Corrosion protection of stainless steel by a new and low-cost organic coating obtained from cashew nutshell liquid

In this work, the corrosion protection of 316L steel was promoted by an electro-synthesized polymer obtained from the technical cashew nutshell liquid (t-CNSL). Spectroscopic techniques confirmed the polymer formation. The polymer was dispersed in the ethyl acetate solvent and used to form coatings on 316L steel substrates. The coated samples were subjected to electrochemical tests in a saline environment. The coated electrode with poly(t-CNSL) polymer was exposed to the corrosive medium for 24 days, and superior corrosion protection was observed compared with the uncoated sample. The open circuit potential measurements showed that the coated sample possessed a more positive corrosion potential when compared with the uncoated substrate. The electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results indicated that the coated electrode's polarization resistance (R_p) recorded ~1.0 MΩ cm² after 24 days of exposure. A decrease in polarization resistance was observed with the exposure time due to the presence of micropores in the t-CNSL coating. The polarization curves exhibited that the coated electrode with poly(t-CNSL) has lower corrosion current density and less negative corrosion potential than the uncoated steel electrode. Therefore, t-CNSL favors the manufacture of thin poly(t-CNSL) coatings for corrosion protection purposes besides being a low-cost material.     

Environmental benefits of parking‐integrated photovoltaics: a 222 kWp experience

The life cycle assessment of a grid‐connected, parking integrated, 222 kW_p cadmium telluride photovoltaic system has been performed. The system was built at the University of Murcia and has been monitored for 2.5 years (sampling data every 5 min). The detailed material inventory, the energy embedded in the system, the energy payback time, and the energy return factor of the facility have been obtained and are 6.31 TJ equivalent primary energy, 2.06 and 12.16years, respectively. The average performance ratio is 0.8 with a slight monthly variation. Additionally, the environmental benefits of the architectural integration (in this case parking integration) have been quantified using a standard methodology for the calculation of several environmental parameters. Finally, the environmental benefits of renewable energy generation because of the savings of producing the same amount of electricity by the Spanish grid system have been assessed. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solidification of Lead Tin and Lead Telluride Eutectic Alloys in Microgravity

The Brazilian Microgravity Program is mainly based on experiments carried out on sounding rockets. A solidification furnace, capable of producing temperatures up to 900 °C, was developed to process metal and semiconductor alloys in microgravity environment. This paper describes a solidification experiment made in this furnace during a parabolic flight, with two eutectic alloys. The behavior of the eutectic alloys PbSn with 26.1 Pb at. % composition, and PbTe with 10.9 Pb at. % composition were presented and compared with laboratory solidifications carried out in the same furnace and thermal cycle. It was concluded that the formation of dendritic structures in PbSn alloy is related to the presence of sedimentation and convective flow during solidification, and the size of these structures is connected to the solidification time. Thus, in the microgravity alloy, there was no formation of dendritic structures and the profile of solute distribution remained constant throughout the sample. For the PbTe eutectic alloy the microgravity conditions have not caused significant changes compared to the earth solidified sample.     

Boosting TiO2-anatase antimicrobial activity: Polymer-oxide thin films

TiO₂ incorporation into an isotactic polypropylene (iPP) polymeric matrix was achieved via a straightforward and cost-effective melting process using laboratory-made nanometric anatase-TiO₂ and an industrial polymer. The structural characteristics of the resulting nanocomposite thin films as a function of the inorganic component content were examined using wide and small angle X-ray scattering (WAXS/SAXS) and vibrational Raman spectroscopy. Electron scanning and transmission microscopy (SEM/TEM) studies were also performed to provide evidence of the nanometric dispersion of the oxide within the polymer matrix, showing the presence of average aggregates of ca. 80 nm. TiO₂ incorporation into the iPP renders self-sterilized nanocomposite films upon light excitation, the activity of which was tested against Gram negative (P. aeruginosa) and positive (E. faecalis) bacteria. TiO₂ displays maximum activity for a sample containing a 2 wt.% of anatase-TiO₂ irrespective of the microorganism nature. The antimicrobial activity of the nanocomposite films is significantly enhanced with respect to that of the oxide alone. This key fact is interpreted on physical basis with the help of a complete optical (UV–vis and photoluminescence) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) characterization.     

