Effect of aluminizing treatment on the oxidation properties of 12Cr heat resisting steel

In order to investigate the effect of aluminization on the oxidation properties of 12Cr martensitic heat resisting steel, a specimen was prepared by forging after centrifugal casting. After aluminizing treatment under various conditions, scanning electron microscopy observation, and hardness, line profile and x-ray diffraction analysis of the alloy layer were performed. The results confirmed that the thickness of the layer of Al₁₃Fe₄, with a Vickers hardness of over 880, increased with increasing aluminizing temperature and time. Moreover, it was concluded from the results of the oxidation experiment that the oxidation properties of the aluminized specimen were improved by up to approximately 30 %.     

Pulp reactions to restoration of experimentally induced crown fractures

OBJECTIVES: Reattachment of the avulsed enamel-dentine coronal fragment to the remaining tooth structure has become an accepted clinical alternative to a resin composite build-up for the restoration of crown fractured teeth. Since little knowledge exists as to the pulpal response to this procedure, this study was designed to observe the condition of the pulp following experimentally induced crown fracture and restoration in monkeys. METHODS: Experiments were conducted in eight young green Vervet monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops). In all, 64 fractured incisors were investigated. Light microscopic examination of pulp tissue specimens was carried out after 3 months of observation. RESULTS: The evaluation was restricted to specimens having a fracture plane within 2 mm of the pulp and no pulpal exposure. In general, pulp tissue was well preserved irrespective of the restorative procedure. Even if the restoration or the bonded tooth fragment had been lost during the follow-up period, the pulp generally remained in good condition. Inflammatory infiltrates where seen in only a few specimens and then as clusters of mononuclear leukocytes. Hard tissue repair was frequently observed and displayed various configurations from isolated hard tissue deposits to areas of extensive hard tissue repair in the coronal portion of the pulp. Pronounced hard tissue repair and occurrence of inflammatory cell infiltrates correlated with the presence of stainable bacteria on the fractured dentine surface. CONCLUSIONS: In the absence of direct exposure, reparative dentine is a frequent feature of the pulp's response to crown fracture and restoration with composite or reattachment of the crown fragment with dentine bonding. These restorative procedures appear to ensure continued function of the underlying pulp.     

Friction stir butt welding of A5052-O aluminum alloy plates

Friction stir butt welding (FSW) between A5052-O aluminum alloy plates with a thickness of 2 mm was performed.The rotation speeds of the welding tool were 2000 and 3000 r/min,respectively.The traverse speed was ranged from 100 mm/min to 900 mm/min.The defect-free welds with the very smooth surface morphology were successfully obtained,except for at the welding condition of 3000 r/min and 100 mm/min.The onion ring structure was observed in the friction-stir-welded zone (SZ) at the condition of 2000 r/min and 100 mm/min.For all the welding conditions,the grain size of the SZ was smaller than that of the base metal,and was decreased with the decrease of the tool rotation speed and with the increase of the tool traverse speed.The stir zone exhibited higher average hardness than the base metal.The decrease of the tool rotation speed and the increase of the tool traverse speed resulted in the increase in the average hardness of the SZ.The tensile strength of the FSWed plates was similar to that of the base metal,except for at the welding condition of 3000 r/min and 100 mm/min.The total elongation of the FSWed plates was lower than that of the base metal.     

Improved LUT Technique for HPA Nonlinear Pre-Distortion in OFDM Systems

In this paper, we focus on the Look-up Table (LUT) technique for the compensation of HPA nonlinear distortion. An improved LUT method is proposed with better performance compared with conventional LUT technique in terms of convergence speeds, BER and total degradation (TD). It can get over 8 dB gain in out-of-band spectrum re-growth suppression and about 0.3 dB BER performance gain than conventional LUT technique with the same iteration times. Also, we propose an actual application of HPA with pre-distorter in OFDM transmitter. Ai Bo was born in Shannxi Province in China on February 7, 1974. He received a BSc. Degree from Engineering Institute of Armed Police Force in 1997, a Master and Dr. degree from Xidian University in 2002 and 2004 in China respectively, and now working as a post dr. in Dept. of E&E, state of key lab. on microwave and digital communications in Tsinghua University in China. He has once participated in the key research project on HDTV in TEEG (Team of Engineering Expert Group) of China. He is an editorial committee member of journal of “Computer Simulations”, “Information and Electronic Engineering”, an IEEE member and a senior member of Electronics Institute of China (CIE). He has published over 60 scientific papers in his research area till now. His current interests are the research and applications of OFDM techniques with emphasis on synchronization and HPA linearization techniques. Yang Zhi-Xing graduated from Tsinghua University, P.R. China in 1970. He is now a Professor and Deputy Director of State Key Lab. on Microwave and Digital Communication at the Department of Electronic Engineering and the Director of the DTV R&D Center in Tsinghua University. As a DTV technical expert for the Chinese government, Professor Yang has also been a member of the DTV standardization Committee of China and a leader of the DTV Standardization Harmonizing Group in Ministry of Information Industry of China. His major research interests include broadband information transmission technologies and DTV broadcasting systems. Pan Chang-Yong received the B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Department of Electronic Engineering in Tsinghua University, P.R. China, in 1996 and 1999, respectively. He is now an associate professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering and a member of the DTV R&D Center in Tsinghua University. His research interests are in the areas of broadband wireless transmission systems and satellite communications. Zhang Tao-Tao was born in Shandong Province in China in 1982, he received BSc. degree from Tsinghua University in 2004 and now pursing his Master degree in Dept. of E&E, state of key lab. on microwave and digital communications in Tsinghua University in China. His research interests is the power amplifier linearization techniques. Wang Yong was born in Shannxi Province in China in 1976. He received a BSc., a Master and a Dr. Degree from Xidian University in China in 1997, 2002 and 2005, respectively, and now is an associate professor in Xidian University. He has once participated in the key research project on HDTV in TEEG (Team of Engineering Expert Group) in China and is an IEEE Member. His interests are broadband multimedia communications. Ge Jian-Hua was born in September, 1961 in JiangSu Province in China. He received the B.Sc., Master and Ph.D. degree from Xidian University in 1982, 1985 and 1989, respectively. He is now the professor in both Xidian University in Xi’an and Shanghai Jiaotong University in Shanghai. He is the senior member of Chinese Electronics Institute. He has won lots of scientific and technical prizes in China and published many papers. His interests are transmission communications and web security.     

