Microstructural Characterization and Mechanical Properties of Si3N4 Formed by Fused Deposition of Ceramics

We present processing (green and sintered), part shrinkage and warping, microstructural characterization, and mechanical properties of Si₃N₄ made by fused deposition of ceramics (FDC), using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction. The mechanical properties (fracture strength, fracture toughness, and Weibull modulus) are also reported. Proper FDC build parameters resulted in dense, homogeneous, near-net-shape Si₃N₄, with microstructures and mechanical properties similar to conventionally processed material. Mechanical properties are shown to be isotropic, while there is some degree of microstructural texturing (preferred β-Si₃N₄ grain orientation) in sintered components.     

Conjugated polymer mediated synthesis of nanoparticle clusters and core/shell nanoparticles

Two water soluble conjugated polymers, poly(3,4-ethylene dioxythiophene):poly(styrene sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and ammonium ion stabilized poly(phenylene vinylene) (P2), are found to be able to reduce noble metal ions to zero-valent metals via a direct chemical deposition technique. Au nanoparticle clusters can be obtained through reduction of Au³⁺ ions by PEDOT:PSS and the electronic coupling between them can be controlled by HAuCl₄ concentration. Core/shell Ag/polymer nanostructures are prepared from reduction of Ag⁺ ions by P2, which have a ppb detection limit for 4-MBA using surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS). This conjugated polymer mediated synthesis of metal nanoparticles may open a new avenue for fabricating nanomaterials and nanocomposites with tunable optical properties that are dominated by their structure and electronic coupling between nanoparticles.     

Hydrogen permeation during zinc-manganese alloy plating

Electrodeposition of metals from solution is usually accompanied by the simultaneous discharge of hydrogen ions or water molecules. When hydrogen is liberated at an iron/steel surface during electrodeposition, a portion of the hydrogen is absorbed by the metal surface and then diffuses into the interior. The diffused hydrogen produces some detrimental effects, such as reduction in ductility and loss in mechanical strength, leading to hydrogen embrittlement. The present paper reports investigations on hydrogen permeation measurements in zinc-manganese alloy deposition using a modified electrode clamp for easy removal and fixing of the electrode. Hydrogen permeation studies indicate that the porosity of the deposit increases in the following order:Zn-Mn(14.3%), Zn-Mn(2.4%), Zn-Mn(24.8%) and Zn-Mn(37.5%).This is in agreement with the corrosion data obtained which indicates that Zn-Mn alloy deposits with low manganese content show better performance than pure zinc deposits.     

Probiotic properties of folate producing Streptococcus thermophilus strains

This study aimed at assessing the probiotic potential of two high folate producing Streptococcus thermophilus strains (RD102 and RD104) isolated from Indian fermented milk products by both in vitro and in vivo tests. These strains were able to survive at pH 2.5 and 2% bile with a good bile salt hydrolase activity, cell surface hydrophobicity and sensitivity to most of the clinically important antibiotics. On evaluation for gastrointestinal transit tolerance these showed a viable count of 5 log cfu mL^?1 and 7 log cfu mL^?1, respectively in simulated gastrointestinal juice of pH 2.0 and 2% bile. During the in vivo feeding trial in mice the strains showed a viable count of about 7 log cfu g^?1 faeces and 6 log cfu g^?1 of large intestine, respectively. These strains were hence observed to possess favorable strain specific probiotic properties and have the potential to be a source of novel probiotics.     

Forthcoming Contributions

Table of Contents

Forthcoming Contributions     

A formal methods approach to medical device review

With software playing an increasingly important role in medical devices, regulatory agencies such as the US Food and Drug Administration need effective means for assuring that this software is safe and reliable. The FDA has been striving for a more rigorous engineering-based review strategy to provide this assurance. The use of mathematics-based techniques in the development of software might help accomplish this. However, the lack of standard architectures for medical device software and integrated engineering-tool support for software analysis make a science-based software review process more difficult. The research presented here applies formal modeling methods and static analysis techniques to improve the review process. Regulation of medical device software encompasses reviews of device designs (premarket review) and device performance (postmarket surveillance). The FDA's Center for Devices and Radiological Health performs the premarket review on a device to evaluate its safety and effectiveness. As part of this process, the agency reviews software development life-cycle artifacts for appropriate quality-assurance attributes, which tend to reveal little about the device software integrity.     

FIRE: a fault-independent combinational redundancy identificationalgorithm

FIRE is a novel Fault-Independent algorithm for combinational REdundancy identification. The algorithm is based on a simple concept that a fault which requires a conflict as a necessary condition for its detection is undetectable and hence redundant. FIRE does not use the backtracking-based exhaustive search performed by fault-oriented automatic test generation algorithms, and identifies redundant faults without any search. Our results on benchmark and real circuits indicate that we find a large number of redundancies (about 80% of the combinational redundancies in benchmark circuits), much faster than a test-generation-based approach for redundancy identification. However, FIRE is not guaranteed to identify all redundancies in a circuit     

Fabrication and Electromechanical Characterization of Silver-Clad BSCCO Tapes

The powder-in-tube technique consisting of industrial processes such as wire drawing and rolling has been widely used to fabricate superconducting tapes. In the present investigation a novel technique was adopted to fabricate BSCCO 2223 tapes. Instead of wire drawing, the silver billet was reduced in size by groove rolling. Stress conditions during groove rolling were analyzed and appropriate changes were incorporated to optimize the deformation process. Subsequent thermomechanical treatment resulted in tapes with average critical current densities of 18,000 A/cm². Phase development and microstructural evolution during the thermomechanical treatment were studied using XRD, SEM, and TEM. The electromechanical properties of monofilament and composite BSCCO tapes were evaluated by subjecting them to in situ tensile tests. The strain tolerance of the composite was found to be better than that of the monofilament BSCCO tape.