High temperature compressive creep behavior of BaCe0.65Zr0.2Y0.15O3−δ in air and 4% H2/Ar

The proton conductive material BaCe_0.65Zr_0.2Y_0.15O_3−δ has great potential for the separation and purification of hydrogen. However, due to the demanding application conditions regarding both temperature and atmosphere, the elevated temperature structural stability needs to be characterized and warranted. Hence, in this research work, the elevated temperature compressive creep behavior of BaCe_0.65Zr_0.2Y_0.15O_3−δ in the temperature regime of 850°C to 1200°C was studied in both air and 4% H₂/Ar as a function of the applied stress. The results indicate different creep mechanisms depending on atmosphere and temperature range. While dislocation creep was observed in 4% H₂/Ar over the full range, a dislocation creep mechanism was observed in air at temperatures ≤1050°C and a diffusional creep mechanism at temperature ≥1100°C. A detailed microstructural analysis of the post-creep test specimens revealed that the exposure to oxygen leads to localized stoichiometric changes and a decomposition at the surface.     

Characteristics and organizational constraints of collaborative planning

Inter-departmental co-ordination is considered an important factor for the success of a company. Individuals predominantly plan according to the goals of their own department. In cooperative relationships, however, they also try to create possibilities for the optimization of the planning for the other individual. This paper analyzes the influence of organizational structures on inter-departmental collaborative demand planning. Psychological planning theories were applied to deduce typical collaborative planning requirements. This permitted an evaluation of the quality of inter-departmental planning processes. The following characteristics were identified: communication of anticipated events, knowledge of reference field characteristics, goal agreements, negotiation of alternatives, recognition of planning adequacy, monitoring and error diagnosis, co-ordination of opportunistic planning and finally common reflection and decision process for plan cancellation. For a field study three companies with different demand planning structures were selected. Using the critical incident technique, individuals were asked to describe events in which helping or hindering activities in the intra- and interdepartmental context occurred. These events were analyzed with respect to the derived characteristics of collaborative planning. The results indicated the usefulness of the chosen characteristics for describing crucial aspects of (un)successful collaborative planning. There was tentative evidence also that team-oriented structures including representatives of various departments are more suitable for the management of a high amount of planning uncertainty than department-oriented structures. Furthermore, relationships between organizational design, quality of collaborative planning, logistical performance and satisfaction with inter-departmental communication could be demonstrated.     

Reliable self‐deployment of distributed cloud applications

Cloud applications consist of a set of interconnected software elements distributed over several virtual machines, themselves hosted on remote physical servers. Most existing solutions for deploying such applications require human intervention to configure parts of the system, do not conform to functional dependencies among elements that must be respected when starting them, and do not handle virtual machine failures that can occur when deploying an application. This paper presents a self‐deployment protocol that was designed to automatically configure a set of software elements to be deployed on different virtual machines. This protocol works in a decentralized way, that is, there is no need for a centralized server. It also starts the software elements in a certain order, respecting important architectural invariants. This protocol supports virtual machine and network failures and always succeeds in deploying an application when faced with a finite number of failures. Designing such highly parallel management protocols is difficult; therefore, formal modeling techniques and verification tools were used for validation purposes. The protocol was implemented in Java and was used to deploy industrial applications. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Calcium silicate hydrates investigated by solid‐state high resolution H and Si nuclear magnetic resonance

This work focuses on phases formed during cement hydration under high pressure and temperature: portlandite Ca(OH)₂ (CH); hillebrandite Ca₂(SiO₃)(OH)₂ (β‐dicalcium silicate hydrate); calcium silicate hydrate (C-S-H); jaffeite Ca₆(Si₂O₇)(OH)₆ (tricalcium silicate hydrate); α‐C₂SH Ca₂(SiO₃)(OH)₂ (α‐dicalcium silicate hydrate); xonotlite Ca₆(Si₆O₁₇)(OH)₂ and kilchoanite Ca₆(SiO₄)(Si₃O₁₀). Portlandite and hillebrandite were synthesized and characterised by high resolution solid‐state ¹H and ²⁹Si Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. In addition, information from the literature concerning the last five phases was gathered. In certain cases, a schematic 3D‐structure could be determined. These data allow identification of the other phases present in a mixture. Their morphology was also observed by Scanning Electron Microscopy.     

Effect of uniaxial load on the sintering behaviour of 45S5 Bioglass powder compacts

The effect of a uniaxial compressive load on the sintering behaviour of 45S5 Bioglass^® powder compacts was investigated by means of sinter-forging. In comparison to free sintering, densification kinetics was enhanced and the degree of crystallization was reduced. Significantly lower sintering temperatures, i.e. 610 °C instead of 1050 °C, can be employed to obtain dense Bioglass^® parts when sintering is performed under uniaxial load. The effect of mechanical loading on microstructure (pore density, shape and orientation) is discussed. The results of the investigation are relevant in connection with the development of sintered Bioglass^® substrates for bone replacement devices, where both porosity and crystallinity of the part require careful control and low densification temperatures are sought.     

Discovery of adamantyl heterocyclic ketones as potent 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 inhibitors

11β‐Hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β‐HSD1) plays a key role in converting intracellular cortisone to physiologically active cortisol, which is implicated in the development of several phenotypes of metabolic syndrome. Inhibition of 11β‐HSD1 activity with selective inhibitors has beneficial effects on various conditions, including diabetes, dyslipidemia and obesity, and therefore constitutes a promising strategy to discover novel therapies for metabolic and cardiovascular diseases. A series of novel adamantyl heterocyclic ketones provides potent and selective inhibitors of human 11β‐HSD1. Lead compounds display low nanomolar inhibition against human and mouse 11β‐HSD1 and are selective with no activity against 11β‐HSD2 and 17β‐HSD1. Selected potent 11β‐HSD1 inhibitors show moderate metabolic stability upon incubation with human liver microsomes and weak inhibition of human CYP450 enzymes.     

Design, synthesis, and in vitro antifungal activity of 1-[(4-substituted-benzyl)methylamino]-2-(2,4-difluorophenyl)-3-(1H-1,2,4-triazol-1-yl)propan-2-ols

As part of our studies focused on the design of 1‐[((hetero)aryl‐ and piperidinylmethyl)amino]‐2‐phenyl‐3‐(1H‐1,2,4‐triazol‐1‐yl)propan‐2‐ols as antifungal agents, we report the development of new extended benzylamine derivatives substituted at the para position by sulfonamide or retrosulfonamide groups linked to alkyl or aryl chains. These molecules have broad‐spectrum antifungal activities not only against Candida spp., including fluconazole‐resistant strains, but also against a filamentous species (A. fumigatus). Concerning fluconazole resistance, selected compounds exhibit the capacity to overcome CDR and ERG11 gene upregulation and to maintain antifungal activity despite a recognized critical CYP51 substitution in C. albicans isolates. Synthesis, investigation of the mechanism of action by sterol analysis in a C. albicans strain, and structure–activity relationships (SARs) are reported.     

Synthesis and liquid‐crystalline properties of poly(4‐vinylpyridinium) bromides N‐substituted with dialkyloxyterphenyl groups

Poly(4‐vinylpyridine)s (P4VPs) fully and partially quaternized with dialkyloxyterphenyl groups were synthesized and characterized. These new polymers developed both liquid‐crystalline (LC) properties and a light emission (luminescence) in the blue region. The mesomorphic behavior of the polymers was initially characterized by differential scanning calorimetry and polarizing optical microscopy and was further corroborated by X‐ray diffraction analyses. The X‐ray diffraction patterns showed in the low‐angles region several equidistant diffraction peaks (d₀₀₁, d₀₀₂, d₀₀₃, …) and in the wide‐angles region a broad peak typical of nonordered mesophases. From d₀₀₁ and the length of the monomers, we deduced that the molecular arrangement in the mesophase corresponded to a double‐layered stacking of molecules with mesogens tilted with respect to the smectic plane and the backbones sandwiched between. In this arrangement, the different parts of mesogens are segregated from one another in layered domains. The longer smectic periods observed for copolymers indicated that the nonsubstituted pyridine cycles were sandwiched between two smectic layers. The emission spectra of these polymers were characterized by a broad signal centered at 365 nm. The combination of LC properties with luminescence in the polymers is interesting for the preparation of thin films with aligned emitters, particularly for linearly polarized light emission. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011