Comparative physico-mechanical characteristics of micron powders of synthetic and natural diamonds and polycrystalline composite materials based on them

Physico-mechanical characteristics of micron powders of synthetic (SD 40/28) and natural (ND 40/28) diamonds and of polycrystalline composite materials based on them have been studied. Both the powders have been shown to meet the requirements of DSTU 3292-95 (State Standard of Ukraine). At the same time the abrasiveness of natural diamond is higher than that of synthetic diamond, while the grain density and specific surface is lower than that of synthetic diamond grains. The elastic characteristics of sintered polycrystalline composite materials (the Young modulus, shear modulus, bulk modulus, Poisson ratio, and wear resistance in stone working by friction) of a composite sintered from the natural diamond micron powder are higher, while the life at cyclic compression is somewhat lower as compared to a composite sintered from the synthetic diamond micron powder.     

One-iteration dejittering of digital video images

We propose several very fast algorithms to dejitter digital video images in one iteration. They are based on an essential disproportion of the magnitude of the second-order differences along the columns of a real-world image and all its jittered versions. The optimal row positions are found using non-smooth and possibly non-convex local criteria, applied on the second-order differences between consecutive rows. The dejittering iteration involves a number of steps equal to the number of the rows of the image. These algorithms are designed for gray-value and color natural images, as well as to noisy images. A reasonable version of these algorithms can be considered as parameter-free. We propose specific error measures to assess the success of dejittering. We provide experiments with random and structured jitter. The obtained results outperform by far the existing methods both in quality and in speed (the ours need around 1 second for a 512 × 512 image on Matlab). Our algorithms are a crucial step towards real-time dejittering of digital video sequences.     

氨基酸添加对吸水链霉菌5008发酵过程中有效霉素A合成的影响

氨基糖苷类抗生素的生物合成与氨基酸代谢密切相关,通过在吸水链霉菌5008发酵过程中分别添加9种不同种类氨基酸,研究了氨基酸对有效霉素A生物合成的影响。结果表明,在这9种氨基酸中,有7种氨基酸对有效霉素A产量有提升作用。其中异亮氨酸对产量提升幅度最大,与对照组相比,可以将产量提高约49%(16.76 g/L);同时发现甲硫氨酸对有效霉素A产量有着明显的抑制作用,与对照相比,将产量降低约25%(8.47 g/L);随后对添加氨基酸发酵过程中蛋白积累量,糖利用量以及有效霉素A前体合成相关碳代谢途径的酶活力情况进行检测,结果显示氨基酸能够影响碳代谢途径上关键酶的活性,导致碳代谢流向改变,从而促进有效霉素A前体的积累与有效霉素A的生物合成。     

Electrochemical behavior of electrodes comprising micro- and nano-sized particles of LiNi0.5Mn1.5O4: A comparative study

A comparative analysis of the electrochemical behavior and Li⁺ transport characteristics of thin-layer LiNi_0.5Mn_1.5O₄ intercalation electrodes comprised of micro- or nano-sized particles in standard Li salt solutions, was carried out and is reported herein. These electrodes were free of any conductive additives and polymeric binder in order to avoid their complex impact on the electrochemical response of the active mass. It was clearly established that the electrodes prepared from nanoparticles of the active mass show faster kinetics and a more reversible electrochemical behavior compared to the electrodes comprising microparticles.

The response of the nanoparticles to electrochemical techniques such as linear sweep voltammetry and potentiostatic intermittent titration (PITT) is characterized by high resolution. Thus D versus E could be calculated very precisely. It was encouraging to realize the good performance of the electrodes comprising nano-LiMn_1.5Ni_0.5O₄, in spite of their high surface area and their high operating voltage.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">Lesquerella fendleri</Emphasis> protein fractionation and characterization

Lesquerella fendleri is a promising new crop whose seed contains hydroxy FATG with potential industrial uses as well as substantial amounts of valuable gums. The defatted L. fendleri seeds also contain more than 30% protein. The objective of this study is to process and characterize this protein component for possible future uses in food. Hexane-defatted seed has more than 30% protein content. Defatted lesquerella meal was extracted sequentially with 0.5 M sodium chloride (2×), water, 70% ethanol, and 0.1 N sodium hydroxide (2×). Each sodium chloride extract was dialyzed against deionized water and centrifuged to separate the water-soluble fraction (albumin) from the salt-soluble fraction (globulin) before freeze-drying. The ethanol extract and the neutralized sodium hydroxide extracts (glutelin) were dialyzed against water and freeze-dried. Albumin had the highest proportion of lysine and sulfur amino acids per 16 g nitrogen among all the fractions analyzed. Glutelin and globulin accounted for the highest amount of protein nitrogen. SDS-PAGE of the reduced albumin, globulin, and glutelin showed the presence of several protein bands with M.W. ranging from 7 to 98 kDa. Nitrogen solubility of defatted lesquerella meal from pH 2 to 12 indicated a solubility minimum of 15% around pH 4.2 and a solubility of 75% at pH 11.5. Nonprotein nitrogen of defatted meal was 12% of total nitrogen. Defatted lesquerella meal has the potential for food use based on good nitrogen solubility and good amino acid composition.     

