Immunochemical therapy of warts and growths due to papillomavirus]

A complex immuno-chemical treatment (immuno-stimulation, blockage of virus replication, interferon induction) was applied to 23 patients with warts and vegetations with various localisations. Results confirmed the treatment efficiency.     

Resistance to High-Temperature Oxidation and Wear of Various Ferrous Alloys Used in Rolling Mills

Various materials are commonly used to manufacture work rolls for hot rolling mills, such as ICDP (Indefinite Chill Double Pour) cast irons, high-chromium white cast irons, and high speed steels (HSS). Various chemical compositions and microstructures are studied in order to optimize the in-use behavior of those grades of rolls. In this paper, six grades of ferrous alloys (an ICDP cast iron; an ICDP cast iron enriched in vanadium, niobium, and molybdenum; a HSS; a graphitic HSS; a high-chromium white cast iron (Hi-Cr); and a niobium-molybdenum-doped high-chromium white cast iron) were investigated. High-temperature oxidation tests with gravimetric means at 575 °C in water vapor atmosphere and sliding wear tests were carried out. The oxidation kinetics was followed during oxidation test. The microstructure was observed by optical and scanning electron microscopies. The oxides formed on the surface of the samples were analyzed by XRD and EDS. The thickness of the oxide scales and the mass gain were measured after oxidation test. The results showed that the behavior of all the grades differed. The oxide scale of HSS and HSS-G grades was fine and their friction coefficient was low. The weight gain after oxidation test of HSS was high. Hi-Cr and M-Hi-Cr grades presented highly porous oxide layer and an important increase of the friction coefficient during wear test. ICDP and M-ICDP had intermediate behavior.     

Human-in-the-Loop Camera Control for a Mechatronic Broadcast Boom

Platforms like gantries, booms, aircrafts, and submersibles are often used in the broadcasting industry. To avoid collisions and occlusions, such mechatronic platforms often possess redundant degrees-of-freedom (DOFs). As a result, manual manipulating of such platforms demands much skill. This paper describes the implementation of several controllers that, by using computer vision, attempts to reduce the number of manually manipulated DOFs. Experiments were performed to assess the performance of each controller. A model for such a system was developed and validated. To determine how the visual servoing can improve the tracking, a novice operator and an expert were asked to manually track a moving target with the assistance of visual servoing. The results of these tests were analyzed and compared     

Dual Coating Laser Cladding of NiCrBSi and Inconel 718

This paper presents an alternative approach to obtaining crack- and pore-free NiCrBSiFeCuMoC hard coatings on a low alloy steel substrate through coaxial laser cladding, by using Inconel 718 as a buffer layer between the hard coating and the base material. The presence of the buffer layer reduces the overall cracking susceptibility of the hardfacing material by reducing the compressive stresses developed during the cladding process and ensuring a more uniform heat distribution gradient at the surface of the material than the base metal alone, which provides an additional hardness and wear coefficient increase of 7% and improves the corrosion resistance of the obtained materials by 20%, in comparison with the reference sample obtained without an intermediate layer, by using the same operational parameters and minimizes elemental dilution with the substrate. Our method could prove useful in increasing the quality and life cycle of expensive high-performance hard-coated materials, especially those working under demanding operational and environmental conditions.     

Initial Stages of Sintering of Alumina by Thermo-Optical Measurements

The behavior of nanostructured and submicrometer α-Al₂O₃ powders during the initial stages of field-assisted sintering technique (FAST), conventional, and microwave sintering was investigated using the laser-flash technique for thermo-optical measurements (TOM). An enhanced neck formation due to surface diffusion at very early stages of sintering was found in FAST samples. No significant difference due to heating rate has been found in these various samples.     

