An investigation into the mechanical and tribological properties of plasma electrolytic oxidation and hard-anodized coatings on 6082 aluminum alloy

A ceramic coating on AA6082 aluminum alloy prepared by plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO) has been studied and compared against a sulphuric acid hard-anodized coating on the same alloy. Surface morphology and microstructures of the coatings have been examined by scanning electron microscopy. X-ray diffraction is used to determine the phase composition of the coatings. The adhesion strength of the coatings has been evaluated using a scratch test method. The coating's mechanical properties such elastic modulus and hardness data have been generated using a dynamic ultra-microhardness tester. Sliding wear tests with different loading rates are performed on the coatings in order to assess their wear resistance. Test results show that the PEO treated samples exhibit significantly better mechanical properties compared to hard anodized samples. The elastic modulus and hardness of the PEO coating are 2-3 times greater than of the hard anodized coating and subsequently, an improved wear resistance of the PEO coating has been achieved. The mechanical properties of the coatings and their relations to their tribological performance are discussed.     

Electrical properties of conductive Ge nanocrystal thin films fabricated by low temperature in situ growth

Thin films composed of Ge nanocrystals embedded in an amorphous SiO(2) matrix (Ge-NC TFs) were prepared using a low temperature in situ growth method. Unexpected high p-type conductivity was observed in the intrinsic Ge-NC TFs. Unintentional doping from shallow dopants was excluded as a candidate mechanism of hole generation. Instead, the p-type characteristic was attributed to surface state induced hole accumulation in NCs, and the hole conduction was found to be a thermally activated process involving charge hopping from one NC to its nearest neighbor. Theoretical analysis has shown that the density of surface states in Ge-NCs is sufficient to induce adequate holes for measured conductivity. The film conductivity can be improved significantly by post-growth rapid thermal annealing and this effect is explained by a simple thermodynamic model. The impact of impurities on the conduction properties was also studied. Neither compensation nor enhancement in conduction was observed in the Sb- and Ga-doped Ge-NC TFs, respectively. This could be attributed to the fact that these impurities are no longer shallow dopants in NCs and are much less likely to be effectively activated. Finally, the photovoltaic effect of heterojunction diodes employing such Ge-NC TFs was characterized in order to demonstrate its functionality in device implementation.     

Ancylostoma duodenale is responsible for hookworm infections among pregnant women in the rural plains of Nepal

PURPOSE: To evaluate retrospectively the optimum dosage of irradiation for Kimura's disease. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Twenty patients with Kimura's disease were treated with radiotherapy. The sex ratio was 19 males to 1 female. The mean ages at onset, initial treatment, and radiotherapy were 26.2, 29.5, and 32.2 years, respectively. Radiotherapy was mainly applied for residual or recurrent tumors. The eosinophil count increased by more than 10% in 18 of the 20 patients. In most instances, irradiation was given through a single field with dosages ranging from 20 to 44 Gy. RESULTS: At the completion of radiotherapy, a marked response in tumor size was noted in all cases. The minimum follow-up was 48 months. Local control was obtained in 23 of 31 lesions (74.1%). At dosages of < or =25 Gy, 26-30 Gy, and > 30 Gy, local control was obtained in 2 of 8 (25.0%), 9 of 10 (90.0%), and 12 of 13 sites (92.3%), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Radiotherapy is an effective treatment for Kimura's disease. This strongly suggests that no surgical procedure other than a biopsy should be carried out. The radiation field should be limited to the lesion and swelling of the adjacent lymph nodes as much as possible, with a optimum dosage of 26-30 Gy regardless of tumor size.     

Economic Transmission Planning Model Suitable for a Regulated Network Service Provider

Conventional transmission planning models are subject to constant debate in the context of competitive markets, due to the functional unbundling of transmission sector from generation and distribution sectors and due to the new environment regulations. A value-based transmission planning model is proposed, suitable for an unbundled transmission network service provider having no assets in the generation sector. The model minimizes the long-term transmission investment costs and the expected social costs incurred to its clients, energy producers, and consumers, in the power auctions due to transmission bottlenecks. The uncertainties involved when incorporating short-term market models into long-term planning models are modeled with probabilistic representations for the bid prices, the component availabilities, and the hourly load variations. These features make this model suitable in the new environment paradigm. Generalized Benders decomposition technique with nonsequential Monte Carlo technique is employed to solve the final stochastic mixed-integer optimization model. Case studies are given to illustrate the performance of this model by implementing it in the modified Garver’s six-bus test system and the IEEE 24-bus reliability test system for a single planning year.     

