Modeling Iced Bio-Bandage Design for Skin Burns

Over the years, many designs for biobandage were introduced for different types of burns but in most cases these designs are introduced as a protection means to cover and protect the burned tissue from the bacterial infection not as a treatment means. In this paper a new model for a burns biobandage is introduced not only as a protective means but also as a treatment technique by helping the tissue to rebuild itself as fast as possible. The main objective of this research is to develop a simple cryotherapeutic system to reduce the temperature of the burned tissues to normal temperature of the human body in order to facilitate the tissue healing and regeneration process. A biobandage is proposed to include an iced layer as a cooling source, a cotton layer and a water gel layer for comfort and temperature control, and a plastic layer to seal the ice layer. The optimal combination of these four layers physically work together to reduce inflammation, which in turn makes the heeling or recovery time shorter and reduces pain as a result of decreasing the nerve conductivity. The COMSOL Multiphysics was used to model the cooling process on burned tissue using the proposed iced-biobandage. The calculated temperature profiles along the depth biobandage and burned skin provide a clear vision of the heat flow within each layers. The history of temperature and heat transfer rate at the burned skin surface are monitored for an effective cooling and healing process. A modeling analysis was performed to examine the changes of temperature over a predetermined time and to help in identifying the optimal period for ice cooling process, the analysis shows that the ice layer is effective within a certain period of time and after this period it doesn't add any beneficial effect

Iced Bio-Bandage Design for Skin Burns

In this paper a new model for a burns biobandage is introduced not only as a protective means but also as a treatment technique by helping the tissue to rebuild itself as fast as possible. The main objective of this research is to develop a simple cryotherapeutic system to reduce the temperature of the burned tissues to normal temperature of the human body in order to facilitate the tissue healing and regeneration process. A biobandage is proposed to include an iced layer as a cooling source, a cotton layer and a water gel layer for comfort and temperature control, and a plastic layer to seal the ice layer. The optimal combination of these four layers physically work together to reduce inflammation, which in turn makes the heeling or recovery time shorter and reduces pain as a result of decreasing the nerve conductivity. The COMSOL Multiphysics was used to model the cooling process on burned tissue using the proposed iced-biobandage. A modeling analysis was performed to examine the changes of temperature over a predetermined time and to help in identifying the optimal period for ice cooling process

DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS AND ASSOCIATED DISORDERS OF CATARACT PATIENTS ATTENDED MAKKAH HOSPITAL IN ADEN, YEMEN

كان الهدف من الدراسة هو تحديد الخصائص الديموغرافية، ونسبة العوامل المصاحبة لمرض الساد. وكانت الدراسة دراسة مقطعية مستعرضة أجريت بين مرضى الساد البالغين الذين تمت معاينتهم في مستشفى مكة في عدن. استخلصنا على جميع العوامل الديموغرافية والمرتبطة بمرض الساد. تم استخدام SPSS 17. كما تمت مقارنة جميع المتغيرات حسب الجنس والفئات العمرية. واعتبرت المصطلحات عن المتغيرات على أنها المتوسط ± الانحراف المعياري. تم استخدام تحليل Chi-Square. وكذلك اعتبار قيمة P أقل من 0.05 ذات دلالة إحصائية. بلغ عدد مرضى الدراسة 186 مريضا مصابون بمرض الساد. (نسبة الاناث 51.1% والذكور 49.9%). تراوحت أعمار المرضى ما بين 25 إلى 92 سنة ومتوسط العمر 61.1 ± 11.1 سنة. غالبية مرضى الساد (82.8%) كانوا من الفئة العمرية فوق 50 سنة. كان معظم مرضى الساد الذين شملتهم الدراسة من المناطق الحضرية بنسبة 56.5%. أما بالنسبة للعادات الشخصية، فإن (15.6%) من مرضى الساد كانوا مدخنين. وكان معظم المدخنين من الذكور 12.9%. (الفرق بين الجنسين ذو دلالة إحصائية 0.000=p). أجاب (59.7%) من المرضى بأنهم تعرضوا لأشعة الشمس المباشرة (0.000=p). من بين جميع مرضى الدراسة، (39.2%) كن ربات بيوت (0.000=p) كما وجد أن (14.7%) من مرضى الساد مصابون بالسكري. مرض الساد هو السبب الأكثر شيوعًا لضعف البصر في جميع أنحاء العالم وعلى الرغم من أنه يؤثر على جميع الفئات العمرية. وهو أكثر انتشارًا بين الأشخاص الذين تتراوح أعمارهم بين 50 عامًا وأكثر. المرضى المسنون من المناطق الحضرية والريفية هم الأكثر تضرراً من مرض الساد.The objective is to determine the demographic characteristics, and the proportion of associated factors of cataract. This was a hospital based cross-sectional study among adult patients attending Makkah hospital in Aden. We obtained all demographic and associated factors of cataract. SPSS 17 version was used. All variables were compared according to the sex and age groups. Variables were expressed as the mean ± standard deviation. Chi-square analysis was used. A P-value of less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. The study patients were 186 cataract patients, (Females were 51.1% and males were 49.9%). The age of the patients ranged between 25 to 92 years and the mean age was 61.1 ±11.1 years. The majority patients (82.8%) were of the age group > 50 years. Most of the patients were from urban 56.5%. About (15.6%) cataract patients were smokers. Most of smokers were males 12.9%. One hundred and eleven (59.7%) of the patients gave history of exposure to sunlight, (p = 0.000). Housewives represented (39.2%), (p=0.000). About (14.7%) of the patients were diabetic. Cataract is the commonest cause of visual impairment worldwide and though it affects all age groups. It is more prevalent among people aged 50 years and more. Old age patients from urban and rural areas are the most commonly affected by cataract

Large Strain Mechanical Behavior of HSLA-100 Steel Over a Wide Range of Strain Rates

High-strength low alloy steels (HSLA) have been designed to replace high-yield (HY) strength steels in naval applications involving impact loading as the latter, which contain more carbon, require complicated welding processes. The critical role of HSLA-100 steel requires achieving an accurate understanding of its behavior under dynamic loading. Accordingly, in this paper, we experimentally investigate its behavior, establish a model for its constitutive response at high-strain rates, and discuss its dynamic failure mode. The large strain and high-strain-rate mechanical constitutive behavior of high strength low alloy steel HSLA-100 is experimentally characterized over a wide range of strain rates, ranging from 10^(−3) s^(−1) to 10^4 s^(−1). The ability of HSLA-100 steel to store energy of cold work in adiabatic conditions is assessed through the direct measurement of the fraction of plastic energy converted into heat. The susceptibility of HSLA-100 steel to failure due to the formation and development of adiabatic shear bands (ASB) is investigated from two perspectives, the well-accepted failure strain criterion and the newly suggested plastic energy criterion [1]. Our experimental results show that HSLA-100 steel has apparent strain rate sensitivity at rates exceeding 3000 s^(−1) and has minimal ability to store energy of cold work at high deformation rate. In addition, both strain based and energy based failure criteria are effective in describing the propensity of HSLA-100 steel to dynamic failure (adiabatic shear band). Finally, we use the experimental results to determine constants for a Johnson-Cook model describing the constitutive response of HSLA-100. The implementation of this model in a commercial finite element code gives predictions capturing properly the observed experimental behavior. High-strain rate, thermomechanical processes, constitutive behavior, failure, finite elements, Kolsky bar, HSLA-100

Curcumin containing chitosan-pectinate nanoparticulate drug delivery system for colon cancer treatment

Curcumin, the active constituent of the rhizome Curcuma longa has been extensively studied as an anticancer agent for various types of tumours. However, its efficacy as an anticancer agent is constrained due to poor absorption, rapid metabolism, degradation in acidic media and consequently, low oral bioavailability. In the present study, we aim to formulate a curcumin-containing mucoadhesive nanoparticulate delivery system that offers protection to curcumin from the degradative effects of the upper digestive tract system but capable of releasing the payload in the colon for the localised treatment of colorectal cancer. Such a system should have a good surface coverage locally at the tumour site and ideally, capable of traversing the tumour. Thus, nanopariculate delivery is most suited to achieve this objective. The latter was formulated using chitosan and pectin as polymers due to their biodegradability and non-toxicity. The objectives of this study were (i) to fabricate, optimize and characterize the curcumin-containing delivery system; (ii) to evaluate the mucoadhesive propensity, release of curcumin from the carrier, and stability of the formulation in various milieu; (iii) to investigate the in vitro antiproliferative efficacy of the formulation as well as the cellular uptake profiles; and (iv) to proof the concept of the formulation using animal modules. The formulated nanoparticulate system had a z-average of 206.0 nm (± 6.6 nm), zeta potential of +32.8 mV (±0.5 mV), and encapsulation efficiency of 64%. The nanoparticles were more mucoadhesive at alkaline pH compared to acidic pH. Furthermore, more than 80% release of curcumin was achieved in simulated colonic medium as opposed to negligible release in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids, respectively. The nanoparticles were taken-up by HT-29 colorectal cancer cells which ultimately resulted in a tremendous reduction in cell propagation. This anti-proliferative effect of the encapsulated curcumin was similar to that of free curcumin at equivalent doses which confirms that the encapsulation process did not affect the anticancer efficacy of curcumin. The bioavailability of curcumin from the nanoparticles was enhanced by 4-folds after oral administration after 6 hr of treatment. Moreover, the half-life, Cmax, and AUC of curcumin were significantly improved. A lower elimination rate was observed from the formulation compared to equivalent doses of free curcumin. These findings are a strong indication of the potential of the studied formulation for the possible treatment of colon cancer via oral administration

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE USE OF SMOKELESS TOBACCO AND ORAL SQUAMOUS CELL CARCINOMA

يعد التبع عامل خطر رئيسي لسرطان الفم والعديد من السرطانات الأخرى. أجريت هذه الدراسة الوصفية المحتملة لتقييم تأثير عادات استخدم مضغ التبع على الفم. جمعت عينات (الخزعة) من 60 مريض المرتادين مستشفى الجمهورية التعليمي والمختبرات الخاصة بعلم الانسجة المرضية خلال فترة عامين. المقاطع النسيجية من العينات المطمورة بالبارافين تم صبغها بالهيماتوكسيلين ويوزين (H&E) لتعيين درجة الانسجة المرضية.أظهرت النتائج انتشار سرطان الخلايا الحرشفية للفم (OSCC) عند درجات مختلفة من التمايز بين 60 حاله مرضيه تمت دراستها حيث شكلت الخلايا الحرشفية السرطانية جيد التمايز (WDSCC) اعلى نسبة 70%.لم يلاحظ أي فرق كبير في الخلايا السرطانية المتمايزة جيداً (WDSCC) بين الرجال (36.7%) والنساء (33.3%). التمايز المعتدل (MDSCC) والتمايز الضعيف PDSSC شكل حوالي (20%، 10%) على التوالي. وفقاً لأعمار المرضى فان اعلى نسبة المئوية لـلتمايز الجيد، المعتدل والضعيف لوحظت عند عمر 60-51 عام، وكانت سائدة في  الذكور عند كلا الجنسين، بنسبة 1:1:2 للذكور مقارنة بالاناث . تم تحليل المناطق التشريحية لجميع حالات OSCC وتبين ان اللسان المنطقة الأكثر انتشارا بمعدل (33.3 %) يليه الغشاء المخاطي للشدق (23:3%)، قاع الفم (16.7%)، الشفه (13.3%)، اللثة (8.3 %)، و المنطقة الاقل انتشارا هو سقف الحنك بمعدل (5%) من جميع الحالات. لاحظنا ان المسبب الرئيسي هو تعاطي 75% من المرضى للتبغ بصورة (smokeless tobacco) عن طريق  مضغ الشمه التقليدي عند نسبة (61.7%)، اكياس الحوت (Hot sachet) عند نسبة (58.3%) والزرده عند نسبة (51.7%) من الحالات المدروسة.نستنتج من ذلك ان سرطان الخلايا الحرشفية للفم (OSCC) أظهر درجات مختلفة من التمايز.  العمر والجنس لهما علاقة  بظهور هذه   الحالات التي ترتبط ارتباطًا وثيقًا بالعادات الخطرة لتناول التبغ بأشكال مختلفة وخاصة التبغ غير المُدخَّن (smokeless tobacco).Smokeless tobacco (ST) is a tobacco product that is used by means other than smoking. Evidence was available that ST products is a known risk factor for oral precancerous and cancers for long, with greater risk for oral cancer than others. The prospective, descriptive study has carried out to evaluate the relationship between the use of smokeless tobacco and oral cancer.Biopsy samples have collected from 60 patients, whose have attended to Al-Gamhouria Teaching Hospital and histo-pathological private labs in Aden using a questionnaire during the period of 12 months. The sections from paraffin-embedded tissue specimens were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H & E). A section containing the full thickness of the tumors have used for histopathological grading.The prevalence of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) lesions showed different grade of differentiation among 60 studied patients cases, the Well differentiation squamous cell carcinoma (WDSCC) was the highest percentage (70%). No significant difference noticed in well-differentiated SCCs (WDSCC) between men (36.7%) and women (33.3 %; P < 0.05). The moderate differentiation SCC (MDSCC), and the poor differentiation SCC (PDSCC) represented (20% & 10%) respectively. According to the age of patients, WDSCC, MDSCC and PDSCC highest percentage age group was (51-60) years. Male were predominant in both genders, male to female ratio 1.2: 1. Anatomical sites of all OSCC lesions had analyzed and  revealed that tongue was the most prevalent site (33.3%), followed by the buccal mucosa, (23.3%) , floor of mouth (16.7%) , lip (13.3%), Gingiva (8.3%), and the least prevalent site was the hard palate represented (5%) of all cases., the chief etiological factor which we observed, was tobacco, in  the form of smoking tobacco  used by 75% of the patients followed by smokeless tobacco product users, in form of shamma chewers, (61.7%),  and in form of  Hot sachet (58.3%), and Zarda  users represented 51.7% of cases.Our results indicate that the occurrence of OSCC among studied cases showed different grade of differentiation, age and gender have some relation with the presence of OSCC. and it is high association with risk habits of tobacco use in different forms particularly smokeless tobacco