Molecular recognition of angiogenesis inhibitors fumagillin and ovalicin by methionine aminopeptidase 2

Angiogenesis inhibitors are a novel class of promising therapeutic agents for treating cancer and other human diseases. Fumagillin and ovalicin compose a class of structurally related natural products that potently inhibit angiogenesis by blocking endothelial cell proliferation. A synthetic analog of fumagillin, TNP-470, is currently undergoing clinical trials for treatment of a variety of cancers. A common target for fumagillin and ovalicin recently was identified as the type 2 methionine aminopeptidase (MetAP2). These natural products bind MetAP2 covalently, inhibiting its enzymatic activity. The specificity of this binding is underscored by the lack of inhibition of the closely related type 1 enzyme, MetAP1. The molecular basis of the high affinity and specificity of these inhibitors for MetAP2 has remained undiscovered. To determine the structural elements of these inhibitors and MetAP2 that are involved in this interaction, we synthesized fumagillin analogs in which each of the potentially reactive epoxide groups was removed either individually or in combination. We found that the ring epoxide in fumagillin is involved in the covalent modification of MetAP2, whereas the side chain epoxide group is dispensable. By using a fumagillin analog tagged with fluorescein, His-231 in MetAP2 was identified as the residue that is covalently modified by fumagillin. Site-directed mutagenesis of His-231 demonstrated its importance for the catalytic activity of MetAP2 and confirmed that the same residue is covalently modified by fumagillin. These results, in agreement with a recent structural study, suggest that fumagillin and ovalicin inhibit MetAP2 by irreversible blockage of the active site.     

Spontaneous esophageal perforation in an acute burn patient

Spontaneous perforation of the esophagus is an uncommon and catastrophic event accompanied by extremely high morbidity and mortality. In a burn patient, diagnosis may be delayed because of painful burns that may mask the underlying problem. Diagnosis is dependent on a high index of suspicion and by inclusion of this entity in the differential diagnosis of chest pain. The authors report on a 45-year-old male who developed a spontaneous perforation of the esophagus while hospitalized for treatment of an 11% total body surface area burn. Diagnosis and initiation of appropriate treatment resulted in salvage of this patient. The pathophysiology of this disease and a review of the literature are presented.     

Regulation and regulatory role of gamma-carboxyglutamic acid containing clotting factors

Several investigators have recently reported that significant numbers of appropriately adapted mutants can be induced in bacterial and yeast strains by exposing stationary phase cells to specific environmental challenges. The resulting mutants are said to be both selection-induced and demonstrably non-random in origin; if this interpretation is correct, it is in direct conflict with the conventional neo-Darwinian view, which is that spontaneous mutants are truly random in origin and arise without the intervention of any overtly adaptive forces. We believe that there are alternative ways of accounting for the appearance of many (and probably all) of the additional mutants which proponents of the adaptive mutation theory claim are observed only after they applied the appropriate selective pressure. Having reviewed the available evidence, we consider that most (if not all) of the sorts of mutants which are said to have been induced following exposure of stationary-phase cells to intense selective pressure are equally likely to have been generated during the operation of certain well-known, conventional (and essentially random) cellular DNA repair processes. Evidence in support of our view can be found in the mainstream literature on the origins of spontaneous mutations. We also note that some of the molecular models which have recently been proposed to explain the production of selection-induced mutations preferentially (or even only) in genes of adaptive significance may turn out to be of considerable interest in their own right, even although the mutants whose origins they were intended to explain may turn out to have arisen in a manner which is totally independent of the conditions used for their selection.