Electrochemical pitting behaviour of type 321 stainless steel in sulfide-containing chloride solutions

The pitting behaviour of type 321 stainless steel in sulfide-containing chloride aqueous environments was studied using cyclic potentiodynamic polarization. A well-established correlation between H₂S and Na₂S₂O₃ in the study of corrosion was applied, that is, H₂S was simulated by Na₂S₂O₃. The major factors affecting the pitting corrosion of type 321 stainless steel are the Cl^- concentration, solution pH and temperature. The results clearly indicate that both E_pit and E _pp decrease with increasing Cl^- concentration and temperature, while I _pass is more sensitive to temperature variation. E _pit decreased with decreasing pH in the range 2 < pH < 7.5. The surface morphology and chemistry of the corroded type 321 stainless steel resulting from anodic polarization in 0.01 M S₂O ₃ ^2- -containing Cl^- solution were analysed by XRD, SEM and EPMA. A higher concentration of sulfur was found in the pits, and the dark surface film was mainly composed of FeS and -Fe₂O₃. The results describe the pitting behaviour of type 321 stainless steel in sulfide-containing Cl^- aqueous environments.     

In Situ Confocal Raman Mapping Study of a Single Ti-Assisted ZnO Nanowire

In this work, we succeeded in preparing in-plane zinc oxide nanowires using a Ti-grid assisted by the chemical vapor deposition method. Optical spatial mapping of the Confocal Raman spectra was used to investigate the phonon and geometric properties of a single ZnO nanowire. The local optical results reveal a red shift in the non-polar E₂ high frequency mode and width broadening along the growth direction, reflecting quantum-confinement in the radial direction.     

Structure and characterization of the multilayered Ti-DLC films by FCVA

This work presents a simple approach for the synthesis of multilayered titanium-diamond-like carbon (multilayered Ti-DLC) films on a Si substrate by a filtered cathodic vacuum arc (FCVA) system using Ti-coated graphite target to supply carbon as well as the dopant titanium. This study focuses on the characterization of microstructure, surface roughness, mechanical strength and electrical resistivity. The results indicated that the multilayered Ti-DLC films exhibit better mechanical properties than the Ti-free and Ti-implanted DLC films, and both multilayered Ti- and Ti-implanted DLC films have similar Ti atomic concentrations. The surface roughness of the multilayered Ti-DLC films shows a value much lower than the other films. The film microstructure consists in TiC nanocrystals precipitated in the amorphous carbon matrix with a multilayered structure. Because of the high hardness and low roughness, the multilayered Ti-DLC films can be used as biomedical, wear-resistant and solid lubricant coatings.     

Preparation,intermolecular motion,and thermal properties of thiodiphenyl epoxy

The thiodiphenyl epoxy (THEP) was prepared by the 4,4′‐thiodiphenol (THDOL) and the epichlorohydrin (ECH) without using any NaOH or KOH catalysts. The THEP possessed weak hydrogen bonding in the cured THEP/DGEBA system. The intermolecular motion parameters k and q were 0.26 and ?168.5, respectively, which determined by the Gordon‐Taylor and Kwei equations. The soft sulfide linkage (? S? ) of the THEP degraded at lower temperature than cured DGEBA material, and further to form various thermal stable sulfate derivative chars. The char yields increased from 11.43 to 25.94 wt % and from 0.65 to 1.04 wt % in the nitrogen and air, respectively. Introduction of the THEP into the DGEBA could provide the antioxidation thermal property and improve the thermal stability of the DGEBA epoxy in the air. In the air atmosphere, the activation energies of the second thermal degradation were increased from 66.67 to 103.42 kJ/mol. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

Intermolecular force and thermal properties of the sulfonyl epoxy blends cured with DGEBA epoxy

The sulfonyl epoxy monomer (SEP) was synthesized and further to blend with the diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA). The glass transition temperature (T_g) of the SEP/DGEBA blended materials increased from 103.7 to 163.8°C. The cross‐linking density and polymer chain self‐association intra‐molecular action affected more than that the polymer–polymer intermolecular action (hydrogen bonding) in the SEP blended with the DGEBA materials. The excess stabilization energy in the overall stabilization was only 0.00145% (14.5 ppm), which indicated that the polymer‐polymer intermolecular action was weak. The thermal degradation of the SEP segments could form various sulfate derivatives at lower temperature and analyzed by the TGA/GC/Mass. The sulfate derivatives could generate the thermal stable chars, which provided the “shielding effect” and antioxidation property. Additionally, these chars could also improve the protective effect and inhibit the thermal‐oxidation decomposition under the air atmosphere. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010     

