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The effect of the surface protection with insulating materials of the two types on the bending and compressive strengths, internal temperature, mass loss, and relative dynamic elastic modulus of hydraulic concrete was studied. In comparison with unprotected concretes, the surface protection can delay the temperature drop of the concrete bulk and increase its final temperature. Polyurethane and polystyrene were compared as to their efficiency in the surface protection of hydraulic concrete during the freeze-thaw cycle test. Those materials can increase a maximum number of freeze-thaw cycles. As compared to unprotected concrete, the number of cycles increased by 100 and 75%, respectively. After 100 freeze-thaw cycles, the relative compressive and bending strengths of polyurethane-protected concrete are 75 and 64%, while these characteristics for unprotected concretes make up 61 and 57%. Such an approach effectively withstand the deterioration of mechanical properties of concrete during freeze-thaw cycles.

As a clean energy, natural gas accounts for an increasing proportion of my country's energy consumption structure. Due to the flammable and explosive characteristics of natural gas, natural gas leakage can easily cause safety accidents. This paper has designed a gas concentration detection system based on the principle of infrared absorption, which can detect the methane concentration in natural gas, quickly determine whether there is a methane leak, and effectively protect people's lives and property.

Background The score of Dyspnea, Eosinopenia, Consolidation, Acidemia and Atrial Fibrillation (DECAF) can be used to predict the in-hospital mortality of patients with acute exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD). It is worth noting that the DECAF score is the first scoring standard combining biomarkers and clinical variables. The application of biomarkers is helpful for improving the accuracy of the scoring system. In recent years, more and more reports and studies paid attentions to procalcitonin (PCT) in respiratory infectious diseases and its clinical value has attracted increasing attention. The study aimed at investigating the effectiveness of the DECAF score combined with PCT in predicting admission of AECOPD patients to intensive care unit (ICU). Methods We conducted a retrospective study. We analyzed data from 171 non-immune individuals over the age of 40 in this study. All patients received blood routine measurement and DECAF score calculation on admission. The primary outcome used to assess the probability of an AECOPD patient was who would get a bed in general ward or ICU. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC) are used to assess the sensitivity and specificity of PCT, WBC, creatinine, and DECAF scores in predicting the risk of admissions to the ICU of COPD patients. We combined PCT, WBC, and creatinine with DECAF scores, observing the sensitivity and specificity of the different combinations in predicting COPD patients with regard to who should be admitted to ICU. Results After analyzing the data from 171 patients, we found that the probability of entering the ICU was 21.05% (36/171). The area under curve (AUC) of PCT, WBC, creatinine, and DECAF score in individually predicting the probability of entering the ICU of AECOPD patients were 0.71 (95% CI 0.61 - 0.81), 0.64 (95% CI 0.52 - 0.75), 0.74 (95% CI 0.63 - 0.84), and 0.88 (95% CI 0.81 - 0.94), respectively, with statistically significant differences (p = 0.00). The sensitivities of PCT, WBC, creatinine and DECAF scores were 0.61, 0.61, 0.56, and 0.91, respectively. The specificities of PCT, WBC, creatinine, and DECAF scores were 0.76, 0.67, 0.88 and 0.74, respectively. The AUC of Combination 1 (PCTD the sensitivities were 0.92, 0.86, and 0.94, respectively, and the specificities were 0.97, 0.78, and 0.74, respectively. Conclusions Procalcitonin improves the accuracy and sensitivity of the DECAF score in predicting the probability of AECOPD patients entering the ICU, and PCT was superior to other indexes to improve the sensitivity and specificity of the DECAF score.

Safflower polysaccharide (SPS) is a major active component of Carthamus tinctorius L. Previous reports have demonstrated that SPS shows cytotoxic activity against various types of cancer cells; however, its anti-cervical cancer effect remains unclear. Therefore, we explored the effect of SPS treatment of a cervical cancer cell line (HeLa). SPS significantly inhibited cell proliferation and increased the rate of cell apoptosis as determined by TdT-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling assay, Hoechst 33342 staining, and double staining with annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyante/propidium iodide. Furthermore, western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction revealed that SPS down-regulated mammalian target of rapamycin and protein kinase B and up-regulated Bcl-2-associated death promoter. These results suggest that SPS-induced apoptosis may occur through down-regulation of the phosphatidylinositol-3-kinase/AKT pathway. Collectively, these findings implicate SPS as a candidate for the development of anti-cervical cancer drugs.

This paper provides insight into the transport mechanisms of the collector current in SiGe HBTs operating at cryogenic temperatures and compares three technology generations of devices. Based on the experimental data, a method to differentiate direct tunneling from quasi-ballistic transport is proposed. Measurements indicate that direct tunneling becomes more significant at cryogenic temperatures. The effects of technology scaling on the direct tunneling were investigated using TCAD. Direct tunneling was found to be sensitive to the base width and the Ge profile. It is predicted that without an increase in the Ge content, direct tunneling may dominate over quasi-ballistic transport at the limits of technology scaling.

