Comparison of protein adsorption isotherms and uptake rates in preparative cation-exchange materials

Adsorption isotherms and effective diffusivities of lysozyme in a set of six preparative cation-exchange stationary phases were determined from batch uptake data in a stirred vessel. Both a pore diffusion and a homogeneous diffusion model were used in estimating diffusivities, with the isotherms fitted to a non-Langmuirian analytical isotherm equation. The capacities inferred from the isotherms are found to be correlated with the surface area accessible to lysozyme, the effective surface concentrations obtained being in agreement with values measured by different methods in various non-chromatographic systems. The pore diffusivities show systematic trends with protein and salt concentration, and effects of pore size and connectivity are also evident. Some trends in the homogeneous diffusivities are quite different to those in the pore diffusivities, but these differences largely disappear when the homogeneous diffusivities are rescaled to account for adsorption equilibrium behavior. Additional information is required to elucidate further the mechanisms of coupled diffusion and adsorption in stationary phases.     

GaInP/GaAs HBTs for high-speed integrated circuit applications

The use of GaInP/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) for integrated circuit applications is demonstrated. The discrete devices fabricated showed excellent DC characteristics with low V_ce offset voltage and very low temperature sensitivity of the current gain. For a non-self-aligned device with a 3-μm×1.4-μm emitter area, f_T was extrapolated to 45 GHz and f_max was extrapolated to 70 GHz. The measured 1/f noise level was 20 dB better than that of AlGaAs HBTs and comparable to that of low-noise silicon bipolar junction transistors, and the noise bump (Lorentzian component) was not observed. The fabricated gain block circuits showed 8.5 dB gain with a 3-dB bandwidth of 12 GHz, and static frequency dividers (divide by 4) were operable up to 8 GHz     

A boundary element method for two dimensional linear elastic fracture analysis

A boundary element method is developed for the analysis of fractures in two-dimensional solids. The solids are assumed to be linearly elastic and isotropic, and both bounded and unbounded domains are treated. The development of the boundary integral equations exploits (as usual) Somigliana's identity, but a special manipulation is carried out to regularize certain integrals associated with the crack line. The resulting integral equations consist of the conventional ordinary boundary terms and two additional terms which can be identified as a distribution of concentrated forces and a distribution of dislocations along each crack line. The strategy for establishing the integral equations is first outlined in terms of real variables, after which complex variable techniques are adopted for the detailed development. In the numerical implementation of the formulation, the ordinary boundary integrals are treated with standard boundary element techniques, while a novel numerical procedure is developed to treat the crack line integrals. The resulting numerical procedure is used to solve several sample problems for both embedded and surface-breaking cracks, and it is shown that the technique is both accurate and efficient. The utility of the method for simulating curvilinear crack propagation is also demonstrated.     

Predicting phase equilibrium,phase transformation,and microstructure evolution in titanium alloys

Phase transformation and microstructural evolution in commercial titanium alloys are extremely complex. Traditional models that characterize microstructural features by average values without capturing the anisotropy and spatially varying aspects may not be sufficient to quantitatively define the microstructure and hence to allow for establishing a robust microstructure-property relationship. This article discusses recent efforts in integrating thermodynamic modeling and phase-field simulation to develop computational tools for quantitative prediction of phase equilibrium and spatiotemporal evolution of microstructures during thermal processing that account explicitly for precipitate morphology, spatial arrangement, and anisotropy. The rendering of the predictive capabilities of the phase-field models as fast-acting design tools through the development of constitutive equations is also demonstrated. For more information, contact Y.-Z. Wang, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Ohio State University, 2041 College Road, Columbus, OH 43221, USA; (614) 292-0682; fax (614) 292-1537; e-mail wang.363@osu.edu.     

