Effect of Different Application Techniques of All-in-One Adhesives on Microtensile Bond Strength to Sound and Caries-Affected Dentin

The aim of this study was to evaluate the microtensile bond strength of two all-in-one self-etch adhesives applied to sound and caries-affected dentin with four different application techniques. Forty extracted third molars with occlusal caries were randomly divided into four groups for G-Aenial Bond and S3 Bond: (1) according to manufacturer's instructions; (2) with acid etching before applying adhesives; (3) doubling adhesive application time; and (4) doubling adhesive coating. Teeth were sectioned to obtain 1-mm- ± 0.2-mm-thick dentin sticks and subjected to a tensile force. For G-Aenial Bond, doubling the time and application of two consecutive coats produced significantly higher strength than that obtained by following manufacturers' instructions and acid etching application to sound dentin. Prior acid etching and application of two consecutive coats to caries-affected dentin generated significantly higher bond strength than that using other techniques. For S3 Bond, there was no significant difference between application techniques in caries-affected dentin. For sound dentin, double-time application of S3 Bond produced significantly higher strength than application according to the manufacturers' instructions. Compared to the application according to manufacturer's instructions, acid etching before applying adhesives, doubling application time, and doubling the coating had a positive effect on bond strength to caries-affected dentin for all-in-one adhesives.     

Total and individual tocopherol contents of sunflower oil at different steps of refining

The contents of total and individual tocopherols of sunflower oils at different stages of industrial chemical and physical refining processes were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). According to the results, total and individual tocopherol contents gradually decreased until the end of the refining processes. The average losses of total tocopherol content during the chemical and physical refining processes were found to be 30.2% and 35.5%, respectively. The steam distillation stage of the physical refining process caused greatest overall reduction (average 24.6%) in total tocopherol content. In contrast to the physical refining process, the degumming-neutralizing stage in the chemical refining process caused greatest overall reduction (average 14.7%) in total tocopherol content. An additional average loss of 11.0% occurred during deodorizing in the chemical refining process. In both chemical and physical refining, the bleaching stage caused similar effects. The physical refining process caused higher loss in the total and individual tocopherol contents when compared with the chemical refining process. The conditions of the refining processes should be carefully evaluated to reduce the loss of tocopherols.     

Treatment of Escherichia coli O157:H7 inoculated alfalfa seeds and sprouts with electrolyzed oxidizing water

Electrolyzed oxidizing water is a relatively new concept that has been utilized in agriculture, livestock management, medical sterilization, and food sanitation. Electrolyzed oxidizing (EO) water generated by passing sodium chloride solution through an EO water generator was used to treat alfalfa seeds and sprouts inoculated with a five-strain cocktail of nalidixic acid resistant Escherichia coli O157:H7. EO water had a pH of 2.6, an oxidation-reduction potential of 1150 mV and about 50 ppm free chlorine. The percentage reduction in bacterial load was determined for reaction times of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, and 64 min. Mechanical agitation was done while treating the seeds at different time intervals to increase the effectiveness of the treatment. Since E. coli O157:H7 was released due to soaking during treatment, the initial counts on seeds and sprouts were determined by soaking the contaminated seeds/sprouts in 0.1% peptone water for a period equivalent to treatment time. The samples were then pummeled in 0.1% peptone water and spread plated on tryptic soy agar with 5 microg/ml of nalidixic acid (TSAN). Results showed that there were reductions between 38.2% and 97.1% (0.22-1.56 log(10) CFU/g) in the bacterial load of treated seeds. The reductions for sprouts were between 91.1% and 99.8% (1.05-2.72 log(10) CFU/g). An increase in treatment time increased the percentage reduction of E. coli O157:H7. However, germination of the treated seeds reduced from 92% to 49% as amperage to make EO water and soaking time increased. EO water did not cause any visible damage to the sprouts.     

Xanthan gum production under different operational conditions by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Xanthomonas axonopodis</Emphasis> pv <Emphasis Type="Italic">vesicatoria</Emphasis> isolated from pepper plant

The influence of operational conditions (pH, stirrer speed, and temperature) used in the process of xanthan production by Xanthomonas axonopodis pv vesicatoria (XCVA3-1) isolated from pepper plant were evaluated through yield of xanthan and compared with control strain Xanthomonas campestris NRRL-B 1459. Different conditions used during the fermentation affected the xanthan production. In this study the best combination of yield was obtained, reaching 1.325 g/100 mL with the use of pH 7.0, 30°C, and 250 rpm during fermentation. Increased yield of xanthan production can be obtained at high agitation values, with the maximum at 400 rpm. Higher yields of gum production can be obtained at 30°C and the optimum pH was found 7.0. This results were similar for the X. campestris NRRL-B 1459.     