Experimental Investigation of the Heat Flux from Laminar Premixed Ethanol/Air and Hydrogen/Ethanol/Air Flames to Walls Using Thermographic Phosphors

Premixed impinging flame jets have been widely used in both industrial and domestic applications because of their advantages in offering high heat transfer rates and simple handling. Nevertheless, for the process of flame impingement on walls, the interaction between the combustion process and heat transfer to the wall is also not sufficiently understood, thus many of the impingement heating systems are not utilized at optimal conditions. In addition, the fuels used in previous work concentrate almost exclusively on methane or natural gas, while other important fuels like ethanol or hydrogen were rarely or never investigated. Furthermore, most recent studies focus on only one geometry, flame impingement normal to a flat surface. Therefore, there is little work on ethanol / air flames that strike normally or at an angle to flat surfaces. Moreover, investigations on ethanol/air flames impinging normally on cylindrical surface have not been reported yet. In this experimental study, the thermographic phosphor method was implemented to study the heat flux at the stagnation point on the impingement surface. For that purpose, light emitting diodes (LED) were used to excite the phosphorescence of solgel deposited chromium-doped alumina (Cr3:Al2O3, ruby) on both sides of solid walls in different experiments. The phosphorescence lifetimes depend on temperature, so they were evaluated to extract the impingement surface temperatures. The heat fluxes were calculated using a one-dimensional conduction equation. Laminar premixed flames that were investigated are ethanol-air flames and hydrogen-ethanol-air flames. The burner exit diameter is 30 mm. Three different types of configurations were studied for impinging flames. These are flame impinging upwards normally on a flat surface, flame striking at different angles on a flat surface and flames impinging upwards normally on cylindrical surfaces (Tube). In the case of ethanol/air flames impinging normally on a flat surface, the following parameters were investigated: impingement surface thermal conductivity, cold gas velocity of the air/fuel jet, equivalence ratio of the air/fuel jet, surface-to-burner distance, oxygen amount in oxidizer and enrichment of the mixture ethanol/air with hydrogen. It was found that using zirconia as an impingement surface material instead of alumina under identical operational conditions reduces the heat flux measurement errors from approximately 13% to 2.3%. In a stoichiometric condition, the experimental results were compared with simulated results. It was observed that the results obtained experimentally have smaller values than those obtained from simulation. The highest heat flux was obtained at the equivalence ratio of 1.0. The lowest heat flux was obtained at the lowest applied equivalence ratio of 0.75. The heat flux increased when the plate-to-burner distance was decreased. The use of an oxidizer with a lower percentage of nitrogen than in air enhanced the heat flux. Also, it was found that when hydrogen volume fraction increases, the heat flux increases, and this effect is more significant at high cold gas velocity. In the investigation of the angle dependent heat flux on the flat plat of stoichiometric ethanol/air flames, it was found that the heat flux in the decreased as the inclination angle was reduced. The maximum heat flux was obtained at the inclination angle of 90°. In comparison to heat transfer to flat plates, in heat transfer to cylindrical surfaces higher heat fluxes are found. In almost all experimental results, the measured heat flux indicates the change of the flame stabilization mechanism from a burner stabilized to a stagnation plate stabilized flame with increasing cold gas velocity.Experimentelle Untersuchungen des Wärmestroms von Laminaren Vorgemischten Ethanol/Luft- und Wasserstoff/Ethanol/Luft-Flammen an Wänden unter Einsatz von Thermographischen Phosphoren Vormischflammen werden zum Heizen sowohl industriell als auch iin Privathaushalten vielfältig eingesetzt. Ihre Vorteile liegen in einer hohen Wärmeübertragungsrate und einer einfachen Handhabung. Dennoch ist der Prozess der der Wechselwirkung zwischen Verbrennungsprozess und Wärmeübertragung an die Wand weiterhin nicht ausreichend verstanden, weswegen die meisten Anwendungen nicht unter den günstigsten Bedingungen betrieben werden. Hinzu kommt, dass sich frühere Arbeiten fast ausschließlich mit der Verbrennung von Methan oder Erdgas, hingegen andere wichtige Brennstoffe wie Ethanol oder Wasserstoff selten oder gar nicht untersuchtwurden. Desweiteren befassen sich die meisten bisherigen Studien mit einer eingeschränkten Geometrie, der senkrechten Strömung der Flamme auf eine ebene Oberfläche. Daher gibt es kaum Arbeiten zu Ethanol/Luft-Flammen, die in verschiedenen Winkeln auf eine ebene Oberfläche treffen. Untersuchungen zum Auftreffen einer Ethanol/Luft-Flamme auf eine gekrümmte Oberfläche sind bisher nicht berichtet worden. In dieser weitgehend experimentellen Arbeit werden thermograpische Phosphore eingesetzt, um die Wärmestromdichte am Staupunkt einer auf eine Oberfläche treffenden Flamme zu untersuchen. Hierzu werden beide Seiten der später durch die Flamme beheizten Oberfläche mit einem dünnen, polykristallinen Rubin-Film im Sol-Gel-Verfahren beschichtet. Die Phosphoreszenz von Rubin (mit Chrom dotierter Korund; Cr3:Al2O3) wird durch Leuchtdioden angeregt. Die Lebensdauer der Phosphoreszenz ist temperaturabhängig, sodass sich hieraus die Oberflächentemperaturen bestimmen lassen. Die Wärmestromdichte kann hieraus unter Annahme eindimensionaler Wärmeleitung ermittelt werden. Laminare, vorgemischte Ethanol/Luft- und Wasserstoff/Ethanol/Luft-Flammen werden hier untersucht, die von unten nach oben brennen und einen darüber befindlichen Probekörper heizen. Der Brennerdurchmesser beträgt 30mm. Es werden drei Geometrien untersucht: Ebene Platte senkrecht zur Flamme, ebene Platte mit vorgegebenem Winkel zur Flamme sowie zylindrische Rohre senkrecht zur Flamme. Im Falle der senkrecht angeströmten Platte wurden folgende Parameter untersucht: Plattenmaterial mit unterschiedlicher Wärmeleitfähigkeit, Strömungsgeschwindigkeit des Kaltgases, das Brennstoff/Luft-Verhältnis, der Abstand von Brenner und Platte, der Sauerstoffgehalt des Oxidators und die Zusammensetzung des Brennstoffs durch Zugabe von Wasserstoff zum Ethanol. Es stellte sich heraus, dass der Wechsel des Plattenmaterials von Aluminiumdioxid zu Zirkoniumdioxid den Fehler der Wärmestromdichtenmessungen von 13% auf 2,3% reduziert. Die experimentell bestimmten Wärmestromdichten der stöchiometrischen Verbrennung wurden mit Simulationsergebnissen verglichen wobei die Werte des Experiments unter denen der Modellierung lagen. Die höchste Wärmestromdichte wurde bei einem Äquivalenzverhältnis von 1,0 ermittelt (stöchiometrische Verbrennung) und die niedrigste bei dem niedrigsten gewählten Äquivalenzverhältnis von 0,75. Die Wärmestromdichte erhöhte sich mit abnehmendem Abstand von Brenner zu Platte. Wurde der Stickstoffgehalt der Luft reduziert, so erhöhte sich die Wärmestromdichte ebenfalls. Ebenso konnte die Wärmestromdichte durch Zugabe von Wasserstoff erhöht werden, wobei dieser Effekt bei höheren Strömungsgeschwindigkeiten stärker war. Zur Untersuchung des winkelabhängigen Wärmeübergangs auf ebene Platten von stöchiometrischen Ethanol/Luft-Flammen zeigte sich eine Abnahme der Wärmestromdichte bei Abnahme des Winkels. Im Vergleich zu der ebenen Platte zeigen die Messungen am Zylinder eine höhere Wärmestromdichte, wenn die Flamme am Staupunkt stabilisiert ist. In nahezu allen Messreihen ist der Wechsel von einer brennerstabilisierten Flamme zu einer staupunktstabilisierten Flamme bei Erhöhung der Strömungsgeschwindiugkeit zu erkennen