Bacterial communities in anode microbial fuel cells (MFC) obtained from anaerobic digester sludge in a municipal wastewater treatment plant (Nanjing, China) were investigated. Glucose, propyl alcohol and methanol were used as sole carbon source in two-chamber MFC. The results showed that a reproducible cycle of power production can be formed in MFC fed with 3 substrates and glucose-fed MFC had the highest peak power density of 1499 ± 33 mW/m3, followed by methanol- (1264 ± 47 mW/m3) and propyl alcohol-fed MFC (1192 ± 36 mW/m3). Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Verrucomicrobia, Proteobacteria, Synergistetes and Armatimonadetes were dominant phyla in 3 MFC. Firmicutes was the most dominant phylum in glucose-fed MFC samples and Bacteroidetes prevailed in methanol- and propyl alcohol-fed MFC. These data indicate that propyl alcohol and methanol along with glucose can be used as substrates of MFC.

We present the first measurement results of a highly scaled, 90-nm silicon–germanium heterojunction bipolar transistor (SiGe HBT) operating at cryogenic temperatures as low as 70 mK. The SiGe HBT exhibits a transistor-like behavior down to 70 mK, but below 40 K, the transconductance suggests the presence of non-equilibrium transport mechanisms. Despite the non-ideal base current at cryogenic temperatures, a $dc$ current gain $(\beta) > 1$ is achieved for $I_{C} > 1$ nA, suggesting that ultra-low-power low-noise amplifiers should be viable. Exposure of the SiGe HBT to strong magnetic fields (±14 T) is also presented to help understand the nature of the non-ideal current.

Extracellular matrix (ECM) is a system used to model the design of biomaterial matrices for tissue regeneration. Various biomaterial systems have been developed to mimic the composition or microstructure of the ECM. However, emulating multiple facets of the ECM in these systems remains a challenge. Here, a new strategy is reported which addresses this need by using silk fibroin and chitosan (CS) nanocomposite materials. Silk fibroin was first assembled into ECM-mimetic nanofibers in water and then blended with CS to introduce the nanostructural cues. Then the ratios of silk fibroin and CS were optimized to imitate the protein and glycosaminoglycan compositions. These biomaterial scaffolds had suitable compositions, hierarchical nano-to-micro structures, and appropriate mechanical properties to promote cell proliferation in vitro, and vascularization and tissue regeneration in vivo. Compared to previous silk-based scaffolds, these scaffolds achieved improvements in biocompatibility, suggesting promising applications in the future in tissue regeneration.

In-situ tensile experiments of Ni-Al, Ni-Al-Re and Ni-Al-Re-Ru model single-crystal superalloys were performed in scanning electron microscope (SEM) at room temperature. The plastic deformation mechanisms of all the three model superalloys were double-oriented slipping of dislocations. Micro-cracks were often formed at the intersection of two sets of slip lines. The fracture surfaces of Ni-Al and Ni-Al-Re-Ru alloys were nearly parallel to (010) planes and that of the Ni-Al-Re alloys was nearly parallel to (1−11) plane. The dislocation configuration was analyzed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The a/2 dislocation pairs coupled with antiphase boundary (APB) cut into γʹ phase in the Ni-Al and Ni-Al-Re-Ru model superalloys. In addition to these dislocations, stacking faults also cut into γʹ phase in Ni-Al-Re model superalloys. The different fracture surfaces of different model single-crystal superalloys were attributed to the influence of elements Re and Ru on the dislocation configuration.

Aluminium film has been electrodeposited onto sintered NdFeB magnet at room temperature (25°C) in ionic liquid electrolytes named aluminium chloride-1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride ionic liquid (AlCl3-EMIC). Electrodeposition mechanism of Al film is analysed using cyclic voltammetry and chronoamperometry measurements. Structure and morphology of specimen are characterised and analysed using X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectrum and atomic force microscopy. The results indicate that the process of Al electrodeposition follows the three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation mechanism. As the potentials vary from −0.4 to −0.8 V, the diffusion coefficient (D) of and the calculated number density of Al valid nuclei sites (N0) on the sintered NdFeB magnet both increases. The deposited films consist of pure fcc phase of Al metal, and Al grains with crystal orientation of {111}, {200}, {220} and {311} are dominant components. Al film deposited at −0.6 V has finer and smoother surface, with the r...