Rheological-dynamical model of concrete and its application on RC beams

Mechanics of Time-Dependent Materials - An improved analytical model based on rheological-dynamical analogy (RDA) is briefly explained and used for the analysis of concrete cylinders under...     

Efficacy of a commercial produce wash on bacterial contamination of lettuce in a food service setting

Many microorganisms (including a number of important foodborne pathogens) can be present on raw fruits and vegetables. Since these products are frequently eaten raw, any pathogens present represent a potential risk to the consumer. The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of a commercial produce wash with that of water for reducing the total bacterial population on lettuce when used by food service employees in university dining halls. Because this study was carried out in actual food service facilities during their daily operation, we used indigenous produce microflora instead of actual pathogens. Over the course of the study, more than 40 heads of lettuce were divided into thirds, and each section was analyzed for total plate count either before washing, after washing in water, or after washing in Victory produce wash. When initial contamination levels were > or = 100 CFU/g (n = 36 samples), reductions obtained with Victory produce wash (1.8 log CFU/g) were significantly larger (P = 0.0006) than those obtained with water (0.8 log CFU/g). Our results indicate that Victory produce wash is effective in reducing indigenous flora on lettuce during food service preparation. Our results also show that care must be taken in the analysis of microbial reduction data: only a slight reduction in total plate count (ca. 0.1 log CFU/g) and no significant difference in reductions (P = 0.84) were observed when all samples (irrespective of initial contamination level) were compared.     

Relationship of cell wall composition to in vitro cell wall digestibility of maize inbred line stems

The phenolic equipment of maize stem tissues was investigated in relation to the feeding value of the detergent fibre components. Sixteen maize inbred lines, including three brown‐midrib 3 mutants and their normal counterparts, were selected for highly divergent in vitro cell wall digestibility. These lines were grown during two years. Maize stems were analysed for detergent fibre concentration, esterified and etherified p‐hydroxycinnamic acids, lignin content and structure and in vitro digestibility. A large genotypic variation was found for neutral detergent fibre, cell wall phenolic composition and cell wall digestibility. Within the normal maize lines the in vitro neutral detergent fibre digestibility (IVNDFD) of stem fractions was negatively correlated with their Klason lignin content. A multiple regression model based on esterified p‐coumaric acid and lignin composition as two explanatory variates accounted for 58% of the IVNDFD variation. In this study, three normal maize inbred lines displaying a lignin content and a cell wall digestibility level close to those observed in the three bm3 lines could be detected, which opens up new breeding avenues. © 2000 Society of Chemical Industry     

Effects of alpha‐tocopherol addition to polymeric coatings on the UV and heat resistance of a fibrous collagen material—chrome‐free leather

The US is the world's 3rd largest hide producing country and currently produces approximately 35 million cattle hides annually. The majority of hides are tanned into leather, which is composed of collagen fibers interwoven into fibrous networks. Most leather products are constantly exposed to outdoor environments, therefore UV and heat resistance are very important qualities, particularly for nonchrome‐tanned (chrome‐free) leather. In recent years, we have focused on using environmentally friendly antioxidants that will improve the UV and heat resistance of chrome‐free leather. Tocopherols are well‐known antioxidants commonly used in the cosmetic and food industries. They are known as potent free radical scavengers and highly protective agents for collagen fibers against UV damage. We have investigated their potential to improve the UV and heat resistance of chrome‐free leather. Experiments were conducted by adding 5–12% α‐tocopherol to the polymeric topcoat on the grain of chrome‐free leather. The treated samples were tested in a weatherometer, where they were exposed to artificial sunlight. Colorfastness and mechanical property tests showed that α‐tocopherol significantly improved UV and heat resistance of leather. Dynamic mechanical tests showed that α‐tocopherol reduced the hardening effects on leather caused by UV irradiation. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Preparation and characterization of pH‐sensitive hydrogels based on chitosan,itaconic acid and methacrylic acid

Novel pH‐sensitive hydrogels based on chitosan, itaconic acid and methacrylic acid were prepared in two steps. Chitosan was first ionically crosslinked with itaconic acid, after which a free radical polymerization and crosslinking of the chitosan/itaconic acid network was performed by adding methacrylic acid and a crosslinker in order to achieve better mechanical properties and tunable swelling. The samples were characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, X‐ray diffraction, dynamic mechanical analysis and the swelling ratios of the hydrogels at various pH values (2.0–8.0). The hydrogel composition is found to have a great impact on the hydrogel structure, mechanical and thermal properties, morphology and swelling kinetics. The highly porous morphology of the gels is probably connected with the bulky chitosan/itaconic acid network which reduces the degree of crosslinking in the second step of the synthesis due to steric hindrances. The gels demonstrate substantial change in buffer absorbency with change of pH, low for acid buffers and the higher for pH values above 6 where the swelling is considerably slow, thus suggesting their strong candidature for use as oral drug‐delivery systems in the lower parts of the gastrointestinal tract and for drugs that require longer release times. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry