Biodegradation and corrosion behavior of manganese oxidizer Bacillus cereus ACE4 in diesel transporting pipeline

The degradation problem of petroleum products arises since hydrocarbon acts as an excellent food source for a wide variety of microorganisms. Microbial activity leads to unacceptable level of turbidity, corrosion of pipeline and souring of stored product. The present study emphasizes the role of Bacillus cereus ACE4 on degradation of diesel and its influence on corrosion of API 5LX steel. A demonstrating bacterial strain ACE4 was isolated from corrosion products and 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis showed that it has more than 99% similarity with B. cereus. The biodegradation and corrosion studies revealed that B. cereus degraded the aliphatic protons and aromatic protons in diesel and is capable of oxidizing ferrous/manganese into oxides. This is the first report that discloses the involvement of manganese oxidizer B. cereus ACE4 on biodegradation of diesel and its influence on corrosion in a tropical country pipeline.     

Self-assembly of C60 containing poly(methyl methacrylate) in ethyl acetate/decalin mixtures solvent

[60]Fullerene (C₆₀) was mono-substituted with well-defined poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA-b-C₆₀) using the atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) technique. The self-assembly behaviors of PMMA-b-C₆₀ in ethyl acetate (EA) and decalin mixtures were studied using laser light scattering (LLS) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Homogeneous solutions of PMMA-b-C₆₀ can be obtained in the solvent mixtures containing more than 40 wt% EA, where the molar ratio of decalin to EA is close to 1. For each solvent mixture, unimers coexist with micelles and large aggregates. The sizes of PMMA-b-C₆₀ micelles and aggregates are independent of polymer concentration, confirming that they are produced via the closed association mechanism. For the various solvent mixtures, the weight-averaged molecular weights, M_w of the PMMA-b-C₆₀ aggregates range from 4.1×10⁷ to 12.5×10⁷ g/mol. The hydrodynamic radii of the large aggregate, R_h, vary from 90 to 136 nm, while the z-averaged radii of gyration, R_g, range from 210 to 311 nm. The R_g/R_h value for each solvent mixture is ∼2.3, which is independent of decalin contents in the mixed solvents. The morphological study using the transmission electron microscope suggests that the large aggregates are composed of porous large compound micelles (LCM) in solution.     

Process Modeling for Precision Forming of Discrete Parts – State of the Technology and Critical Issues

This paper presents an overview on the application of FE simulation as a virtual manufacturing tool in designing manufacturing processes for precision parts. The processes discussed include forging, sheet metal forming and hydroforming. Determination of reliable input parameters to simulate a process is a key element in successful application of process simulation for process design in all the mentioned areas. These issues are discussed in detail. Practical examples of application of FE simulation are presented for improvement of the existing metal forming process and/or designing new metal forming process for manufacturing discrete precision parts in forging, sheet metal forming and hydroforming.     

Oracle Erp and Network Computing Architecture: Implementation and Performance

Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems enable firms to attain information technology integration. Such integration results in a uniform information system across the entire organization, thus augmenting performance. in this article, the issues and performance of Oracle ERP are discussed based on perspicacious exploratory analyses conducted in two manufacturing firms located in Ohio and Wisconsin. the factors of influence to implement Oracle ERP systems, various issues involved in the process of implementation, and performance of the systems are discussed in detail. the triangulation technique was used to make sure that the qualitative and quantitative findings were congruent. the results of the quantitative analysis and details of the constructs and items identified to measure the constructs are explained elsewhere by the first author. Oracle ERP systems enabled these firms to perform better by simplifying and streamlining their information retrieval and dissemination processes. Oracle's Web-based network computing architecture (NCA) offers many advantages, such as higher scalability and better coordination with suppliers and customers. These case studies provided a foundation for future research to build theoretical models.     

Evaluation of stamping lubricants at various temperature levels using the ironing test

Lubricants are employed in stamping operations in order to (a) improve the material flow into the die cavity, (b) reduce wear and galling in the die and (c) obtain good surface finish of the part. Process conditions such as high temperatures and pressures could cause the lubricant to fail, thus resulting in galling or tearing of the part, damage to the tooling, and lost production. Therefore, selection of an appropriate lubricant based on the process conditions is important in the stamping industry. Several benchmark tests emulating stamping operations have been developed and are used to evaluate the performance of candidate lubricants. The major drawback of most of these tests is their inability to emulate high contact pressures and sliding velocities, which are crucial parameters for lubricity, especially in the case of high-speed progressive or transfer die operations involving ironing. Moreover, most of these tests are conducted at room temperature, while in reality; the process temperature can reach as high as 200 °C. The ironing tribotest developed at the Engineering Research Center for Net Shape Manufacturing (ERC/NSM) induces high contact pressures and temperatures, thus emulating the conditions in a production environment. Application of the test to screen candidate lubricants for stamping operations involving the ironing process is discussed in this paper.     

Glucosinolate levels in cotyledons of mustard,Brassica juncea L. and rape,B. napus L. do not determine feeding rates of flea beetle,Phyllotreta cruciferae (Goeze)

Sinigrin (allyl glucosinolate), the major glucosinolate in the cotyledons ofBrassica juncea cv. Cutlass, occurred in the highest concentration and amount at seedling emergence and declined during growth. Glucobrassicin (3-indolylmethyl glucosinolate), the major glucosinolate in the cotyledons ofB. napus cv. Westar, occurred in the lowest concentration and amount at seedling emergence. The amount of glucobrassicin per cotyledon pair increased about fourfold during 14 days of growth, but its concentration remained relatively unchanged because of dilution by increasing cotyledon biomass. These different glucosinolate profiles indicate a different metabolic control and different biological function for sinigrin and glucobrassicin. The flea beetle,Phyllotreta cruciferae Goeze, does not discriminate between cotyledons having sinigrin or glucobrassicin since the two crucifers were fed upon equally in choice tests. Restricting the concentration of sulfur in the nutrient medium accelerated the decline of sinigrin inB. juncea cv. Cutlass but did not alter the feeding rate ofP. cruciferae compared to controls. Sulfur restriction reduced glucobrassicin inB. napus cv. Westar to undetectable levels and somewhat reduced the feeding rate of P.Cruciferae. Nevertheless,P. cruciferae still fed actively on cotyledons ofB. napus cv. Westar depleted of glucosinolates and severely damaged many of them. Since glucosinolate type and concentration had little effect on feeding response, reduction or elimination of foliar glucosinolates alone would not seem a useful strategy for protecting seedlings of these two crucifers from flea beetle damage.     

Secure multimedia data processing scheme in medical applications

People communicate in a variety of ways via multimedia through the propagation of various techniques. Nowadays, variety of multimedia frameworks or techniques is used in various applications such as industries, software processing, vehicles and medical systems. The usage of multimedia frameworks in healthcare systems makes it possible to process, record and store huge amount of information generated by various medical records. However, the processing and management of huge records of every individual lead to overload the security risk and human efforts. The aim of this paper is to propose a secure and efficient technique that helps the medical organizations to process every record of individuals in a secure and efficient way. The proposed mechanism is validated against various security and processing metrics over conventional mechanisms such as Response Time, Message Alteration Record, Trusted Classification Accuracy and Record Accuracy. The analyzed results claim the significant improvement of proposed mechanism as compare to other schemes.

     

Evaluation of embeddable potential sensor for corrosion monitoring in concrete structures

Embeddable potential sensor based on MnO₂ was assembled and characterised in concrete. The stability, reversibility, polarisability and impedance characteristics have been studied with respect to known reference. The corrosion performance of reinforced steel with respect to MnO₂ sensor was monitored by different electrochemical techniques. Reversibility of MnO₂ sensor indicated that difference of ±5 mV between the forward and reverse scan indicates the better reversibility characteristics in concrete. The rebar potentials (E_R) of steel with respect to MnO₂ are −315 and −525 mV for passive and active conditions of rebar in concrete. The corrosion current from potentiodynamic polarisation and R_ct from a.c. impedance technique clearly differentiated the behaviour of steel embedded in chloride contaminated concrete (active condition) from uncontaminated concrete (passive condition) with respect to MnO₂ sensor. All these studies revealed that corrosion monitoring of steel in concrete using embedded MnO₂ as a better potential sensor for steel in concrete. In addition it is easy to fabricate for amenable miniaturisation, varied configuration as demanded for corrosion monitoring in concrete structures.     

Application of harmonic analysis in measuring the corrosion rate of rebar in concrete

The corrosion rate (CR) of rebar embedded in cement mortar, concrete and cement extract is determined using harmonic analysis technique (HA). Simultaneously using other electrochemical techniques such as impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and Tafel extrapolation (TET), the CR was determined and compared with the weight loss method. CR obtained from HA is comparable to that of EIS provided that the Stern–Geary constant (B value) obtained from HA is used in the calculation. In concrete, comparable corrosion rates are obtained between TET and HA only under active condition of the rebar whereas under passive state, the corrosion current (i_corr) by TET is 10 times lower than that of HA. A good agreement is obtained between the HA and weight loss method. The outcome of the result suggests that HA is capable of providing a higher degree of accuracy than that of EIS and TET in the determination of i_corr in the medium like rebar in concrete having very low rate of corrosion.