Effect of Supports and Promoters on the Performance of Ni-Based Catalysts in Ethanol Steam Reforming

Ethanol steam reforming (ESR) is one of the potential processes to convert ethanol into valuable products. Hydrogen produced from ESR is considered as green energy for the future and can be an excellent alternative to fossil fuels with the aim of mitigating the greenhouse gas effect. The ESR process has been well studied, using transition metals as catalysts coupled with both acidic and basic oxides as supports. Among various reported transition metals, Ni is an inexpensive material with activity comparable to that of noble metals, showing promising ethanol conversion and hydrogen yields. Additionally, different promoters and supports were utilized to enhance the hydrogen yield and the catalyst stability. This review summarizes and discusses the influences of the supports and promoters of Ni-based catalysts on the ESR process.     

Engineering New Microvascular Networks On-Chip: Ingredients,Assembly, and Best Practices

Tissue engineered grafts show great potential as regenerative implants for diseased or injured tissues within the human body. However, these grafts suffer from poor nutrient perfusion and waste transport, thus decreasing their viability post-transplantation. Graft vascularization is therefore a major area of focus within tissue engineering because biologically relevant conduits for nutrient and oxygen perfusion can improve viability post-implantation. Many researchers used microphysiological systems as testing platforms for potential grafts owing to an ability to integrate vascular networks as well as biological characteristics such as fluid perfusion, 3D architecture, compartmentalization of tissue-specific materials, and biophysical and biochemical cues. Although many methods of vascularizing these systems exist, microvascular self-assembly has great potential for bench-to-clinic translation as it relies on naturally occurring physiological events. In this review, the past decade of literature is highlighted, and the most important and tunable components yielding a self-assembled vascular network on chip are critically discussed: endothelial cell source, tissue-specific supporting cells, biomaterial scaffolds, biochemical cues, and biophysical forces. This paper discusses the bioengineered systems of angiogenesis, vasculogenesis, and lymphangiogenesis and includes a brief overview of multicellular systems. It concludes with future avenues of research to guide the next generation of vascularized microfluidic models.     

Proton-Detected Solid-State NMR of the Cell-Free Synthesized α-Helical Transmembrane Protein NS4B from Hepatitis C Virus

Proton-detected 100 kHz magic-angle-spinning (MAS) solid-state NMR is an emerging analysis method for proteins with only hundreds of microgram quantities, and thus allows structural investigation of eukaryotic membrane proteins. This is the case for the cell-free synthesized hepatitis C virus (HCV) nonstructural membrane protein 4B (NS4B). We demonstrate NS4B sample optimization using fast reconstitution schemes that enable lipid-environment screening directly by NMR. 2D spectra and relaxation properties guide the choice of the best sample preparation to record 2D ¹H-detected ¹H,¹⁵N and 3D ¹H,¹³C,¹⁵N correlation experiments with linewidths and sensitivity suitable to initiate sequential assignments. Amino-acid-selectively labeled NS4B can be readily obtained using cell-free synthesis, opening the door to combinatorial labeling approaches which should enable structural studies.     

An optimization method based on the evolutionary and topology approaches to reduce the mass of composite wind turbine blades

In optimization of transient problems, a robust, stable, and efficient numerical scheme for time integration is of much importance. Recently, the mixed Lag     

Macrophage Immunomodulation Through New Polymers that Recapitulate Functional Effects of Itaconate as a Power House of Innate Immunity

Itaconate (ITA) is an emerging powerhouse of innate immunity with therapeutic potential that is limited in its ability to be administered in a soluble form. A library of polyester materials that incorporate ITA into polymer backbones resulting in materials with inherent immunoregulatory behavior is developed. Harnessing hydrolytic degradation release from polyester backbones, ITA polymers result in the mechanism specific immunoregulatory properties on macrophage polarization in vitro. In a functional assay, the polymer-released ITA inhibits bacterial growth on acetate. Translation to an in vivo model of biomaterial associated inflammation, intraperitoneal injection of ITA polymers demonstrate a rapid resolution of inflammation in comparison to a control polymer silicone, demonstrating the value of sustained biomimetic presentation of ITA.     

A study of the local site effects on the ground response for the city of Eskişehir,Turkey

Bulletin of Engineering Geology and the Environment - Local soil characteristics play a key role in determining soil-structure interaction and reliability of the superstructure behavior under...     

Shaping the Toroidal Section of End Mills

The shaping of the toroidal cutting section of end mills is considered. Methods are devised for selecting the positional parameters in shaping the helical rake surface on the toroidal section. Relations are established between the geometric parameters of the end mill in the toroidal section.     

Theoretical and practical implications of creep curve shape analyses for 7010 and 7075

Over tensile stress ranges giving creep lives up to 2000 hours at 373 to 463 K, the creep and creep fracture properties of 7010 are compared with results recorded for 7075 and other precipitation-hardened aluminum alloys. Using the ϕ methodology to quantify the systematic variations in creep curve shape with changing test conditions, the behavior patterns displayed by the different alloys are shown to depend on the extent to which precipitate coarsening causes a progressive loss of creep strength with increasing test duration and temperature. The ϕ relationships also introduce new approaches for rationalization and interpretation of creep data sets, based on the activation energy for lattice diffusion in the alloy matrices and the yield stress or UTS at the creep temperatures.     

Volumetric out-of-furnace heat treatment of 3600-M3 decomposers

Specifications require that all the welds in 12-m-diam. decomposers with a capacity of 3600 m³ be subjected to high-temperature tempering before going into service in order to alleviate the stresses from the welding operation. Specialists at the organizations VNIIPTkhimnefteapparatury and VNIImontazhspetsstroi have proposed out-of-furnace volumetric (complete) of the assembled decomposer with the use of special heaters. The use of this heating method has shortened assembly operations while providing the welds with a highquality heat treatment and reducing the stresses overall (including welding stresses, stresses from assembly of the decomposer, etc.) The technology ensures uniform heating of the housing of the decomposer and provides for close control over the process. The experience gained in heat-treating decomposers can also be used in the construction of other containers that come into contact with corrosive media. __________ Translated from Metallurg, No. 3, pp. 61–64, March, 2006.     

Atomistic simulations of grain boundary migration in copper

While the motion of twist boundaries can be readily studied by atomistic simulations with molecular dynamics (MD) under the action of an elastic driving force, the approach fails for tilt boundaries. This is due to the interaction of the elastic stress with the grain boundary (GB) structure, which causes plastic strain by GB sliding. A novel concept, the orientation correlated driving force, is introduced to circumvent this problem. It is shown that this concept can be successfully applied to the study of the migration of tilt boundaries. The migration behavior of several twist and tilt GBs was investigated. The transition from low-to high-angle boundaries can be captured, and a structural transition of tilt boundaries was found at high temperatures, which also affected the migration behavior. The results compare well with experimental results of the motion high-angle boundaries, but for low-angle boundaries, the agreement is poor. This article is based on a presentation made in the “Hillert Symposium on Thermodynamics & Kinetics of Migrating Interfaces in Steels and Other Complex Alloys,” December 2–3, 2004, organized by The Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden.