One‐Pot/Four‐Step/Palladium‐Catalyzed Synthesis of Indole Derivatives: The Combination of Heterogeneous and Homogeneous Systems

One‐pot, four‐step syntheses of indoles using both solid‐supported heterogeneous and homogeneous palladium catalysts and reagents were carried out. Such a combination of these two‐phase catalysts and reagents causes a dramatic increase in yield, and it is a simple process. The presented methodology is effective for four‐step reactions to provide various functionalized indoles.     

Evaluation of hydrogen absorption behaviour during acid etching for surface modification of commercial pure Ti, Ti-6Al-4V and Ni-Ti superelastic alloys

The hydrogen absorption behaviour during acid etching for the surface modification of commercial pure Ti, Ti-6Al-4V and Ni-Ti superelastic alloys has been investigated on the basis of the surface morphology, electrochemical behaviour and hydrogen thermal desorption analysis. To simulate the conventional acid etching for the improvement of the biocompatibility of Ti alloys, the specimens are immersed in 1 M HCl, 1 M H₂SO₄ or 0.5 M HCl + 0.5 M H₂SO₄ aqueous solution at 60 °C. Upon immersion, commercial pure Ti absorbs substantial amounts of hydrogen irrespective of the type of solution. In H₂SO₄ or HCl + H₂SO₄ solutions, the hydrogen absorption occurs for a short time (10 min). For Ti-6Al-4V alloy, no hydrogen absorption is observed in HCl solution, whereas hydrogen absorption occurs in other solutions. For Ni-Ti superelastic alloy, the amount of absorbed hydrogen is large, resulting in the pronounced degradation of the mechanical properties of the alloy even for an immersion time of 10 min, irrespective of the type of solution. The hydrogen absorption behaviour is not necessarily consistent with the morphologies of the surface subjected to corrosion and the shift of the corrosion potential. The hydrogen thermal desorption behaviour of commercial pure Ti and Ni-Ti superelastic alloy are sensitively changed by acid etching conditions. The present results suggest that the evaluation of hydrogen absorption is needed for each condition of acid etching, and that the conventional acid etching often leads to hydrogen embrittlement.     

Evaluation of hydrogen absorption properties of Ti–0.2 mass% Pd alloy in fluoride solutions

The hydrogen absorption properties of Ti–0.2 mass% Pd (Ti–0.2Pd) alloy in 2.0% and 0.2% acidulated phosphate fluoride (APF) and neutral 2.0% NaF solutions (25 °C) has been evaluated by hydrogen thermal desorption analysis. During the early stage of immersion (120 h) in the 2.0% APF solution, the amount of absorbed hydrogen was lower than 500 mass ppm. A thermal desorption of hydrogen primary appearing with a peak at 500–600 °C and a broad desorption ranging from 100 to 400 °C were observed. In the 0.2% APF solution, the amount of absorbed hydrogen saturated at 100–200 mass ppm; the thermal desorption of hydrogen appeared with a single peak at 550 °C. In the 2.0% NaF solution, hydrogen absorption was negligible even after 1000 h of immersion, although corrosion pits were observed. The results of the present study suggest that the hydrogen absorption of Ti–0.2Pd alloy, as compared with commercial pure titanium, is suppressed in fluoride solutions.     

Pervaporation via silicon-based membranes: Correlation and prediction of performance in pervaporation and gas permeation

Pervaporation (PV) is a membrane technology that holds great promise for industrial applications. To better understand the PV mechanism, PV dehydrations of various types of organic solvents (methanol, ethanol, iso-propanol, tert-butanol, and acetone) were performed on five types of organosilica and two types of silicon carbide-based membranes, all with different pore sizes. Water permeance was dependent on the types of organic aqueous solutions, which suggested that organic solvents penetrated the pores and hindered the permeation of water. In addition, water permeance of various types of membranes in PV was well correlated with hydrogen permeance in single-gas permeation. Furthermore, a clear correlation was obtained between the permeance ratio in PV and that in single-gas permeation, which was confirmed via the modified-gas translation model. These correlations make it possible to use single-gas permeation properties to predict PV performance.     

Indentation contact behavior of copper-graphite particulate composites: Correlation between the contact parameters and the electrical resistivity

The elastoplastic contact surface deformations of copper-graphite particulate composites are examined in instrumented Vickers/spherical indentation tests. The composites include various contents of metallic Cu-particles with various sizes and shapes originated from the starting powders, that are mixed with flaky natural graphite having various sizes. The elastoplastic surface deformations of the composites are characterized in term of the elastic modulus E′, contact hardness H, and the relative residual depth ξ_r of hardness impression. The surface deformations of the composites are well correlated to their microstructures and electrical resistivities. It is concluded that the evolution of the percolation structures of Cu-phases is essential in controlling the electrical resistivity and the plastic ductility of the composite.     

Current Concepts of Stem Cell Therapy for Chronic Spinal Cord Injury

Chronic spinal cord injury (SCI) is a catastrophic condition associated with significant neurological deficit and social and financial burdens. It is currently being managed symptomatically with no real therapeutic strategies available. In recent years, a number of innovative regenerative strategies have emerged and have been continuously investigated in clinical trials. In addition, several more are coming down the translational pipeline. Among ongoing and completed trials are those reporting the use of mesenchymal stem cells, neural stem/progenitor cells, induced pluripotent stem cells, olfactory ensheathing cells, and Schwann cells. The advancements in stem cell technology, combined with the powerful neuroimaging modalities, can now accelerate the pathway of promising novel therapeutic strategies from bench to bedside. Various combinations of different molecular therapies have been combined with supportive scaffolds to facilitate favorable cell–material interactions. In this review, we summarized some of the most recent insights into the preclinical and clinical studies using stem cells and other supportive drugs to unlock the microenvironment in chronic SCI to treat patients with this condition. Successful future therapies will require these stem cells and other synergistic approaches to address the persistent barriers to regeneration, including glial scarring, loss of structural framework, and immunorejection.     

Mixing in multiple-impeller stirred tank reactors with boiling liquids

Mixing in a boil-off mechanically stirred tank reactor with multiple impellers was examined. Power consumption and gas hold-up were measured in boiling water in a 0.2 m i.d. stirred tank reactor with three four-pitched blade downflow disk turbines. Vapour was generated from both the immersed ring heater and the impellers. At low vapour generation rates, vapour was mainly generated from the impellers rather than from the heater, whereas nucleation occurred at the heater instead of the impeller at higher vapour generation rates. The mechanical power consumption decreased due to vapour generation. The change in boiling-to-non-boiling mechanical power ratio with varying impeller rotational speed and boiling rate was complicated and not monotonous except at higher impeller speeds and boiling rates. The gas hold-ups increased with increasing vapour generation rate but were rather small as compared to those in cold gas dispersing systems. Empirical correlations for power consumption and gas hold-up in boiling liquids were developed using the present experimental data.     

Ultrafine grain formation in face centered cubic metals during severe plastic deformation

The evolution mechanisms of new high-angle boundaries as well as ultrafine grains at large strains were studied by means of multidirectional forging (MDF) of pure copper at low temperature and aluminum alloy at high temperature, where dynamic recovery operates as a main restoration process. The structural changes can be characterized by the evolution of deformation bands such as microshear or kink bands at moderate strains. Multidirectional forging accelerates the evolution of many mutually crossing microshear or kink bands developed in various directions. The misorientations between (sub)grains increased gradually with increasing cumulative strain, finally leading to the development of a new fine-grained structure. The dynamic grain formation can be resulted from in situ or continuous dynamic recrystallization which is discussed in detail.     

Fast and slow electrons in liquid Ar and N2 mixtures

Fast and slow electron current signals in N₂/Ar liquid mixtures have been observed. From the fast signal, the drift velocity and life time of delocalized electrons in the liquid with N₂ molar fractions X=N₂/(N₂+Ar) below 20 mol% were obtained for field strengths E between 5 and 45 kV/cm. The mobility for delocalized electrons in the liquids was shown to decrease exponentially with X as indicated in a previous paper. However, the mobility for localized electrons was shown to increase with increasing X, but only slightly around the N₂ liquid value