Cobalt films were electrodeposited on glassy carbon surface in the experiment to study the electrochemistry mechanism. Cobalt electrodeposition process was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry, polarization curves and so on. It was found that cobalt started to deposit combined with hydrogen evolution at −0.3 VSCE. Hydrogen evolution was dominated from −0.3 to −0.9 VSCE. However, with the voltages increased from −0.9 to −1.1 VSCE, cobalt deposition was predominated. Cyclic voltammetry curves with different scan rates indicated that cobalt deposition was a kind of irreversible and diffusion-controlled process. According to typical nucleation model promoted by Scharifker and Hills, the results from chronoamperometry curves verified that cobalt electrodeposition on glassy carbon belonged to three-dimensional models with instantaneous nucleation. Cobalt films were a kind of grain films with typical nodular structures because of three-dimensional instantaneous nucleation mechanism.

Snow chrysanthemum (Coreopsis tinctoria Nutt.), a world-widely well-known flower tea material, has attracted more and more attention because of its beneficial health effects such as antioxidant activity and special flavor. In this study, a high performance liquid chromatography coupled with diode array detection and mass spectrometry (HPLC-DAD-MS) and 2,2'-azinobis(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-sulfonic acid)diammonium salt (ABTS) based assay was employed for comparison and identification of antioxidants in different samples of snow chrysanthemum. The results showed that snow chrysanthemum flowers possessed the highest while stems presented the lowest antioxidant capacities. Fourteen detected peaks with antioxidant activity were temporarily identified as 3,4',5,6,7-pentahydroxyflavanone-O-hexoside, chlorogenic acid, 2R-3',4',8-trihydroxyflavanone-7-O-glucoside, flavanomarein, flavanocorepsin, flavanokanin, quercetagitin-7-O-glucoside, 3',5,5',7-tetrahydroxyflavanone-O-hexoside, marein, maritimein, 1,3-dicaffeoylquinic acid, coreopsin, okanin and acetyl-marein by comparing their UV spectra, retention times and MS data with standards or literature data. Antioxidants existed in snow chrysanthemum are quite different from those reported in Chrysanthemum morifolium, a well-known traditional beverage in China, which indicated that snow chrysanthemum may be a promising herbal tea material with obvious antioxidant activity.

Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles were prepared via one-step reactive laser ablation of Cr in oxygen. The metastable CrO₂ phase was obtained through the subsequent oxidation of Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles under O₂ with gas pressures of up to 40 MPa. The as-prepared Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles are spherical or rectangular in shape with sizes ranging from 20 nm to 50 nm. High oxygen pressure annealing is effective in producing meta-stable CrO₂ from as-dried Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles, and the Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles exhibit a weak ferromagnetic behavior with an exchange bias of up to 11 mT that can be ascribed to the interfacial exchange coupling between uncompensated surface spins and the antiferromagnetic core. The Cr₂O₃/CrO₂ nanoparticles exhibit an enhanced saturation magnetization and a reduced exchange bias with an increasing faction of CrO₂ due to the elimination of uncompensated surface spins over the Cr₂O₃ nanoparticles when exposed to a high pressure of O₂ and/or possible phase segregation that results in a smaller grain size for both Cr₂O₃ and CrO₂.

In quantum computing, metrology, single-photon counting, and nanomechanics, weak electronic signals at extremely low temperatures need amplification. To this end, the authors build and study silicon-germanium heterojunction bipolar transistors, which offer excellent amplifier characteristics, integrability with silicon quantum electronics, low cost, and manufacturability. Their research at the junction of physics and electrical engineering is a step toward next-generation integrated circuits at the 90-nm scale for this temperature regime.

Electroless deposition technology has been considered as a kind of common ways to obtain cobalt alloy films. However, in order to get cobalt alloy films, high temperature (353 K) is necessary during the electroless deposition process which will increase costs and energy consumption. Ultrasonic was introduced during electroless plating process to obtain cobalt alloy films at lower initial temperature. It was found that the cobalt thin films could be prepared at lower initial temperature (323 K) with the introduction of ultrasonic. Therefore, different powers of ultrasonic were applied during the electroless deposition process to prepare CoP thin films on copper substrates from an alkaline bath in this investigation. The effects of different powers of ultrasonic on deposition rate, surface morphology, anticorrosion performance and magnetic property of films were studied. It was found that the deposition rate increased gradually with the rise in ultrasonic powers due to cavitation phenomenon. All the CoP lilms presented the typical spherical nodular structures with the impact of ultrasonic. Smaller and regular shaped structures could be observed when the films were deposited with higher power of ultrasonic which contributed directly to enhancement of anticorrosion performance. Saturation tnagnetization and coercivity of thin films increased gradually with the rise in ultrasonic powers during the electroless deposition process due to the higher amounts of cobalt. (c) 2014 Chinese Materials Research Society. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

To detect the blood genomic DNA methylation in coke oven workers and find a possible early screening index for occupational lung cancer, 74 coke oven workers as the exposed group and 47 water pump workers as the controls were surveyed, and urine samples and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were collected. Airborne benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) levels in workplace and urinary 1-hydroxypyrene (1-OH-Py) levels were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. DNA damage of PBMCs and the p14(ARK), p15(INK4b) and p16(INK4a) gene CpG island methylation in the promoter region were detected by comet assay and methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction techniques, respectively. Results show that compared with the controls, concentration of airborne B[a]Ps was elevated in the coke plant, and urinary 1-OH-Py’s level and DNA olive tail moment in comet assay were significantly increased in the coke oven workers, and p14(ARK), p15(INK4b) and p16(INK4a) gene methylation rates were also significantly increased. With the working years and urinary 1-OH-Py’s level, the rates of p14(ARK) and p16(INK4a) gene methylation were significantly increased while that of p15(INK4b) gene methylation displayed no statistical change. We conclude that PBMCs’ p14(ARK) and p16(INK4a) gene methylation may be used for screening and warning lung cancer in coke oven workers.

Magnetic fields parallel to electrodes were introduced during plating process to prepare cobalt films from baths without additives. Effects of magnetic intensities on the nucleation process, electrochemical mechanism and surface morphology were investigated. It was found that limiting current and deposition mass increased gradually with the rise in magnetic intensities. Magnetohydrodynamic phenomenon (magnetic fields can induce currents in a moving conductive fluid, which in turn creates forces on the fluid and also changes the magnetic field itself) caused by Lorentz forces could agitate to decrease thickness of diffusion layers, which contribute to the increase in deposition rate. Reduction of cobalt on copper substrates without magnetic fields showed instantaneous nucleation process. However, cobalt reduction with 1 T magnetic intensity deviated from instantaneous nucleation process as a result of micromagnetohydrodynamic (micro-MHD) flows. Films of smaller grain size and compact surface could be obtained under 1 T magnetic intensity as a result of MHD effects.

CoP thin films were prepared on copper substrates from an alkaline bath by electroless deposition. Influences of pH values on deposition rates, compositions, structures, surface morphologies and magnetic performances of films were studied. Higher pH values could improve deposition rates and cobalt contents in the films. However, when the pH value is higher than 10, hydroxide depositions can result in the decrease of deposition rates and cobalt contents. Films prepared with different pH values show dissimilar surface morphologies. The films are densely covered with typical nodular structures when the pH value is equal to 10. However, films obtained with pH = 11 show agglomerate and rough structures. Phosphorus in the films would help to increase coercivity.

To optimise the composition of magnetic materials applied in the fabrication of ultralarge scale integration (ULSI) devices and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS), the magnetic performance and anticorrosion property of cobalt based magnetic films (CoWP, CoPtP and CoMoP) were investigated using vibration sample magnetometer (VSM) and electrochemical technologies (potentiodynamic polarisation curve and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy). Results indicate that CoWP has a small coercivity (592·73 Oe) and large saturation magnetisation value (144·20 emu.g−1); while CoPtP and CoMoP films are hard magnetic materials with coercivity of 1786·57 and 2745·20 Oe, saturation magnetisation value of 91·72 and 120·74 emu.g−1 respectively. Electrochemical measurements reveal the order of corrosion resistance in 3·5%NaCl solution was CoPtP film>CoWP film>CoMoP film. In the fabrication of ULSI devices and MEMS, CoPtP film was recommend to be one of the most suitable magnetic materials. CoPtP film was thick w...

Electrodeposition as a kind of significant electrochemical technique was used to prepare CoPtMo magnetic materials on copper substrate from an alkaline electrolyte. The influence of hypophosphite addition on the deposition process, alloy content, microstructure and magnetic properties of CoPtMo thin films was studied. The films that were prepared from the electrolytes without hypophosphite exhibited an fcc structure, with higher Pt percentage but lower coercivity. The presence of hypophosphite shifted alloy deposition to more negative potentials, limited the platinum percentage, caused higher Co content and exhibited an hcp structure. It was found that much higher coercivity of CoPtMo(P) than that of CoPtMo was mainly due to the incorporation of P at the grain boundaries.

A di-n-butyltin(IV) complex with (E)-3-(4-(9H-carbazole-9-yl)phenyl) acrylic acid (HL) of the formula {[n-Bu2SnOL]2O}2 was synthesized and characterized by X-ray crystallography. This complex is a tetranuclear one with ladder framework. Furthermore, this complex was tested in vitro for its cytotoxic activity, using human hepatocellular carcinoma cell line (BEL-7402) and human hepatocellular liver carcinoma cell line (HepG2); 5-Fluorouracil was used as a positive control substance. This complex showed cytotoxicity greater than that of 5-Fluorouracil.

