A comparative study of the fretting fatigue behavior of 4340 steel and PH 13-8 Mo stainless steel

The fretting fatigue behavior of two high strength structural steels, PH 13-8 Mo stainless steel and quenched and tempered 4340 steel, is investigated. Both were heat treated to a similar hardness (43-44 HRC), comparable to the condition used in structural components. Both materials experienced significant reductions in fatigue strength due to fretting, with PH 13-8 Mo stainless steel exhibiting a greater susceptibility to fretting than 4340 steel, when operating in the mixed fretting regime. The use of fretting pads with different surface profiles showed that contact geometry did not significantly influence the fretting fatigue behavior of either steel for the range of loading conditions considered. The fretting fatigue lives are discussed in light of the low cycle fatigue and crack growth rate behavior of these steels. The life trends in fretting fatigue correlate more closely to the low cycle fatigue behavior.     

The sequence of a 23·4kb segment on the right arm of chromosome VII from Saccharomyces cerevisiae reveals CLB6, SPT6, RP28A and NUP57 genes,a ty3 element and 11 new open reading frames

The DNA sequence of 23427bp from the right arm of chromosome VII of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is reported. The sequence contains 18 open reading frames (ORFs). Four of these are identical to genes already known. G5970 corresponds to the CLB6 gene. G6169 is identical to the SPT6 gene. G6178 represents the RPS28A gene and G6320 corresponds to the 3′-region from the NUP57 gene. Four ORFs (G5978, G5982, G5984, G5995) belong to a Ty3-1 element. A further ORF (G5975) encodes a tRNA^cys. The other ORFs revealed no significant similarity to any known gene. The DNA and protein sequences have been deposited in the EMBL Data bank. They are available under the following accession numbers: ORF G 5970, G 5975, G 5978, G 5982, G 5984, G 5995, G 5999, G 6140, G 6145, G 6150, G 6153, G 6163, G 6166, G 6169, G 6172, G 6178, G 6320; DNA sequence accession Z72894/ X70436/ X72890, M34549, —, Z72895, Z72896, Z72897, Z72898, Z72899, Z72899, Z72899/ M34391, Z72902, Z72903/ M96570, Z72904/ X83099/ X81155; Protein sequence accession S64417/ S43736, S41736, —, S64417, S64419, S64420, S64421, S64422, S64423, S64423/ A36468, S64425, S64426/ A46703, S64428 /S51799/ S55976.     

Effect of As4/Ga flux ratio on electrical properties of NID GaAs layers grown by MBE

The effect of the As4/Ga flux ratio R on NID GaAs layers has been studied when the MBE growth chamber is used without baking after reloading the arsenic cells, in order to increase the productivity of the system. In these conditions a change from p- to n-type is observed when R is varied from 1.8 to 14. Satisfactory p-type material is obtained at R ? 3 (p = 2.0 × 1014 cm?3, ?77 K = 6200 cm2 V?1 s?1). The maximum n-type mobility occurs at R = 5.8. Photoluminescence spectroscopy confirms the effect of R on the incorporation of residual impurities.     

Recellularization and Integration of Dense Extracellular Matrix by Percolation of Tissue Microparticles

Cells embedded in the extracellular matrix of tissues play a critical role in maintaining homeostasis while promoting integration and regeneration following damage or disease. Emerging engineered biomaterials utilize decellularized extracellular matrix as a tissue-specific support structure; however, many dense, structured biomaterials unfortunately demonstrate limited formability, fail to promote cell migration, and result in limited tissue repair. Here, a reinforced composite material of densely packed acellular extracellular matrix microparticles in a hydrogel, termed tissue clay, that can be molded and crosslinked to mimic native tissue architecture is developed. Hyaluronic acid-based hydrogels are utilized, amorphously packed with acellular cartilage tissue particulated to ≈125–250 microns in diameter and defined a percolation threshold of 0.57 (v/v) beyond which the compressive modulus exceeded 300 kPa. Remarkably, primary chondrocytes recellularize particles within 48 h, a process driven by chemotaxis, exhibit distributed cellularity in large engineered composites, and express genes consistent with native cartilage repair. In addition, broad utility of tissue clays through recellularization and persistence of muscle, skin, and cartilage composites in an in vivo mouse model is demonstrated. The findings suggest optimal material architectures to balance concurrent demands for large-scale mechanical properties while also supporting recellularization and integration of dense musculoskeletal and connective tissues.     

In vitro activity of the new fluoroquinolone CP-99,219

The in vitro activity of the new fluoroquinolone CP-99,219 [7-(3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexyl)naphthyridone] was compared with those of four other quinolones against 541 gram-negative, 283 gram-positive, and 70 anaerobic bacterial isolates. CP-99,219 inhibited 90% of many isolates in the family Enterobacteriaceae at a concentration of < or = 0.25 micrograms/ml (range, < 0.008 to 1 microgram/ml), an activity comparable to those of tosufloxacin and sparfloxacin and two times greater than that of temafloxacin. Ninety percent of the Proteus vulgaris, Providencia rettgeri, Providencia stuartii, and Serratia marcescens isolates were inhibited by 0.5 to 2 micrograms of CP-99,219 per ml. CP-99,219 inhibited 90% of the Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Haemophilus influenzae isolates at 1 and 0.015 micrograms/ml, respectively. The compound inhibited methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus at 0.06 micrograms/ml, whereas a ciprofloxacin concentration of 1 microgram/ml was required to inhibit these organisms. CP-99,219 inhibited 90% of methicillin-resistant S. aureus isolates at a concentration of < or = 4 micrograms/ml, while ciprofloxacin and temafloxacin had MICs against these isolates of > 16 micrograms/ml. Streptococci were inhibited by < or = 0.25 micrograms/ml, an activity comparable to that of tosufloxacin. CP-99,219 was eight times more active than ciprofloxacin against Streptococcus pneumoniae. Bacteroides species were inhibited by CP-99,219 at a concentration of 2 micrograms/ml, whereas inhibition of these species required 4- and 16-microgram/ml concentrations of tosufloxacin and ciprofloxacin, respectively. The MBCs of CP-99,219 ranged from two to four times the MICs, and inoculum size had a minimal effect on MIC. CP-99,219 was active against P. aeruginosa at pH 5.5, with only a fourfold increase in MIC compared with values obtained at pH 7.5. The addition of up to 9 mM Mg(2+) increased the MIC range from 0.03 to 0.06 microgram/ml to 0.12 to 0.5 microgram/ml. In view of its excellent in vitro activity against both gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, CP-99,219 merits further study to determine it's clinical pharmacologic properties and potential for therapeutic use.     

Evaluation of various Bacillus coagulans isolates for the production of high purity L-lactic acid using defatted rice bran hydrolysates

Defatted rice bran (DRB) constitutes an abundant by-product stream, generated during rice milling and subsequent bran oil extraction. Enzymatic hydrolysis of starch and protein content in DRB was optimised in terms of solid loading. Among the four solid loadings evaluated (10%, 15%, 20% and 25%), the hydrolysate derived from 20% solids resulted in the highest concentration of glucose (82.3 g L⁻¹) and free amino nitrogen (234.8 mg L⁻¹). The fermentability of the hydrolysate was evaluated via screening of sixteen isolates. All the strains were able to grow and produce high purity L-lactic acid, utilising the DRB as sole carbon and nutrient source. Among the studied strains, the Bacillus coagulans A107 isolate presented the most promising results in terms of final lactic acid concentration (75.9 g L⁻¹), yield (0.90 g g⁻¹) and productivity (2.7 g L⁻¹ h⁻¹). The results of this study indicate that DRB could be employed as an inexpensive, alternative substrate for L-lactic acid production.     

Curvature-mediated interactions between membrane proteins

Membrane proteins can deform the lipid bilayer in which they are embedded. If the bilayer is treated as an elastic medium, then these deformations will generate elastic interactions between the proteins. The interaction between a single pair is repulsive. However, for three or more proteins, we show that there are nonpairwise forces whose magnitude is similar to the pairwise forces. When there are five or more proteins, we show that the nonpairwise forces permit the existence of stable protein aggregates, despite their pairwise repulsions.