Rhodium Containing Magnetic Nanoparticles: Effective Catalysts for Hydrogenation and the 1,4-Addition of Boronic Acids

New efficient rhodium catalysts supported on superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have been prepared using a novel method involving sulfonated triphenylphosphine ligands. They successfully promote the hydrogenation of olefins as well as the addition of arylboronic acids to dimethyl itaconate (ItMe₂) in water for up to 10 recycles. The catalysts were stable towards leaching of the metal complexes and were readily recovered by applying an external magnetic field.     

Assessment of In vivo behavior of polymer tube nerve grafts simultaneously with the peripheral nerve regeneration process using scanning electron microscopy technique

In this study, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) has been applied for instantaneous assessment of processes occurring at the site of regenerating nerve. The technique proved to be especially useful when an artificial implant should have been observed but have not yet been extensively investigated before for assessment of nerve tissue. For in vivo studies, evaluation of implant's morphology and its neuroregenerative properties is of great importance when new prototype is developed. However, the usually applied histological techniques require separate and differently prepared samples, and therefore, the results are never a 100% comparable. In our research, we found SEM as a technique providing detailed data both on an implant behavior and the nerve regeneration process inside the implant. Observations were carried out during 12‐week period on rat sciatic nerve injury model reconstructed with nerve autografts and different tube nerve grafts. Samples were analyzed with haematoxylin‐eosin (HE), immunocytochemical staining for neurofillament and S‐100 protein, SEM, TEM, and the results were compared. SEM studies enabled to obtain characteristic pictures of the regeneration process similarly to TEM and histological studies. Schwann cell transformation and communication as well as axonal outgrowth were identified, newly created and matured axons could be recognized. Concurrent analysis of biomaterial changes in the implant (degradation, collapsing of the tube wall, migration of alginate gel) was possible. This study provides the groundwork for further use of the described technique in the nerve regeneration studies. SCANNING 35: 232‐245, 2013. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Application of membrane processes in closing of water cycle in a textile dye-house

In this study, investigations were made to close water cycle in dye-houses. At the first stage, optimum operation conditions of a membrane nanofiltration were determined. Experiments were carried out for DL membranes (Osmonics, USA). The effect of temperature, pressure and pH was investigated. Investigations were performed for different types of real wastewater produced in a laboratory-scale Pyrotec S dyeing apparatus (Roaches) for various types of reactive dyes. An over 90% dye hold-up was obtained for all dye baths.At the final stage of the experiments, dyeing processes were carried out with the use of a filtrate from nanofiltration as water applied for dyeing, rinsing and washing after dyeing. In cooperation with the Technical University of Lodz, we have managed to apply biological degradation of the concentrate, carried out in two different reactor systems.     

Effect of silver on cellulose fibre colour

Silver nanoparticles were embedded into cellulose fibres using N‐methylmorpholine N‐oxide as a direct cellulose solvent that was also the system from which silver nanoparticles were generated. The process of generation of silver nanoparticles in the N‐methylmorpholine N‐oxide enables the properties of cellulose fibres to be modified without any additional reducing agent, which makes this process more environmentally friendly. By varying the reaction time of the precursor with the N‐methylmorpholine N‐oxide, a range of nanoparticle sizes was obtained. The fibres contain the same concentration of silver, but, on account of the varying morphology of the nanoparticles, they show a range of colour shades. The primary aim of this study was to show how temperature and reaction time affect the basic parameters of the obtained nanoparticles (shape, size, and distribution in the polymer matrix of fibres), which consequently influences the colour of the modified cellulose fibres. Nanoparticles were characterised by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy methods, while the fibre hues were estimated by colorimetric analysis. Trichromatic coordinates of colour x, y were delineated, and the colour was identified by positioning the x and y values in the CIE chromaticity diagram. It is noted that many parameters, especially the diameter and shape of the silver nanoparticles, influence the colour of the fibre obtained.     

Oxidation behaviour of an intermetallic Ti–Al–Cr–Zr bond coat on a γ–TiAl based TNB alloy with 7YSZ thermal barrier coating

Abstract

Intermetallic titanium aluminide alloys are attractive light-weight materials for high temperature applications in automotive and aero engines. The development of γ-TiAl alloys over the past decades has led to their successful commercial application as low pressure turbine blades. The operating temperatures of γ-TiAl based alloys are limited by deterioration in strength and creep resistance at elevated temperatures as well as poor oxidation behaviour above 800 °C. Since improvement in oxidation behaviour of γ-TiAl based alloys without impairing their mechanical properties represents a major challenge, intermetallic protective coatings have aroused increasing interest in the last years.