FePt magnetic multilayers were pulse electrodeposited from the mixture of ammonium hexachloroplatinate and iron dichloride in ionic liquids based on glycol (EG) and 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride (EMIC). The chelate effect and electrochemical behaviour of the EMIC with the ions were determined by ultraviolet–visible spectra and cyclic voltammetry respectively. The iron atomic content in the FePt films ranged from 0·4 to 81·0 at-% when deposition potentials changed from 1·0 to −2·0 V(Ag/AgCl) in electrodeposition system with the EG (50 mL), ammonium hexachloroplatinate (25 mM L−1), iron dichloride (175 mM L−1) and EMIC (25 mM L−1) at 393 K. Fe50Pt50 thin films with smooth surface (50 at-% iron layer in FePt film) and the multilayer cross-section were obtained. Fct structural FePt multilayer was obtained based on X-ray diffraction pattern. Magnetic hysteresis loops showed that the multilayer possessed a magnetic anisotropic behaviour.

CoWP alloy films were prepared by a typical citrate system electrodeposition on a copper substrate. The paper investigated effects of different temperatures on codeposition mechanism, magnetic property, component and structure of CoWP alloy films during the electrodeposition process. With the increase in temperatures, deposition rate and thickness rose gradually during the electrodeposition process. It was found that higher temperature improved contents of phosphorus and tungsten but reduced amounts of cobalt in the films. Almost all the deposited films were crystalline and formed tetrahedral structures Co3W with preferred crystallographic orientation (200) and (201). Films of dissimilar surface morphology could be observed under different temperatures. Lower saturation magnetisation and higher coercivity of CoWP films could be obtained at higher temperatures.

Zinc films were prepared by a typical chloride zinc system electrodeposition on iron substrate. Effects of different temperatures on deposition rate, structures and surface morphology of zinc films were investigated in the paper. Trivalent chromium passivation technology was also studied in the paper to improve corrosion resistance of zinc films. Higher temperature could dramatically improve bath conductivity, which contributed directly to the rise in mass transfer and deposition rate. The deposited films were crystalline and showed characteristic peaks of zinc. However, zinc films with bad crystallinity would be obtained at higher temperatures due to thermal decomposition of additives. With the increase in temperature, zinc films with rough surface could be observed. Zinc passivation layer with optimal corrosion resistance could be obtained at passivation time of 30 s, temperature of 303 K and pH 3.

The influence of different complexing agents with hydroxycarboxylic acid group on the electrodeposited Co–W thin films has been investigated. Comparison between the polarisation curves shows that the negative shift on the electrodeposition potential increased in the following order: no complexing agent, tartrate, malate, gluconate and citrate. The particular shapes of the j–t transients indicate that a nucleation and growth process was involved for the Co–W electrodeposition in the presence of complexing agents investigated. The reduced current transients follow the instantaneous nucleation model for all four complexing agents at the initial stages. Surface morphology, phase composition and magnetic properties were observed by means of field emission SEM, X-ray diffraction and vibrating sample magnetometer respectively. It has been found out that surface morphology and phase composition were markedly affected by the nature of the complexing agents. In the absence of complexing agents and in the pr...

CoPtW alloy films were prepared by magnetic electrodeposition method to replace conventional sputtering on copper substrate. The effects of different H2PtCl6 concentrations and magnetic intensities on the composition, microstructure and magnetic properties of CoPtW alloy films were investigated. With the increasing H2PtCl6 concentration, the amounts of Pt in CoPtW films increased dramatically, but the contents of both Co and W reduced gradually. Almost all of the deposited films were crystalline and contained CoPt(111), CoPt(002) and Co(002) peaks. The strongest perpendicular magnetic anisotropy could be observed when the H2PtCl6 concentration was up to 0·02 mol L−1. A higher H2PtCl6 concentration would result in bigger and agglomerate nodular structures with lots of pores. The magnetic field parallel to the electrodes during the electrodeposition process could improve the deposition rate and increase the amounts of Co in CoPtW alloy films. Magnetic fields would induce cobalt growing along the (002) orien...

Ultrasonic was introduced during pulse plating process to prepare NiFeP alloy films. Effects of different duty ratios and ultrasonic powers on composition, microstructure and magnetic properties of films were investigated. With the rise in duty ratios, the amount of nickel increased gradually. Higher ultrasonic power could result in larger contents of iron in NiFeP alloy films. That was because nickel reduction was potential controlled while iron reduction was diffusion controlled during the pulse plating process. Almost all the deposited films were crystalline and formed peaks of FeNi3 (111), FeNi3 (200) and FeNi3 (220). With the increase in duty ratios, the intensity of all three peaks started to decline, which led to worse crystalline and bigger grain sizes. Dissimilar surface morphology could be detected by the condition of different duty ratios and ultrasonic powers. NiFeP films with smaller grain size and smooth surface could be obtained when a higher power of ultrasonic was introduced durin...

Co–W–P films were prepared by a pulse plating method on a copper substrate. Effects of different duty ratios on composition, microstructure and magnetic properties of films were investigated. With the increase in duty ratios, the deposition speed increased gradually during the pulse plating process. It was found that the higher ratio duty could improve contents of cobalt and reduce amounts of phosphorus in the film. Almost all the deposited films were crystalline and formed tetrahedral structures Co3W with preferred crystallographic orientation (200) and (201). Dissimilar surface morphology could be detected under different duty ratios. Atomic force microscopy showed that lower duty ratios could form typical nodular structures and the dense surface. However, the films with rough and agglomerate nodular structures would be detected with higher duty ratios. Vibration sample magnetometer results showed that higher duty ratio induced larger saturation magnetisation and lower coercivity of Co–W–P films.

Magnetic fields perpendicular to the copper substrate were applied during an electroless deposition process to obtain Co–W–P thin films from alkaline baths. Effects of different magnetic intensities, pH values and different powers of ultrasonic on the composition, microstructure and magnetic properties of Co–W–P alloys were investigated. Along with the increase of magnetic intensity, deposition speed and film thickness increased gradually as a result of the impacts of magnetic force and micro-MHD effect. Higher magnetic intensity could improve cobalt atomic percentage in the film and increase magnetization of Co–W–P films. Almost all of the deposited films were crystalline and contained hexagonal cobalt with a preferred crystallographic orientation (002). Dissimilar surface morphology could be detected under different pH values when 0.5 T magnetic intensity was introduced, such as rice-like and needle-like structures. When magnetic field was applied during the electroless deposition, grains of films tended to grow perpendicularly to the substrate and hill-like structures would appear with the increase of magnetic intensity. It was also found out that hill-like structure thin films tended to have high coercivities. Hill-like structures could be smoothed when ultrasonic was applied during magnetic electroless deposition. Maximum coercivity (914 Oe) could be obtained when 90 W ultrasonic and B = 0.5 T were introduced.

The performance of an air standard Diesel cycle with heat transfer loss, friction-like term loss and variable specific heats of working fluid is analysed by using finite time thermodynamics. The relationships between the power output and the compression ratio, between the thermal efficiency and the compression ratio, as well as the optimal relationship between the power output and the efficiency of the cycle are derived by detailed numerical examples. Moreover, the effects of temperature dependent specific heats of working fluid on the irreversible cycle performance are analysed. The results show that the effects of temperature dependent specific heats of working fluid on the irreversible cycle performance are obvious, and they should be considered in practice cycle analysis. The results obtained in the present paper may provide guidance for the design of practice Diesel engines.

One of the main differences between low-pressure and atmospheric-pressure plasma treatments is that there is little moisture involved in the low-pressure plasma treatment, although moisture could exist at the wall of the vacuum chamber or react with the substrate after plasma treatment, while in the atmospheric-pressure plasma treatment moisture exists not only in the environment but also in any hygroscopic substrate. In order to investigate the influence of environmental moisture on the effect of atmospheric pressure plasma treatment, ultra-high-modulus polyethylene (UHMPE) fibers were treated using an atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) with 10 l/min helium gas-flow rate, treatment nozzle temperature of 100°C and 5 W output power. The plasma treatments were carried out at three different relative humidity levels, namely 5, 59 and 100%. After the plasma treatments, the surface roughness increased while the water-contact angle decreased with increasing relative humidity. The number of oxygen containing...

Strains used in the experiment were enrichment cultured, separated and purified from Yingtan actual soil. SRB was cultured according to the standards recommended by the American Petroleum Institute (API) in medium.[9] The medium components were as follows: 0.5 g Na2SO4, 1.0 g NH4Cl, 0.1 g CaCl2, 0.5 g K2HPO4 ⋅ 3H2O, 2.0 g MgSO4 ⋅ 7H2O, sodium lactate 3.5 g and 1.0 g yeast extract powder. The medium was made with 1 L of soil simulation solution. A 0.1 g ascorbic acid, 0.1 g ammonium ferrous sulfate and 0.1 g sodium hydrosulfite were added to the medium which was1 INTRODUCTIONDespite the developments in buried pipeline technology, problem of metal corrosion and protection in the soil has attracted people’s attention. Corrosion of buried pipeline is the result of joint action of numerous factors, and the MIC is particularly serious. According to statistics, global loss caused by MIC is up to 10 billion dollars a year.[1] SRB are a kind of typical anaerobic bacteria which depends on organic matter for nourishment,[2] widely exist in the soil, sea mud, water, oil and gas wells and underground pipes; they are all anoxic environments. SRB is one of the main corrosive bacteria which cause the pipeline steel corrosion in the anaerobic environment,[3,4] and can even lead to serious corrosion of all common metallic materials.[5-7]At present, many scholars are working on a lot of SRB all around the world, and have put forward different views. Most of the research concentrated on the discussion of SRB corrosion in the marine environment. In recent years, research of corrosion caused by SRB in the soil environment has been also growing. However, there are numerous different kinds of soil in our country. The content of SRB in different places and different kinds of soil is quite different. And the corrosion mechanismirradiated for 30 minutes by ultraviolet. All reagents were of analytical grade purity. The medium was sterilized for 20 minutes under high pressure at 121°C. After cooling, SRB strains were inoculated. Then they were incubated in biochemical incubator after sealing for 3-5 day at 30±1°C. When the bacteria solution was black with rotten egg smell, it was stored at 4°C in the refrigerator. In order to ensure the content of bacterial for consistency, all experimental bacterial solutions were inoculated and cultured for 4 days. The frozen bacteria would be used after constant temperature activation. The above operations were required vaccination carried out in a sterile workbench.

We prepared Cr microspheres by using the spark erosion method. The Cr microspheres were treated under high oxygen pressures up to 40 MPa, and chromium oxide shells were induced. It is found that Cr 2 O 3 is more stable under 40 MPa of oxygen at both 623 K and 823 K. Magnetic measurement indicates the presence of a small amount of CrO 2 in the particles for an obvious coercivity and an exchange bias was observed. X-ray photoelectron spectra show further that the shell of the oxidized particles was composed of Cr 2 O 3 and trace amount of CrO 2 .

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)/organic-montmorillonite composites were prepared by melt intercalation. Their structures and properties were investigated with X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and mechanical testing. The results showed that PVC chains could be intercalated into the gallery of organically modified montmorillonite to form exfoliated PVC/organic-montmorillonite nanocomposites, and the glass transition temperatures of PVC/organic-montmorillonite composites were lower than that of neat PVC. However, the tensile strength, and both the Izod type and Charpy notched impact strengths of PVC/organic-montmorillonite nanocomposites were fitted with the linear expressions: t=535.07-6.39Tg, sI=378.76-4.59Tg and sC=276.29-3.59Tg, respectively.

The performance of an air standard Atkinson cycle with heat transfer loss and variable specific heats of working fluid is analysed by using finite time thermodynamics. The relationships between the work output and the compression ratio and between the thermal efficiency and the compression ratio, as well as the optimal relationship between the work output and the efficiency of the cycle, are derived from detailed numerical examples. Moreover, the effects of heat transfer loss and variable specific heats of working fluid on the cycle performance are analysed. The results show that these effects are obvious and they should be considered in practice cycle analysis. The results obtained in the present paper may provide guidance for the design of practical internal combustion engines.

Radiation-induced apoptosis in chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines is characterized by endonucleolytic cleavage of cellular DNA and changes of cell morphology within hours after radiation exposure. We investigated the capacity of ebselen [2-phenyl-1,2-benzisoselenazol-3(2H)-one], a seleno-organic compound with selenium-dependent glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activity, to protect cells from radiation-induced apoptosis. This phenomenon was studied by the quantitation of apoptotic cells and DNA gel electrophoresis after 6 Gy X-ray exposure. We also measured the activity of GPx and membrane lipid peroxidation. It was observed that 20 µM ebselen efficiently blocked apoptotic cell formation and DNA fragmentation 48 h post irradiation. Furthermore the data demonstrated that lipid peroxides increased significantly in irradiated cells and ebselen inhibited this process by elevating the cellular GPx activity. The results presented here indicate the requirement of free radicals for radiation-induced apoptosis and ultimately may yield insight necessary for designing protocols to modulate the process of radiation-induced apoptosis with antioxidant agents that scavenge radiation-induced free radicals.

Sodium butyrate is a small, naturally occurring molecule with demonstrated activity on cell growth and differentiation. However, its effect on smooth muscle cells had not been examined. We have found that sodium butyrate and its more stable in vivo analogue tributyrin are potent DNA synthesis and cell proliferation inhibitors. The inhibitory activity of sodium butyrate was not mediated by an elevation of endogenous cAMP levels, a known pathway involved in SMC growth-arrest and maintenance of the contractile phenotype. Consistent with the concept that its activity is mediated by a cAMP-independent pathway, butyrate was able to augment the maximum DNA synthesis inhibitory effect of various agents that elevated intracellular cAMP levels. Additionally, butyrate present for just the initial 8 h or present as late as 16 h after serum addition was able to inhibit DNA synthesis. By contrast, the cAMP analogue, 8Br-cAMP had to be present throughout the entire G0 to S phase of the cell cycle to effectively inhibit DNA synthesis. These results indicated that sodium butyrate inhibited SMC growth through a cAMP-independent mechanism. We also found that sodium butyrate was unable to abrogate the expression of the serum-inducible genes c-fos, c-myc, Ki-Ras and PS4, but was able to directly stimulate the expression of PS4 and thrombospondin. These results indicate that a number of important early G1 events initiated by serum growth factors are unaltered by sodium butyrate and that this compound is able to directly stimulate the expression of certain genes normally associated with SMC proliferation.