A parametric study of AlN thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition

High quality AlN thin films were grown at 200–450°C on sapphire substrates by laser ablation of Al targets in nitrogen reactive atmosphere. The nitrogen pressure was varied between 10⁻³ and 10⁻¹ mbar. The reactive gas pressure during irradiation and the temperature of the substrate were found to essentially influence the quality of the layers. X-ray diffraction analysis evidenced the formation of highly orientated layers for a very restrictive set of parameters. Other analysis techniques, like X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, optical transmission spectroscopy have been used to evidence the good stoichiometry and purity of the films. The characteristics of these films were compared with those of AlN thin films deposited in similar experimental conditions, on Si (100) and Si (111) substrates.     

Highly transparent Yb:Y2O3 ceramics obtained by solid-state reaction and combined sintering procedures

(Y_0.87-xLa_0.1Zr_0.03Yb_x)₂O₃ (x?=?0.02, 0.04, 0.05) transparent ceramics were obtained by solid-state reaction and combined sintering procedures with La₂O₃ and ZrO₂ as sintering additives. A method based on two-step intermediate sintering in air followed by vacuum sintering was applied in order to control the densification and grain growth of the samples during the final sintering process. The results indicate that La₂O₃ and ZrO₂ co-additives can improve the microstructure and optical properties of Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramics at relatively low sintering temperature. On the other hand, the addition of Zr⁴⁺ ions leads to the formation of dispersed scattering volumes in the ceramic bodies. Transmittance of 78.8% was measured for the 2.0?at% Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramic sample at the wavelength of 1100?nm. The spectroscopic properties of Yb:Y₂O₃ ceramics were investigated at room temperature. The obtained results show that the absorption cross-section at 978?nm is in the range of 2.08?×?10^–20 to 2.36?×?10^–20 cm², whereas the emission cross-section at 1032?nm is ~1.0?×?10^–20 cm².     

Inkjet Printed Nanopatterned Aptamer‐Based Sensors for Improved Optical Detection of Foodborne Pathogens

The increasing incidence of infectious outbreaks from contaminated food and water supply continues imposing a global burden for food safety, creating a market demand for on‐site, disposable, easy‐to‐use, and cost‐efficient devices. Despite of the rapid growth of biosensors field and the generation of breakthrough technologies, more than 80% of the platforms developed at lab‐scale never will get to meet the market. This work aims to provide a cost‐efficient, reliable, and repeatable approach for the detection of foodborne pathogens in real samples. For the first time an optimized inkjet printing platform is proposed taking advantage of a carefully controlled nanopatterning of novel carboxyl‐functionalized aptameric ink on a nitrocellulose substrate for the highly efficient detection of E. coli O157:H7 (25 colony forming units (CFU) mL^?1 in pure culture and 233 CFU mL^?1 in ground beef) demonstrating the ability to control the variation within ±1 SD for at least 75% of the data collected even at very low concentrations. From the best of the knowledge this work reports the lowest limit of detection of the state of the art for paper‐based optical detection of E. coli O157:H7, with enough evidence (p > 0.05) to prove its high specificity at genus, species, strain, and serotype level.     

Wood-plastic composites based on HDPE and ionic liquid additives

The improvement of wood-plastic composites properties by additives and compatibilizers is a critical issue to produce value-added materials. High-density polyethylene-wood composites have been obtained through compression molding at 140 °C, using two types of additives, namely methyltrioctylammonium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide and trihexyltetradecylphosphonium bis (2,4,4-trimethylpentyl) phosphinate room temperature ionic liquids. The ionic liquids improve the interfacial adhesion between the wood and the polymer phases, contributing to an increased stability of the material to water action and to an improved impact resistance and tensile strength in comparison with the reference. Also, the FTIR spectroscopy tests have proven a higher resistance of the ionic liquid-containing composites to accelerated photooxidation. Preliminary screening tests have also proven the antifungal character of the ionic liquids used in this study against brown rot (Postia placenta). This study opens new insights in the domain of polymeric composite materials, through documenting the possibility of blending new types of chemically distinct materials, difficult to be achieved by traditional functionalization/derivatization routes.