In this work, a 10 μm thick intermetallic Ti–46Al–36Cr–4Zr (in at.-%) coating was applied on a TNB alloy using magnetron sputtering. This layer provided excellent oxidation protection up to 1000 °C. Microstructural changes in this coating during the high temperature exposure were extensively investigated using scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The coating developed a three-phase microstructure consisting of the hexagonal Laves-phase Ti(Cr,Al)₂, the tetragonal Cr₂Al phase and the cubic τ-TiAl₃ phase. After long-term exposure the three-phase microstructure changed to a two-phase microstructure of the hexagonal α₂-Ti₃Al phase and an orthorhombic body-centred phase, whose crystal structure has not yet been definitely identified. On the coating, a thin protective alumina scale formed. Applying this intermetallic layer as bond coat, thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) of yttria partially stabilized zirconia were deposited on γ-TiAl based TNB samples using electron-beam physical vapour deposition. The results of cyclic oxidation testing (1 h at elevated temperature, 10 min. cooling at ambient temperature) revealed a TBC lifetime of more than 1000 h of cyclic exposure to air at 1000 °C. The ceramic topcoat exhibited an excellent adhesion to the thermally grown alumina scale which contained fine ZrO₂ precipitates.     

SafeMesh: A wireless mesh network routing protocol for incident area communications

Reliable broadband communication is becoming increasingly important during disaster recovery and emergency response operations. In situations where infrastructure-based communication is not available or has been disrupted, an Incident Area Network needs to be dynamically deployed, i.e. a temporary network that provides communication services for efficient crisis management at an incident site. Wireless Mesh Networks (WMNs) are multi-hop wireless networks with self-healing and self-configuring capabilities. These features, combined with the ability to provide wireless broadband connectivity at a comparably low cost, make WMNs a promising technology for incident management communications. This paper specifically focuses on hybrid WMNs, which allow both mobile client devices as well as dedicated infrastructure nodes to form the network and provide routing and forwarding functionality. Hybrid WMNs are the most generic and most flexible type of mesh networks and are ideally suited to meet the requirements of incident area communications. However, current wireless mesh and ad-hoc routing protocols do not perform well in hybrid WMN, and are not able to establish stable and high throughput communication paths. One of the key reasons for this is their inability to exploit the typical high degree of heterogeneity in hybrid WMNs. SafeMesh, the routing protocol presented in this paper, addresses the limitations of current mesh and ad-hoc routing protocols in the context of hybrid WMNs. SafeMesh is based on the well-known AODV routing protocol, and implements a number of modifications and extensions that significantly improve its performance in hybrid WMNs. This is demonstrated via an extensive set of simulation results. We further show the practicality of the protocol through a prototype implementation and provide performance results obtained from a small-scale testbed deployment.     

Natural Fermentation of Lentils: Influence of Time,Concentration and Temperature on the Kinetics of Hydrolysis of Inositol Phosphates

Lentil (Lens culinaris var vulgaris) flour was naturally fermented for 96 h at various conditions of concentration (79, 150 and 221 g litre⁻¹) and temperature (28°C, 35°C and 42°C). The content of total inositol phosphates (IP-total) and individual inositol phosphates (hexa- (IP₆), penta- (IP₅), tetra- (IP₄) and tri- (IP₃) phosphates) were analysed to establish the changes of these compounds during natural fermentation of lentils. The preparation of the lentil suspension brought about 16–27% reduction of the total inositol phosphates. At the end of 96 h of natural fermentation maximum IP loss (70–75%) was achieved for an experiment carried out at minimum concentration. For IP₆, the largest decrease was achieved at the highest temperature, the fermentation condition that also brought about the highest IP₅ content.     

Polyamide fibers (PA6) with antibacterial properties

The graft polymerization of acrylic acid (AA) on PA6 yarn was examined. Prior to the grafting process, the fibers were activated with a benzene solution of benzoyl peroxide. The effects of the main process parameters and auxiliary additives on the degree of grafting, quantity of the homopolymer formed during grafting, effectiveness of grafting, extent of conversion, and grafting ratio were determined. The resultant fibers, containing carboxylic groups in their structure, were additionatly modified with penicillin, neomycin, or gentamycin to obtain antibacterial fibers in relation to Gram-positive and Gram negative microorganisms (Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aerruginosa). This was confirmed in vitro by measuring the stunted growth zones of the above-mentioned bacteria. The modified fibers show different activities in relation to the microorganisms, being dependent on the type and quantity of the added biocide. The kinetics of antibiotic release into water was examined and described by means of a mathematical equation. The release of antibiotics into solution proceeds for quite a long time after which there is still enough antibiotic on the fibers to provide them with antibacterial properties. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Structural group classification technique based on regional fMRI BOLD responses

This paper presents a new multigroup classification method based on subtle differences in regional brain activity during the completion of a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) challenge paradigm. Classification is performed based on features derived from BOLD time intensity curves in selected regions of interest (ROI). For each ROI, a mean time intensity curve [called mean regional response (MRR)] is calculated from realigned and normalized datasets. The overall subject performance is characterized with a vector of features obtained using nonlinear modeling of all subject's MRRs with a mixture of time shifted Gaussian functions. The classification is performed in the reduced-dimension optimal discrimination space, obtained through canonical transformations of original feature space. In order to demonstrate feasibility of the proposed method, classification of three groups of subjects is presented. The three groups are defined as heavy marijuana smokers after 24 hours of abstinence, heavy marijuana smokers after 28 days of abstinence, and healthy nonusing controls. The proposed method can be useful as an analytic tool for the discrimination of different groups of subjects based on temporal features of functional magnetic resonance imaging activation.