Trinucleotide phosphoramidites representing codons for all 20 amino acids have been prepared and used in automated, solid-phase DNA synthesis. In contrast to an earlier report, we show that these substances can be used to introduce entire codons into oligonucleotides in excess of 98% yield, and are ideal reagents for the synthesis of mixed oligonucleotides for random mutagenesis.

In this study, the ZnO nanorod arrays coated with different oxide shells (TiOx, MgO, SnO2, and Al2O3) were fabricated. We compared the effect of various kinds of oxide layer coating (TiOx, MgO, SnO2, and Al2O3) on the performance of ZnO based solar cells. The thickness of the oxide shell layer is determined by transmission electron microscopy. Different kinds of oxide layers had a significant effect on the photovoltaic performance. The effect of different shells on the properties and performance of ZnO based core/shell nanorod array photoanode is discussed.

Upon the interaction of 60 TW Ti: sapphire laser pulses with 4 mm long supersonic nitrogen gas jet, a directional x-ray emission was generated along with the generation of stable quasi-monoenergetic electron beams having a peak energy of 130 MeV and a relative energy spread of ∼ 20%. The betatron x-ray emission had a small divergence of 7.5 mrad and a critical energy of 4 keV. The laser wakefield acceleration process was stimulated in a background plasma density of merely 5.4 × 1017 cm−3 utilizing ionization injection. The non-self-focusing and stable propagation of the laser pulse in the pure nitrogen gaseous plasma should be responsible for the simultaneous generation of the high-quality X-ray and electron beams. Those ultra-short and naturally-synchronized beams could be applicable to ultrafast pump-probe experiments.

Organic geochemical characteristics of 3 Chinese spontaneous combustion coals have been carried out by means of GC and GC-MS analysis. It has been observed that more compounds with low to medium carbon number, such as terpenoids and others can be found in spontaneous combustion coals than in normal samples.

To investigate the cytogenetic changes and DNA double-strand break (DSB) rejoining of transformed cell lines generated from human bronchial epithelial cells by alpha-particle exposure.Transformed cell lines were derived from the HPV 18-immortalized human bronchial epithelial cell line BEP2D generated by 1.5 Gy of alpha-particles emitted by a 238Pu source. Two cell lines, BERP35T1 and BERP35T4, were investigated. Karyotypes were analyzed by trypsin/Giemsa banding. Cell survival was estimated by colony assay. PFGE was used to detect the DNA DSB. mRNA expression was analyzed by RT-PCR.Abnormal chromosomes 2 and 12 with elongated long arm and deletions of chromosomes 2, 12, 13 and 17 were observed in the transformed cell lines. BERP35T4 showed a much higher proportion of polyploid cells (40.5%) compared with parental BEP2D cells and the BERP35TI cell line (5%). BERP35T1 and BERP35T4 showed a markedly lower capacity for rejoining of gamma-ray-induced DNA DSB and increased radiosensitivity compared with parental BEP2D cells. The analysis of mRNA levels revealed a 2.5- to 6.5-fold down-regulated expression of the DNA repair genes XRCC-2, XRCC-3 and Ku80 in BERP35T1 and BERP35T4 cells.The karyotypic changes of chromosomes 2, 12, 13 and 17 and the deficiency of DSB rejoining could be related to the malignant transformation processing of BEP2D cells initiated by alpha-particle exposure.

Rapidly solidified Nd9Fe73B12.6C1.4Ti4-xGax (x = 0, 0.5, 1) thick ribbons were prepared by melt spinning technique at a surface speed (vs) of 5 m/s. The influences of Gallium doping on the glass-forming ability (GFA), microstructure and magnetic properties of alloys were investigated. The coercivity of Nd-Fe-B-Ti-C nanocomposite alloy thick ribbons can be dramatically enhanced by 0.5 at. % Ga addition in a low cooling-rate regime, attributing to the weakened exchange coupling interaction and grain refinement. The results of XRD showed that the GFA of Nd-Fe-B-Ti-C alloy was enhanced by the Ga addition. Therefore, Gallium addition is effective to refine grain and improve the glass-forming ability, which provides the possibility to obtain the high performance of magnetic properties by using strip casting (SC) method.

Minimum-mass target is an effective way to control debris produced during 13.5 nm EUV emission. In this work, we introduce a new method to fabricate 500 ?m PVA air bubbles which is the supporting medium for tin layer using our home-made apparatus. We found that the thinner needle could produce smaller PVA bubbles at a stirring speed of > 420 rpm and the air bubbles were found to be stable more than 40 min which satisfies the requirement of EUV target. Tin elements were assembled on the PVA air bubbles and the presence of tin was confirmed by ICP experiment. The stability of the PVA air bubbles shows that they could be used as EUV emission target in the future.

834 Background: To compare the clinical outcomes of multiple and single cycle dose-intensive induction therapy with autologous stem cell rescue among 48 patients with recurrent or metastatic solid ...