Hard carbon coatings and boundary lubrication of steel parts

It is shown that the composition and structure of diamond-like carbon coatings deposited on friction surfaces of steel parts of lubricated friction units have a substantial effect on the degree of the orientation of molecules of a lubricant in a boundary film and, therefore, on the antifriction behavior of the lubricant under boundary lubrication conditions. We present the results of research carried out in recent years at the Department of Friction, Wear, and Lubrication of the Blagonravov Institute of Machine Science of the Russian Academy of Sciences in collaboration with the Chemical Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University and the 25th State Research Institute of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation in order to enhance the lubricity of oils, as well as to simplify and cheapen their compositions, which is of great importance from the viewpoint of ecology.     

Book reviews

Public Housing: Current Trends and Future Developments. edited by David Clapham and John English London: doom Helm, 1987.174pp. £22.50 cloth.

Shelter, Settlement and Development. edited by Lloyd Rodwin, Foreword by Dr Arcot Ramachandran, London: Allen & Unwin, 1987. 476 + xviipp. £30.

Building Communities the Co‐operative Way. by Johnston Birchall, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988 223pp. £14.95.

The Weller Way. The Story of the Welter Street"s Housing Co‐operative. by Alan McDonald, London: Faber and Faber 1987 222pp. £2.95.

The Property Owing Democracy. edited by John Doling, Janet Ford and Bruce Stafford: Gower, 1988. 259pp. £25.     

Experimental validation of the cooling loop for a passive system for removing heat from the AES-2006 protective envelope design for the Leningradskaya nuclear power plant site

Equipping new-generation nuclear power plants with passive means for controlling unanticipated accidents is one of the most promising directions for increasing safety, which is being implemented in the AES-2006 design for the site of the Leningradskaya nuclear power plant. An urgent problem is to obtain experimental validation of the passive system for removing heat from the protective envelope during unanticipated accidents with loss of coolant from the first loop in the case where the active systems fail. A particularity of the system is its state of constant readiness. The system functions with natural circulation of the coolant in both loops. Considering the importance of the passive heat removal system for ensuring the localizing properties of the protective envelope, OKBM Afrikantov has developed a large-scale stand and performed experimental investigations on validation of the effectiveness and serviceability of the cooling loop of a passive system for removing heat from the protective envelope. Translated from Atomnaya énergiya, Vol. 106, No. 3, pp. 148–152, March, 2009.     

Albendazole versus ricobendazole (albendazole-sulphoxide) against enteral and parenteral stages of Trichinella spiralis in mice

Comparison of the anthelmintic activity and pharmacokinetic profiles following albendazole (ABZ) and albendazole-sulphoxide (ricobendazole = RBZ) administration was made in a mouse model for helminthic infections. Swiss CD-1 mice were experimentally infected with Trichinella spiralis and treated with either ABZ or RBZ at 3 different stages of the parasite life-cycle: pre-adult (day 1 p.i.), migrating larvae (days 13, 14 and 15 p.i.) and encysted muscle larvae (days 34, 35 and 36 p.i.). Plasma concentrations of albendazole-sulphoxide (ABZSO) were measured in age matched non-infected mice by high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), after administration of ABZ or RBZ dosed at 50 mg ABZ equivalent kg-1. ABZSO pharmacokinetic profiles following ABZ or RBZ administration were similar, although the Tmax (1.83 +/- 0.30 and 0.41 +/- 0.28, respectively) were significantly different (P < 0.01). Against pre-adult stages ABZ was significantly (P < 0.05) more effective than RBZ when administered at 10 mg kg-1 (96.5% and 78.0% reduction with respect to the control group). Migrating and encysted larvae were less sensitive to both compounds and dose rates had to be increased to 100 mg kg-1 to achieve significant efficacies. Against parenteral stages, ABZ was significantly more effective than RBZ when both were given at 100 mg kg-1 (64.0% and 44.2% reduction against migrating larvae and 94.7% and 65.5% reduction against encysted larvae, respectively). In conclusion, RBZ was not more effective than ABZ against enteral and parenteral stages of Trichinella spiralis.     

Analysis of the efficiency of alternative methods for recycling iron-bearing metallic wastes

This article compares the total amount of fuel used in making steel from dispersed iron-bearing metallurgical wastes by different alternative technologies. Recycling such wastes by briquetting them and then smelting the briquets in blast furnaces is shown to be clearly more advantageous from an economic and environmental standpoint. The availability of excess pig-iron production capacity at a metallurgical plant allows the plant to recycle the given type of wastes by the most cost-effective means while also reducing emissions of greenhouse gases. Similar results can be obtained by smelting the briquets in cupolas.     

A new type of plastic scintillators with excellent radiation resistance

Radiation processes in plastic scintillators (PSs) are studied to establish that, first, macroradicals are the main quenchers of radiation-induced luminescence in the PSs, and, second, molecular oxygen initiates the decay of macroradicals. Based on these principles, PSs of a new type, whose radiation resistance is by an order of magnitude higher than that of standard polystyrene scintillators, were developed and synthesized. The special nanoporous morphology of the new PSs is a system of open pores and channels, which provide efficient penetration of molecular oxygen into the polymer bulk to produce the antirad effect.     

Thermodynamic analysis of the data on the solubility of nitrogen in gamma iron at a high pressure

An equation is proposed for an isotherm of the solubility of gaseous nitrogen in γ iron at a high gas pressure. This equation takes into account the partial volume of nitrogen in austenite. This equation is used to analyze the experimental data on the solubility of nitrogen in γ iron at a nitrogen pressure of up to 348 MPa and to estimate the experimental value of the Wagner interaction parameter in austenite at a temperature of 1273 K (? _N ^N = 6.3 ± 1.0). This value is compared to the theoretical value (? _N ^N = 9.0) that corresponds to the interaction potential between nitrogen atoms in austenite that was determined earlier using Mössbauer spectroscopy. The possible causes of the discrepancy between the experimental and calculated values of parameter ? _N ^N are discussed.     

A microwave spectroradiometer for the earth-based complex for thermal sounding of the stratosphere

A laboratory model of the spectroradiometer for the complex for thermal sounding of middle atmosphere has been designed. Based on the self-radiation spectra of the atmosphere measured by this instrument in the frequency range of 52.45–53.20 GHz, it is possible to retrieve the vertical temperature profile in the stratosphere and the upper troposphere. The temperature profiles obtained in the test cycle of round-theclock observations in the altitude range of 10–55 km are in good agreement with the satellite data.