Degagement anodique du chlore a une électrode de carbone vitreux dans un mélange fondu de NaCl et FeCl3

Résumé On étudie la surtension de dégagement du chlore à une électrode de carbone vitreux dans un mélange fondu de NaCl et de FeCl₃. On enregistre les courbes tension-courant à très faible vitesse de variation de la tension. La pente de Tafel estRT/F à 178° C dans un intervalle de surtension 3.9–4.2 V. Ce résultat est compatible avec des mécanismes simples à adsorption activée de type Temkin. Il est plus difficile d'expliquer cette pente de Tafel avec une adsorption de type Langmuir.

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The overpotential of anodic chlorine evolution on vitreous carbon, from a molten mixture of NaCl and FeCl₃, is studied. The current-potential curves are recorded at a very slow rate of change of potential with time. The Tafel slope isRT/F at 178°C in the overpotential region 3.9–4.2 V. This result is consistent with simple mechanisms involving Temkin-type activated adsorption. It is more difficult to explain this Tafel slope with a Langmuir-type adsorption.

     

Escherichia coli and Lactobacillus plantarum responses to osmotic stress

Artificial insemination using cryopreserved semen is a common management tool of the contemporary livestock producer. However, cryopreservation is detrimental to sperm function and fertility, killing some 50% of the spermatozoa during the process. Prediction of cryopreservation damage from prefreeze samples remains elusive. Computer-automated sperm head morphometry was used in this study to determine the effects of cryopreservation on bovine sperm head morphometry. Semen was collected from 18 bulls and was divided. One portion was extended to 200 x 10(6) sperm/ml and a microscope slide was prepared, while the remaining portion was cryopreserved in a Triscitrate-yolk extender. After thawing, the cryopreserved samples were prepared on microscope slides. All slides were air dried and were stained with hematoxylin and rose bengal. The morphometric dimensions for length, width, width/length, area, and perimeter for a minimum of 200 sperm heads were analyzed from each slide by computer-aided sperm head morphometry analysis, and the mean measurements were recorded. Bull sperm heads were significantly (P < 0.01) smaller in cryopreserved spermatozoa than in the companion extended samples for length (8.56+/-0.07 vs. 8.63+/-0.08 microm), width (4.39+/-0.05 vs. 4.48+/-0.05 microm), area (28.42+/-0.07 vs. 29.14+/-0.08 microm), and perimeter (23.33+/-0.21 vs. 23.70+/-0.23 microm) for all bulls. Width/length was also different (0.513 vs. 0.519). In addition, differences (P < 0.05) were found within 14 of 18 bulls for at least four of the morphometric parameters. The percent change in measures after cryopreservation were correlated (P < or = 0.05) to the variability of the extended sample. Variations in sperm head measurements were lower (P < or = 0.05) in extended samples of the four bulls in which no changes occurred than in extended samples of the remaining 14 bulls. These data suggest that the variability in sperm head measurements of individual bulls, or ejaculates, may be an indicator of sperm cryosurvivability.     

Coarsening of SiO2 particles in copper and MnS inclusions in steel

A model to simulate the diffusion-controlled coarsening and dissolution kinetics of particles within a metallic matrix is formulated. With an arbitrary size distribution of particles, the model can be used to calculate the change in the size distribution of particles during coarsening or dissolution. Other system parameters, such as average radius of particles, volume fraction, average distance between particles, surface area, and matrix composition are also calculated. An important result is that kinetics do not generally obey the often-applied Lifshiftz-Slyozov-Wagner theory for diffusion controlled coarsening based upon concentration profiles around isolated spheres. In such a formulation, the direct effect of the surrounding particles is neglected. In our model, which is a modification of the coarsening kinetics described by Weins and Cahn, the effect of surrounding particles is incorporated because the system is taken to be a system of point potentials, each with a potential according to its radius of curvature. Calculations are on silica particles in a copper matrix and on manganese sulfide inclusions in iron, with emphasis on the latter, in order to predict their behavior during homogenization or soaking treatments. The effect of the composition of manganese, from 0.1 to 1.2 wt pct, on the coarsening of sulfides in a “high” sulfur (0.017 wt pct) steel and a “low” sulfur (0.003 wt pct) steel was investigated. As expected, the model predicts that manganese strongly reduces the rate of coarsening, particularly for times of ten hours or less in the temperature range of 1100 to 1400 °C. Calculated results also indicate that the rate of dissolution is very low at temperatures greater than the solvus for manganese sulfide inclusions in austenite.     

A model for prediction of pressure and redistribution of gas-forming elements in multicomponent casting alloys

A finite element model for simulating macrosegregation in multicomponent alloys is extended to include the calculation of pressure and redistribution of gas-forming elements during solidification. The model solves the conservation equations of mass, momentum, energy, and alloy components, including gas-forming elements such as hydrogen and nitrogen. The results of transport calculations are contrasted with thermodynamic equilibrium conditions to establish the possible formation of pores, assuming that there is no barrier to nucleation of the pores. By solving the transport of gaseous solutes and comparing their Sievert’s pressure with the local pressure, the new mode can predict regions of possible formation of intergranular porosity. Simulations were performed for a nickel-base alloy (INCONEL 718) in plate castings with equiaxed structure, and the evolution of microporosity for different initial concentrations of hydrogen and nitrogen was analyzed. The simulations showed that during solidification and cooling, a large fraction of the hydrogen escapes and a smaller fraction of nitrogen escapes from the casting. The initial gas concentration is an important factor in porosity formation, but the pressure drop due to shrinkage flow is not very significant. The resulting gas porosity is rather insensitive to initial nitrogen concentration, but sensitive to the concentration of hydrogen.     

Activation of cysteine proteases in cowpea plants during the hypersensitive response--a form of programmed cell death

The matrix metalloproteinases appear to play a key role in mammary tissue remodeling during involution. By immunoprecipitation and immunoblot using antibodies against 60K gelatinase which appears during involution a 90K polypeptide has been identified as its inactive proenzyme in the early involuting rat mammary gland. 90K polypeptide was isolated from the second day involuting rat mammary gland by immunoaffinity chromatography. On proteolytic digestion, the inactive 90K polypeptide was converted to active gelatinase. Primary cultures of mammary epithelial cells secreted the 90K polypeptide. These results indicated that the 60K inducible MMP involved in mammary gland involution and remodeling is produced as a 90K proenzyme which is activated by proteolysis in the extracellular sites.     

Hemodynamic effects of dobutamine after cardiopulmonary bypass in children

The synthetic inotropic agent, dobutamine, has reportedly increased cardiac output in adults after cardiopulmonary bypass with minimal side effects. Its use in children, after surgical correction of congenital heart disease, was tested by infusing the drug at 1, 4, 7, and 10 micrograms/kg x min in 11 children. While significant increases in cardiac index above control (23, 23, and 16% at 4, 7, and 10 micrograms/kg x min, respectively) were observed, this was achieved at the expense of significant increases in heart rate (15, 24, and 10%). This increase in heart rate (47% in one child) necessitated discontinuing the infusion in 4 subjects. There were also significant increases in systolic and mean blood pressure with no change in stroke volume or peripheral vascular resistance. The authors conclude that in children, dobutamine is an effective inotropic agent acting principally by stimulating beta 1-receptors in the myocardium producing a predominantly chronotropic effect without significant changes in peripheral vascular resistance. Given the intrinsically higher heart rate of children, the levels of tachycardia produced by the drug in some instances reach unacceptable levels and as such, may make dopabutamine unsuitable for use in children after cardiopulmonary bypass.     

Bcl-2 overexpression blocks activation of the death protease CPP32/Yama/apopain

Females who are affected by fragile X syndrome (FXS) can have significant physical, neuropsychological and emotional involvement. This study was designed to explore the relationships between these three domains and to learn how the degree of involvement in each of these phenotypic areas relates to molecular parameters including CGG repeat length and activation ratio (the proportion of normal FMR1 alleles on the active X chromosome). Three groups of females were studied: 35 women who grew up in a fragile X family but do not carry an FMR1 mutation, 92 women with a premutation, and 29 women with a full mutation. Correlations between neurocognitive, physical and emotional traits were calculated for each of the three groups. Within the full mutation group significant correlations were seen between schizotypal traits and full scale IQ. The Lie scale was significantly correlated with the physical findings index. The activation ratio correlated significantly with the measure of executive function (r = .50, P = .01). There was a trend toward correlations of activation ratio with the physical index score, outer ear prominence and IQ. CGG repeat number significantly correlated only with the physical index (r = .44, P = .01). Thus, activation ratio may be the more pertinent molecular parameter in full mutation women in determining the degree of cognitive and physical phenotypic involvement.     

Lesions of the rat perirhinal cortex spare the acquisition of a complex configural visual discrimination yet impair object recognition.

Rats with perirhinal cortex lesions were sequentially trained in a rectangular water tank on a series of 3 visual discriminations, each between mirror-imaged stimuli. When these same discriminations were tested concurrently, the rats were forced to use a configural strategy to solve the problems effectively. There was no evidence that lesions of the perirhinal cortex disrupted the ability to learn the concurrent configural discrimination task, which required the rats to learn the precise combination of stimulus identity with stimulus placement (“structural” learning). The same rats with perirhinal cortex lesions were also unimpaired on a test of spatial working memory (reinforced T maze alternation), although they were markedly impaired on a new test of spontaneous object recognition. For the recognition test, rats received multiple trials within a single session in which on every trial, they were allowed to explore 2 objects, 1 familiar, the other novel. On the basis of their differential exploration times, rats with perirhinal cortex lesions showed very poor discrimination of the novel objects, thereby confirming the effectiveness of the surgery. The discovery that bilateral lesions of the perirhinal cortex can leave configural (structural) learning seemingly unaffected points to a need to refine those models of perirhinal cortex function that emphasize its role in representing conjunctions of stimulus features. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)