Selective Al-Ti reactivity in laser-processed Al/Ti multilayers

Multilayers consisting of five (Al/Ti) bilayers were deposited on (100) silicon wafers. On top was deposited the Ti layer, aimed at preventing Al from diffusing to the surface upon laser treatment. The total thickness of the thin-film structure was 200?nm. Laser irradiations with Nd:YAG picoseconds laser pulses in the defocused regime were performed in air. Laser beam energy was 4?mJ and laser spot diameter on the sample surface was 3?mm (fluence 0.057?J?cm^?2). The samples were treated with different numbers of laser pulses. Structural characterizations were performed by different analytical methods and nano-hardness was also measured. Laser processing induced layer intermixing, formation of titanium aluminides, oxidation of the surface titanium layer and enhanced surface roughness. Aluminum appears at the sample surface only for the highest density of laser irradiation. Laser processing induces increment of nano-hardness by approximately 20% and decrease of residual Young’s modulus for a few percentages from the starting value of the untreated samples. These results can be interesting toward achieving structures with a selective extent of Al-Ti reactivity in this multilayered system, within the development of biocompatible materials.     

Epidemiology of infection with Epstein-Barr virus types 1 and 2: lessons from the study of a T-cell-immunocompromised hemophilic cohort

In apparent contrast to earlier work on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) carriage in the general Caucasian population, in vitro virus isolations from human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-positive male homosexual cohorts have shown frequent examples of multiple EBV infection and an overall prevalence of type 2 EBV strains exceeding 30%. Here we ask to what extent these findings might hold true in another T-cell-immunocompromised cohort, HIV-positive hemophilic patients. Resident EBV strains were rescued within lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from the blood and throat washings of 39 such individuals, using the same in vitro protocols of virus isolation as for the homosexual cohort. A mean of 19 independent cell lines was made per patient, and in each case the resident virus was characterized by PCR-based viral genomic analysis and by immunoblotting to reveal the viral "EBNAprint." By these criteria a significant proportion (14 of 39) of the hemophilic cohort carried more than one EBV strain, suggesting that T-cell impairment does indeed sensitize virus carriers to reinfection with new strains of exogenously transmitted virus. However, the overall incidence of type 2 EBV infection was 10%, which is close to that observed in the earlier work with healthy carriers and substantially lower than that seen in HIV-positive homosexuals. We infer that type 2 EBV is relatively rare in the general Caucasian population but has become endemic in the homosexual community.     

Identification of large-scale goaf instability in underground mine using particle swarm optimization and support vector machine

An approach which combines particle swarm optimization and support vector machine (PSO–SVM) is proposed to forecast large-scale goaf instability (LSGI). Firstly, influencing factors of goaf safety are analyzed, and following parameters were selected as evaluation indexes in the LSGI: uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) of rock, elastic modulus (E) of rock, rock quality designation (RQD), area ration of pillar (S_p), the ratio of width to height of the pillar (w/h), depth of ore body (H), volume of goaf (V), dip of ore body (α) and area of goaf (S_g). Then LSGI forecasting model by PSO-SVM was established according to the influencing factors. The performance of hybrid model (PSO + SVM = PSO–SVM) has been compared with the grid search method of support vector machine (GSM–SVM) model. The actual data of 40 goafs are applied to research the forecasting ability of the proposed method, and two cases of underground mine are also validated by the proposed model. The results indicated that the heuristic algorithm of PSO can speed up the SVM parameter optimization search, and the predictive ability of the PSO–SVM model with the RBF kernel function is acceptable and robust, which might hold a high potential to become a useful tool in goaf risky prediction research.     

Optimised plasma stabilisation at TEXTOR with an advanced, real-time digital control scheme

The tokamak TEXTOR at the Research Centre in Jülich is in operation since more than 25 years. The various control systems at the start, in 1982, were based on analogue techniques, a standard at the time, and were later partly replaced by specially developed digital systems. These systems proved their robustness over the years. As a replacement for the old system, off-the-shelf products were used to ensure continuity, reliability and to reduce the development cost. To provide advanced control scenarios, the new system allows the implementation of more sophisticated algorithms for magnetic and kinetic control. The LabVIEW Real-Time (RT) modules and real-time hardware from National Instruments satisfy these requirements to a large extent. The new system has already been successfully commissioned at TEXTOR and is used to calculate in real-time the plasma density profile (10 ms), the Shafranov shift (10 ms), the plasma vertical and horizontal position (20 $\mu$s) and to control the plasma shape (1 ms). TEXTOR has circular plasmas and has an iron core. Its central part is operated in saturation. During the saturation phase, stray fields change the plasma shape from nearly circular to slightly triangular. By using a shape-control coil set, we can control and adjust the plasma form. The new real-time system is presented as well as the implemented control applications.     

Optimized preparation of alumina based fillers for tuning composite properties

Alumina based particles were prepared from aluminium chloride hydroxide as starting material by sol-gel technique. One series of particles was doped with ferrous oxide. Both series of particles were calcinated at three different temperatures: 700?°C, 800?°C and 900?°C. Poly(methyl methacrylate), PMMA, was used as a matrix and two different types of alumina based particles were added into the matrix to form the composites. All composites consisted of 3?wt% of alumina based particles. The aim of this study was to examine whether and how the temperature of particle calcination affects the microhardness and mechanical properties of the composite. The particles were characterized by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and physical absorption methods. The morphology of the composites was examined using a field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM). The microhardness of composites was measured using a traditional Vickers hardness (HV) method. The mechanical characteristics of obtained composites were determined using tensile test and impact testing.     

Synthesis and characterization of monetite and hydroxyapatite whiskers obtained by a hydrothermal method

High temperature hydrothermal syntheses, using calcium nitrate tetrahydrate, sodium dihydrogen phosphate and urea as precursors, and characterization of hydroxyapatite (HAp) whiskers are reported herein. The morphology and chemical composition of the crystals from a monetite to a hydroxyapatite phase were controlled by varying the starting concentrations of the precursors and the solution pH through the amount of urea that is decomposed during heating. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, infrared spectroscopy (IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and high-resolution TEM (HRTEM) were used to investigate the products of the syntheses in order to find the optimum reaction conditions for obtaining the desired morphology and phase composition. Different morphologies ranging from single crystals of monetite through rods and plates of hydroxyapatite with different size distribution to whisker-like single hydroxyapatite crystal were achieved by simply varying the starting concentration of urea. Structural refinement of the hydroxyapatite whiskers confirmed a strong preferential orientation along the c-axis direction of the hexagonal crystal structure, which was significantly different from the usually observed random crystal orientation. TEM and SEM analysis of the apatite whiskers confirmed single crystal structure with the a c-axis orientation parallel to the long axis of the whiskers, with sizes up to 150 μm in length, 10 μm in width and with a thickness of about 300 nm, that grew from the same centre of nucleation, forming flaky-like particles.     

Dense fine-grained biphasic calcium phosphate (BCP) bioceramics designed by two-step sintering

In this study, dense, fine-grained biphasic calcium phosphate bioceramics were designed via the two-step sintering method. The starting powder was nanosized calcium-deficient hydroxyapatite, whose phase composition, average particle size and morphology were characterized by XRD, FTIR, Raman spectroscopy, laser diffraction and FE-SEM. The phase transformations of the initial powder during heating up to 1200 °C were examined using TG/DSC. At first, conventional sintering was performed and the recorded shrinkage/densification data were used to find out the appropriate experimental conditions for two-step sintering. The obtained results show that two-step sintering yields BCP ceramics, consisting of hydroxyapatite and β-TCP, with full dense, homogeneous structure with average grain size of 375 nm. Furthermore, BCP ceramics obtained by the two-step sintering method exhibit improved mechanical properties, compared to conventionally sintered BCP.     

End-of-life decision-making in the hospital: current practice and future prospects

The contributions of the various ulnar-innervated muscles of the hand to the hypothenar compound muscle action potential (CMAP) were estimated by directly stimulating individual muscles and by analyzing CMAP shape changes resulting from manipulations that changed individual muscle lengths. The results show that the first peak of the negative phase of the hypothenar CMAP comes from the hypothenar muscles, but that the second peak is due to a large volume-conducted potential from the interosseous muscles. The interosseous contribution affects both the amplitude and the area of the CMAP, and makes these parameters sensitive to changes in the configuration of the fingers and the temperature gradient in the hand. To reduce the interosseous contribution, a "balanced reference" consisting of two reference electrodes, one over each tendon, is proposed.     

Impaired alloantigen-mediated T cell apoptosis and failure to induce long-term allograft survival in IL-2-deficient mice

We examined whether IL-2 regulates alloimmune responses by studying allograft survival in wild-type (IL-2+/+) and IL-2 gene-knockout (IL-2-/-) mice. The acute rejection of vascularized, cardiac allografts and the generation of allospecific CTLs were not impaired in the absence of IL-2. In contrast, blocking the B7-CD28 T cell costimulation pathway with CTLA4Ig induced long-term allograft survival (> 100 days) in IL-2+/+ recipients but failed to do so in IL-2-/- mice or in wild-type mice that had been treated with IL-2-neutralizing Ab around the time of transplantation. Allografts rejected by IL-2-/- recipients exhibited extensive mononuclear cell infiltrates despite CTLA4Ig administration. In vivo allostimulation in the absence of IL-2 led to exaggerated T lymphocyte proliferation and impaired apoptosis of activated T cells in untreated and CTLA4Ig-treated mice. These findings indicate that endogenous IL-2 is required for the induction of long-term allograft survival, and that IL-2 regulates alloimmune responses by preparing activated T lymphocytes for alloantigen-induced apoptosis.