Pervaporation performance analysis and prediction—using a hybrid solution-diffusion and pore-flow model

A hybrid mathematic model for pervaporation is proposed which incorporates the concepts of solution-diffusion model and pore model. The model allows performance prediction as well as the establishment of the internal concentration and pressure profiles within the membrane. The model parameters specific to the particular membrane and mixture system are determined using liquid sorption and pervaporation experimental data. The model is experimentally examined using ethanol–water mixtures and poly(dimethyl siloxane)–poly(vinyldiene fluoride) (PDMS–PVDF) composite membranes. The characteristics of flux and separation factor predicted using the model are in fair agreement with the experimental data under various feed concentrations and downstream pressures for different membrane arrangements, including single-layer, reverse single-layer and double-layer PDMS–PVDF composite membranes. Internal profiles of pressure, concentration and component mole fraction can be established using the model. Concentration polarization phenomena for ethanol and water are located at membrane interfaces and vapor–liquid interfaces, respectively. Performances of several different membrane designs are compared using the model.     

Use of mesoporous SBA-15 for nanostructuring titania for photocatalytic applications

SBA15–TiO₂ samples prepared by introducing titanium with a grafting method and having TiO₂ loadings below 15 wt.% have been characterized by XRF, XRD, IR, porosimetry, SEM, HRTEM, and UV–Visible diffuse reflectance. Differently from the samples reported in the literature characterized by a high TiO₂ loading, no evidences have been found for the presence of titania particles inside or outside the mesopores of SBA-15. Three different titanium species were instead evidenced to be present. The first two derive from the reaction of titanium with silanol groups in the corona area of inner SBA-15 walls leading to the formation of either TiO₄ tetrahedral sites (by reaction by hydroxyl nests of surface defect sites) and/or pseudo-octahedral surface sites anchored by two (or more) Si or Ti ions through bridging oxygens. The third species derives from the reaction of titanium in the regions with high sylanol density, e.g. in the micropores located in the corona of SBA-15 channels, leading to the formation of TiO₂-like nanoareas (probably Si-doped) with dimensions of around 1–2 nm maximum. The potential interest of these materials as photocatalysts, for the presence of a TiO₂-like nanoareas highly accessible by reactants, is discussed.     

Collaborative representation with reduced residual for face recognition

Collaboration representation-based classification (CRC) was proposed as an alternative approach to the sparse representation method with similar efficiency. The CRC is essentially a competition scheme for the training samples to compete with each other in representing the test sample, and the training class with the minimum representation residual from the test sample wins the competition in the classification. However, the representation error is usually calculated based on the Euclidean distance between a test sample and the weighted sum of all the same-class samples. This paper exploits alternative methods of calculating the representation error in the CRC methods to reduce the representation residual in a more optimal way, so that the sample classes compete with each other in a closer range to represent the test sample. A large number of face recognition experiments on three face image databases show that the CRC methods with optimized presentation residual achieve better performance than the original CRC, and the maximum improvement in classification accuracy is up to 12 %.     

A generalized method for correcting instrument spreading in gel permeation chromatography

A general method of chromatogram correction for skewed instrument spreading in gel permeation chromatography is presented. The correction method is so general that there is no restriction on the shape of the spreading function. It admits nonsymmetric, non-Gaussian as well as nonconvolution type. Aspects of solution techniques are discussed and an illustrative example is given to elucidate the method.     

Strain-Induced Deformation in Magnesia–Alumina Layered Composites

Ceramic beams are induced in situ to form complex shapes at elevated temperature without the application of an external stress. This process has been demonstrated for thin alumina substrates coated with a layer of magnesia. The internal strain causing the substrates to deform at elevated temperature arises as a consequence of strain mismatch accompanying the penetration of the coating into the substrate. The magnitude of the deformation depends on the amount of coating applied, on the thickness of the substrate, on the density of the substrate, and on the temperature. During exposure of the beams to elevated temperature, the magnesia coating reacts with the alumina substrate to form the spinel phase; the resulting volume change accompanying the phase transformation is likely the predominant driving force for deformation.