the detailed mechanism of this correlation remains unclear. Gut microbiota can communicate with the host through immunological or metabolic signalling. Recently, microbiota-released extracellular vesicles (MEVs) have emerged as significant mediators in the intercellular signalling mechanism that could be an integral part of microbiota-host communications. MEVs are small membrane-bound vesicles that encase a broad spectrum of biologically active compounds (i.e., proteins, mRNA, miRNA, DNA, carbohydrates, and lipids), thus mediating the horizontal transfer of their cargo across intra- and intercellular space. In this study, we provide a comprehensive and in-depth discussion of the biogenesis of microbial-derived EVs, their classification and routes of production, as well as their role in inter-bacterial and inter-kingdom signaling.