In Vitro Characterization of Neutralizing Hen Antibodies to Coxsackievirus A16

Coxsackievirus A16 (CA16) is one of the major causative agents of hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD). Children aged <5 years are the most affected by CA16 HFMD globally. Although clinical symptoms of CA16 infections are usually mild, severe complications, such as aseptic meningitis or even death, have been recorded. Currently, no vaccine or antiviral therapy for CA16 infection exists. Single-chain variable fragment (scFv) antibodies significantly inhibit viral infection and could be a potential treatment for controlling the infection. In this study, scFv phage display libraries were constructed from splenocytes of a laying hen immunized with CA16-infected lysate. The pComb3X vector containing the scFv genes was introduced into ER2738 Escherichia coli and rescued by helper phages to express scFv molecules. After screening with five cycles of bio-panning, an effective scFv antibody showing favorable binding activity to proteins in CA16-infected lysate on ELISA plates was selected. Importantly, the selected scFv clone showed a neutralizing capability against the CA16 virus and cross-reacted with viral proteins in EV71-infected lysate. Intriguingly, polyclonal IgY antibody not only showed binding specificity against proteins in CA16-infected lysate but also showed significant neutralization activities. Nevertheless, IgY-binding protein did not cross-react with proteins in EV71-infected lysate. These results suggest that the IgY- and scFv-binding protein antibodies provide protection against CA16 viral infection in in vitro assays and may be potential candidates for treating CA16 infection in vulnerable young children.     

Resveratrol Butyrate Esters Inhibit BPA-Induced Liver Damage in Male Offspring Rats by Modulating Antioxidant Capacity and Gut Microbiota

Resveratrol can affect the physiology or biochemistry of offspring in the maternal–fetal animal model. However, it exhibits low bioavailability in humans and animals. Fifteen-week SD pregnant female rats were orally administered bisphenol A (BPA) and/or resveratrol butyrate ester (RBE), and the male offspring rats (n = 4–8 per group) were evaluated. The results show that RBE treatment (BPA + R30) compared with the BPA group can reduce the damage caused by BPA (p < 0.05). RBE enhanced the expression of selected genes and induced extramedullary hematopoiesis and mononuclear cell infiltration. RBE increased the abundance of S24-7 and Adlercreutzia in the intestines of the male offspring rats, as well as the concentrations of short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in the feces. RBE also increased the antioxidant capacity of the liver by inducing Nrf2, promoting the expression of HO-1, SOD, and CAT. It also increased the concentration of intestinal SCFAs, enhancing the barrier formed by intestinal cells, thereby preventing BPA-induced metabolic disruption in the male offspring rats, and reduced liver inflammation. This study identified a potential mechanism underlying the protective effects of RBE against the liver damage caused by BPA exposure during the peri-pregnancy period, and the influence of the gut microbiota on the gut–liver axis in the offspring.     

Equivalence of Artificial Compressibility Method and Penalty-Function Method

Abstract

Due to an assumption made on the pressure-velocity coupling for the SIMPLE algorithm and its variants, the corrected velocity can be obtained from the corrected pressure. However, substituting these quantities into the momentum equations may result in failure to satisfy the momentum equations. Therefore, the equations should be solved iterativety to obtain better velocities, thus giving a more satisfactory solution to the equations. In this article an explicit corrector step is proposed that is imposed on the first corrected velocities, which are obtained from the existing algorithms. This new corrector step has been tested by three flow problems, driven cavity flow, backward-facing step flow, and rectangular tank flow, with different Reynolds numbers. With this additional corrector step imposed on the SIMPLEC and PISO algorithms, the results show that the number of iterations can be reduced drastically due to the much better satisfaction of the momentum equations. Considerable savings in computing effort can be gained.     

The development of an AGVS model by the union of the modulised floor-path nets

The purpose of this paper is to propose an easy and quick method for the development of an automated guided vehicle system (AGVS) model. It suggests that the AGVS model can be developed directly by the union of modulised floor-path nets without any modification. Several modulised floor-path nets for both uni- and bi-directional systems are established in this paper. To make sure that the complete model obtained by this method is robust, the modulised floor-path nets are required to possess several essential properties — safeness, boundedness, conservation, reachability and liveness. To keep these properties in the complete model after the union, three union rules and an union procedure are proposed.     

Experimental investigation of heat-transfer characteristics of aluminum-foam heat sinks

The demand of high speed and miniaturization of electronic components results in increased power dissipation requirement for thermal management. In this work, the effects of porosity (ε), pore density (PPI) and air velocity on the heat-transfer characteristics of aluminum-foam heat sinks are investigated experimentally. The phenomenon of non-local thermal equilibrium (NLTE) is also observed and reported. Results show that the Nu increases as the pore density increases, due to the fact that aluminum foam with a larger pore density has a larger heat-transfer area. The Nusselt number also increases with the increase of porosity due to the same reason. It is noted that temperatures of the solid and gas phases of the aluminum foam decrease as Reynolds number increases, caused by the increased convective heat-transfer rate at higher Reynolds number. The deduced temperature difference between the solid and gas phases clearly indicates the existence of non-local thermal equilibrium condition within the aluminum-foam heat sink. The increase of the porosity and the pore density enhances the phenomenon of non-local thermal equilibrium. The temperature difference increases with the decrease of Reynolds number and the distance away from the heat source.