Lateral Ordering, Position, and Number Control of Self-Organized Quantum Dots: The Key to Future Functional Nanophotonic Devices

Lateral ordering, position, and number control of self-organized epitaxial semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) are demonstrated. Straight linear InAs QD arrays are formed by self- organized anisotropic strain engineering of an InGaAsP/InP (10 0) superlattice template in chemical beam epitaxy. The QD emission wavelength at room temperature is tuned into the important 1.55 mum telecom wavelength region through the insertion of ultrathin GaAs interlayers. Guided self-organized anisotropic strain engineering is demonstrated on shallow- and deep-patterned GaAs (3 1 1)B substrates by molecular beam epitaxy for the formation of complex InGaAs QD arrays. Lateral positioning and number control of InAs QDs, down to a single QD, are demonstrated on truncated InP (100) pyramids by selective-area metal-organic vapor phase epitaxy. Sharp emission around 1.55 mum is observed well above liquid nitrogen temperatures. The regrowth of a passive waveguide structure establishes submicrometer-scale active- passive integration. The demonstrated control over QD formation is the key to future functional nanophotonic devices and paves the way toward the ultimates of photonic-integrated circuits operating at the single and multiple electron and photon level with control of the quantum mechanical and electromagnetic interactions.     

Morphological structure of rat tongue using light and scanning electron microscopy

The rat is one of the most commonly used animals in biological research and experimental investigations in medicine. The ultrafine structural components of the epithelium differ depending on the anatomy of the animal and the papilla type. Animal adaptation to food types and environmental circumstances may also be linked to morphological diversity. In the current study, seven male Wistar rat tongues were investigated. For scanning electron microscope (SEM), two rat tongues were immersed in a 10% formalin solution and the other two rat tongues were immersed in a 2.5% glutaraldehyde solution. The tongues of three rats were fixed for regular histological evaluation using triple staining. The three primary components of the Wistar rat tongue are the apex, body and root. The apex had a rounded and bifurcated shape. Filiform papillae and gustatory papillae were easily identified on the dorsal side of the tongue. There were three forms of gustatory papillae; fungiform papillae, vallate papillae and foliate papillae. The purpose of this study was to expose the tongue morphology of the Wistar rat species, which is widely used in investigations. Also, we wanted to show that formalin fixation can be utilized for morphological research in SEM. Finally, the Wistar rat tongue was thoroughly investigated and compared to those of other species.     

State-of-the-art in Large-Scale Volume Visualization Beyond Structured Data

Volume data these days is usually massive in terms of its topology, multiple fields, or temporal component. With the gap between compute and memory performance widening, the memory subsystem becomes the primary bottleneck for scientific volume visualization. Simple, structured, regular representations are often infeasible because the buses and interconnects involved need to accommodate the data required for interactive rendering. In this state-of-the-art report, we review works focusing on large-scale volume rendering beyond those typical structured and regular grid representations. We focus primarily on hierarchical and adaptive mesh refinement representations, unstructured meshes, and compressed representations that gained recent popularity. We review works that approach this kind of data using strategies such as out-of-core rendering, massive parallelism, and other strategies to cope with the sheer size of the ever-increasing volume of data produced by today's supercomputers and acquisition devices. We emphasize the data management side of large-scale volume rendering systems and also include a review of tools that support the various volume data types discussed.     

Efficient and Stable Inverted Wide-Bandgap Perovskite Solar Cells and Modules Enabled by Hybrid Evaporation-Solution Method

Wide-bandgap perovskite solar cells (WBG-PSCs), when partnered with Si bottom cells in tandem configuration, can provide efficiencies up to 44%; yet, the development of stable, efficient, and scalable WBG-PSCs is required. Here, the utility of the hybrid evaporation-solution method (HESM) is investigated to meet these demanding requirements via its unique advantages including ease of control and reproducibility. A PbI₂/CsBr layer is co-evaporated followed by coating of organic-halide solutions in a green solvent. Bandgaps between 1.55–1.67 eV are systematically screened by varying CsBr and MABr content. Champion efficiencies of 21.06% and 20.35% in cells and 19.83% and 18.73% in mini-modules (16 cm²) for perovskites with 1.64 and 1.67 eV bandgaps are achieved, respectively. Additionally, 18.51%-efficient semi-transparent WBG-PSCs are implemented in 4T perovskite/bifacial silicon configuration, reaching a projected power output of 30.61 mW cm⁻² based on PD IEC TS 60904-1-2 (BiFi200) protocol. Despite similar bandgaps achieved by incorporating Br via MABr solution and/or CsBr evaporation, PSCs having a perovskite layer without MABr addition show significantly higher thermal and moisture stability. This study proves scalable, high-performance, and stable WBG-PSCs are enabled by HESM, hence their use in tandems and in emerging applications such as indoor photovoltaics are now within reach.