Sensory quality and food safety of boneless chicken breast portions thawed rapidly by submersion in hot water

Boneless chicken breast portions were thawed by submersion in hot water (60 °C) and compared to refrigerator thawing. Thawing in hot water was significantly quicker (2–8.5 min) than refrigerator thawing (10–15.5 h). Thawing time in hot water increased with an increase in meat thickness. Sensory panelists could not distinguish a difference between hot water versus refrigerator thawed and subsequently grilled chicken breast portions. A model for Salmonella growth predicts that thawing chicken breast at the slowest rate in this study (0.5 °C/min) would result in a lower increase in the Salmonella concentration than that expected for room temperature storage for 4 h.     

Prevalence of blindness and cataract surgery in Nepal

Monoclonal antibodies against the myosin heavy chain of Amoeba proteus were obtained and used to localize myosin inside amoebae and to clone cDNAs encoding myosin. Myosin was found throughout the amoeba cytoplasm but was more concentrated in the ectoplasmic regions as determined by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy. In symbiont-bearing xD amoebae, myosin was also found on the symbiosome membranes, as checked by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy and by immunoelectron microscopy. The open reading frame of a cloned myosin cDNA contained 6,414 nucleotides, coding for a polypeptide of 2,138 amino acids. While the amino-acid sequence of the globular head region of amoeba's myosin had a high degree of similarity with that of myosins from various organisms, the tail region building a coiled-coil structure did not show a significant sequence similarity. There appeared to be at least three different isoforms of myosins in amoebae, with closely related amino acids in the globular head region.     

Switching Transient Analysis and Characterization of an E-Mode B-Doped GaN-Capped AlGaN DH-HEMT with a Freewheeling Schottky Barrier Diode (SBD)

Journal of Electronic Materials - This paper presents a systematic study of Al0.23Ga0.77N/GaN/AlxGa1?xN double-heterojunction high-electron-mobility transistors (DH-HEMTs) with a boron-doped...     

Nano-SiO<Subscript><Emphasis Type="Bold">2</Emphasis></Subscript>: An Efficient Catalyst for the Synthesis of Some new Benzimidazoles - NMR Spectral Characterization

Some benzimidazoles were designed and synthesized by a new route using nano-SiO₂ as a highly efficient catalyst. Synthesized compounds were characterized by ¹H and ¹³C-NMR spectral studies. The significant features of this nanocatalyst are high yield of products, short reaction times, green reaction media and a vast range of substrates usage. Proton and ¹³C chemical shift of the synthesized compounds were calculated. To further confirm the compound formation single crystal XRD analysis was made and discussed for 2-(1H-benzimidazol-2-yl) phenol (1). The crystal packing features four π– π stacking interactions involving the imidazole ring, fused benzene ring and attached benzene ring system [centroid–centroid distances = 3.6106 (17), 3.6108 (17), 3.6666 (17) and 3.6668 (17) Å]. Optimization of compound 1 was performed by DFT at B3LYP/6-31G (d, p) using Gaussian-03. All these XRD data are in good agreement with the theoretical values. However, from the theoretical values it is found that most of the optimized bond lengths, bond angles and dihedral angles are slightly higher than the XRD values.     

氧气体积分数对气调保鲜猪肉品质的影响

将从无锡当地市场购买的新鲜猪肉装入每盒分别含5％，15％，25％，35％，45％，55％的O2与20％的CO2的包装盒内，在4℃下储存8d。测定样品中的TVBN值，TBARs值，颜色分值，感官评定值和微生物总数，结果表明：猪肉气调保鲜时氧气的较好配比为45％和55％，然而，TBARs值在45％O2时比在55％O2时要低。因此，45％O2和20％CO2气体混合物可作为最适宜的组合气体来包装新鲜猪肉。     

The effect of post-treatment of a high-velocity oxy-fuel Ni-Cr-Mo-Si-B coating Part I: Microstructure/corrosion behavior relationships

The microstructure and aqueous corrosion characteristics of a Ni-Cr-Mo-Si-B high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) coating have been assessed. It has been shown that postprocessing by vacuum fusion has a significant effect on the coating microstructure by increasing the type and concentration of hard phase particles. The principal hard phases in the as-sprayed condition and vacuum-sealed condition are chromium carbides, whereas molybdenum-containing boride phases are also present after vacuum fusion. Vacuumfusion post-treatment eliminates splat boundaries, which can act as sites, where preferential corrosion can occur and, hence, the dominant corrosion mechanisms change. In as-sprayed and vacuum-sealed coatings, localized attack at splat particle boundaries and crevice corrosion dominate, whereas in vacuum-fused coating, the principal mechanism of corrosion is “micropitting” as a result of the hard phase loss.