Mirror‐based reflection in AmbientTalk

This paper introduces a novel mechanism to perform intercession (a form of reflection) in an object‐oriented programming language with the goal of making the language extensible from within itself. The proposed mechanism builds upon a mirror‐based architecture, leading to a reusable reflective application programming interface that cleanly separates interface from implementation details. However, support for intercession has been limited in contemporary mirror‐based architectures. This is due to the fact that mirror‐based architectures only support reflection explicitly triggered by metaprograms, while intercession requires reflection implicitly triggered by the language interpreter. This work reconciles mirrors with intercession in the context of an actor‐based, object‐oriented programming language named AmbientTalk. We describe this language's full reflective architecture, highlighting its novel mirror‐based approach to reflect upon both objects and concurrently executing actors. Subsequently, we apply AmbientTalk's mirror‐based reflection to implement two language features, which crucially depend on intercession, to wit future‐type message passing and leased object references. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An ontology,intelligent agent-based framework for the provision of semantic web services

Intelligent agents and semantic web services are two technologies with great potential. Striking new applications can be developed by using the tools and techniques they provide. However, semantic web services need for an upper software entity able to deal with them and, on the other hand agent technology has historically suffered from a number of drawbacks that must be addressed. Integrating these two technologies in a joint environment can overcome their problems while strengthening their advantages. In this paper, the necessity for integrating these technologies and the potential benefits of their combination are analyzed. Based on this study, we present SEMMAS, an ontology-based framework for seamlessly integrating Intelligent Agents and Semantic Web Services. The basics of the framework are detailed and a proof-of-concept implementation described.     

Phosphoric and boric acid activation of pine sawdust

Chemical activation of pine sawdust using aqueous solutions of phosphoric and boric acid was studied. Thermogravimetric analyses of the impregnated lignocellulosic precursor as well as their reactivities are presented. The role of the activating agents in the thermal decomposition of the precursor and their effects on the development of porosity in activated carbons is discussed. The use of boric acid as activating agent and a final heat treatment temperature (HTT) of 600 °C produced some porosity and activated carbons with a surface area of 600 m² g^?1. With a HTT of 450 °C, molecular sieve‐like materials were produced. In contrast, phosphoric acid activation produced activated carbons with high surface areas. The amount of phosphoric acid retained in the precursor was, as expected, a function of the initial concentration as well as the impregnation time and temperature. The fact that the activated carbon porosity increases with the phosphoric acid content per gram of precursor was confirmed. The use of 6 M phosphoric acid solution and HTT of 450 °C produced the activated carbon with the highest surface area, about 1600 m² g^?1. The high degree of microporosity which developed in phosphoric acid‐activated carbons is related to the low reactivity during the thermal treatment of chemical activation. The presence of up to 10% oxygen during HTT with phosphoric acid activation caused only small textural changes. Copyright © 2003 Society of Chemical Industry     

Vicissitudes of autobiographical memories in a bilingual analysis.

Discusses repression in bilingual analyses, including repressed memories, transference, and dreams, as well as the whole associative process. As certain memories are more accessible in one language than the other, repression for bilingual individuals may be partly a function of linguistic accessibility. The concept of repression will therefore need to be reassessed in the context of these observations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Analytical determination of phosphatidylcholine: comparison of HPLC and enzymatic methods

Two analytical techniques for the quantitation of phosphatidylcholine in food samples, high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and enzymatic analysis, have been tested in different cocoa powder and lecithin samples. The results given by the two techniques are highly correlated, although there are systematic differences between them. This is attributed to analytical interference due to the nature of the samples.