Thermal cracking of acid tars to asphalts as a process for utilization of refinery wastes

The feasibility of manufacture of asphaltic materials by means of the thermal cracking of acid tars was shown and a corresponding bench-scale unit was designed. The dependence of the viscosity characteristics of the obtained compositions on the temperature and time of the process was examined using the penetration technique.     

Organ distribution of bovine serum albumin administered intragastrically in the rat

Radioimmunoassay was employed to examine distribution of antigenic structures of bovine serum albumin (BSA), absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, in the blood serum and organs of intact rats. It was shown that 3 h after administering 3H-BSA an appreciable amount of its antigenic structures could be identified in the blood serum, liver, spleen, and carcass of the animals. The total amount of antigenic determinants of BSA which got into the internal environment of the body from the intestine amounted to about 0.2% of the dose administered. The highest specific content of antigenic structures of BSA supplied via the intestinal barrier was detected in the spleen.     

Discrete quadratic curvature energies

We present a family of discrete isometric bending models (IBMs) for triangulated surfaces in 3-space. These models are derived from an axiomatic treatment of discrete Laplace operators, using these operators to obtain linear models for discrete mean curvature from which bending energies are assembled. Under the assumption of isometric surface deformations we show that these energies are quadratic in surface positions. The corresponding linear energy gradients and constant energy Hessians constitute an efficient model for computing bending forces and their derivatives, enabling fast time-integration of cloth dynamics with a two- to three-fold net speedup over existing nonlinear methods, and near-interactive rates for Willmore smoothing of large meshes.     

Antibacterial properties of polyaniline derivatives

This work presents a detailed study on the effect of various functional groups both at the ortho position of the aromatic ring and in the amino group of PANI on the antibacterial properties of polymers against gram-positive (Bacillus subtilis) and gram-negative (Pseudomonas aureofaciens) microorganisms. It was found that incorporation of methyl, methoxy, or pentyl groups into the ortho-position of PANI did not increase the antibacterial activity but in most cases causes a significant decrease in the antibacterial properties of functionally substituted polyanilines. At the same time, PANI derivatives modified by incorporation of pentyl groups into the amino group were found to be more efficient antibacterial compounds against both gram-positive and gram-negative microorganisms than the original polymer. It was also found that N-substituted PANI derivatives manifest not only bactericidal but also bacteriostatic properties toward the test microorganisms. Varying the nature and position of the substituent allowed us to conclude that the synthesis of various N-substituted PANI derivatives with a high degree of doping is the most promising approach to PANI modification for application in bacterial growth inhibition.     

Mega-ampere submicrosecond generator GIT-32

The GIT-32 current generator was developed for experiments with current carrying pulsed plasma. The main parts of the generator are capacitor bank, multichannel multigap spark switches, low inductive current driving lines, and central load part. The generator consists of four identical sections, connected in parallel to one load. The capacitor bank is assembled from 32 IEK-100-0.17 (0.17 microF, 40 nH, 100 kV) capacitors, connected in parallel. It stores approximately 18 kJ at 80 kV charging voltage. Each two capacitors are commuted to a load by a multigap spark switch with eight parallel channels. Switches operate in ambient air at atmospheric pressure. The GIT-32 generator was tested with 10, 15, and 20 nH inductive loads. At 10 nH load and 80 kV of charging voltage it provides 1 MA of current amplitude and 490 ns rise time with 0.8 Omega damping resistors in discharge circuit of each capacitor and 1.34 MA530 ns without resistors. The net generator inductance without a load was optimized to be as low as 12 nH, which results in extremely low self-impedance of the generator ( approximately 0.05 Omega). It ensures effective energy coupling with low impedance loads like Z pinch. The generator operates reliably without any adjustments in 40-80 kV range of charging voltage. Maximum jitter (relative to a triggering pulse) at 40 kV charging voltage is about 7 ns and lower at higher charging voltages. Operation and handling are very simple, because no oil and no purified gases are required for the generator. The GIT-32 generator has dimensions of 3200 x 3200 x 400 mm(3) and total weight of about 2500 kg, thus manifesting itself as a simple, robust, and cost effective apparatus.     

Development of a process for melting, out-of-furnace treatment, and casting of a low-carbon metal with a mass fraction of silicon up to 0.03% in a continuous billet caster

A technology developed using the experimental heats performed in OAO ChMK metallurgical works is described. This technology is used to solve a number of steelmaking problems, including an increase in the quality of a metal macrostructure.     

Thin-film cracking of acid tars

The method of thin-film thermal cracking of acid tar to manufacture liquid fuel and coke or liquid fuel and asphaltic binders has been developed. Differential thermal analysis of acid tar samples has been performed. A model of the thin-layer thermal cracking of acid tar and an algorithm for calculating the engineering parameters of the process have been proposed.     

Simulated annealing algorithm in problems of multiprocessor scheduling

An algorithm was proposed to simulate annealing for determination of the minimal necessary number of processors and construction of the static schedule for execution of the applied programs with allowance for the constraints on the time of schedule execution and reliability requirements. The developed algorithm was substantiated both theoretically and experimentally by comparing different laws of temperature decrease in the annealing simulation algorithm.     

The multiple shadow method applied to testing cylindrical objects with Rayleigh waves

Results of applying the electromagnetic-acoustic multiple-shadow method to testing small-diameter cylindrical objects with Rayleigh waves are presented. The possibility for using the spectral and probabilistic-statistical approaches to processing detected signals is demonstrated. The capabilities of the method are evaluated when revealing surface flaws of different types, orientations, and dimensions in various objects.