Curcumin containing chitosan-pectinate nanoparticulate drug delivery system for colon cancer treatment

Curcumin, the active constituent of the rhizome Curcuma longa has been extensively studied as an anticancer agent for various types of tumours. However, its efficacy as an anticancer agent is constrained due to poor absorption, rapid metabolism, degradation in acidic media and consequently, low oral bioavailability. In the present study, we aim to formulate a curcumin-containing mucoadhesive nanoparticulate delivery system that offers protection to curcumin from the degradative effects of the upper digestive tract system but capable of releasing the payload in the colon for the localised treatment of colorectal cancer. Such a system should have a good surface coverage locally at the tumour site and ideally, capable of traversing the tumour. Thus, nanopariculate delivery is most suited to achieve this objective. The latter was formulated using chitosan and pectin as polymers due to their biodegradability and non-toxicity. The objectives of this study were (i) to fabricate, optimize and characterize the curcumin-containing delivery system; (ii) to evaluate the mucoadhesive propensity, release of curcumin from the carrier, and stability of the formulation in various milieu; (iii) to investigate the in vitro antiproliferative efficacy of the formulation as well as the cellular uptake profiles; and (iv) to proof the concept of the formulation using animal modules. The formulated nanoparticulate system had a z-average of 206.0 nm (± 6.6 nm), zeta potential of +32.8 mV (±0.5 mV), and encapsulation efficiency of 64%. The nanoparticles were more mucoadhesive at alkaline pH compared to acidic pH. Furthermore, more than 80% release of curcumin was achieved in simulated colonic medium as opposed to negligible release in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids, respectively. The nanoparticles were taken-up by HT-29 colorectal cancer cells which ultimately resulted in a tremendous reduction in cell propagation. This anti-proliferative effect of the encapsulated curcumin was similar to that of free curcumin at equivalent doses which confirms that the encapsulation process did not affect the anticancer efficacy of curcumin. The bioavailability of curcumin from the nanoparticles was enhanced by 4-folds after oral administration after 6 hr of treatment. Moreover, the half-life, Cmax, and AUC of curcumin were significantly improved. A lower elimination rate was observed from the formulation compared to equivalent doses of free curcumin. These findings are a strong indication of the potential of the studied formulation for the possible treatment of colon cancer via oral administration

Deformation Rate and Temperature Sensitivity in TWIP/TRIP VCrFeCoNi Multi-Principal Element Alloy

High-entropy alloys (HEAs) and medium-entropy alloys (MEAs), also sometimes referred to as multi-principal element alloys (MPEAs), present opportunities to develop new materials with outstanding mechanical properties. Through the careful selection of constituent elements along with optimized thermal processing for proper control of structure, grain size, and deformation mechanisms, many of the newly developed HEA systems exhibit superior strength and ductility levels across a wide range of temperatures, particularly at cryogenic deformation temperatures. Such a remarkable response has been attributed to the hardening capacity of many MPEAs that is achieved through the activation of deformation twinning. More recent compositions have considered phase transforming systems, which have the potential for enhanced strengthening and therefore high strength and ductility levels. However, the strain rate sensitivity of such transforming MPEAs is not well understood and requires further investigation. In this study, the tensile properties of the non-equiatomic V10Cr10Fe45Co30Ni5 MPEA were investigated at different deformation rates and temperatures ranging from 77 K (-196 degrees C) to 573 K (300 degrees C). Depending on the deformation temperature, the considered MPEA exhibits plasticity through either crystallographic slip, deformation twinning, or solid-state phase transformation. At 300 degrees C, only slip-mediated plasticity was observed for all the considered deformation rates. Deformation twinning was detected in samples deformed at room temperature, while face-centered cubic to body-centered cubic phase transformation became more favorable at cryogenic deformation temperatures. The trends are nonlinear with twinning-induced plasticity (TWIP) favored at the intermediate deformation rate, while transformation-induced plasticity (TRIP) was observed, although limited, only at the slowest deformation rate. For all the considered deformation rates at cryogenic deformation temperature, a significant TRIP activity was always detected. The extent of TRIP, however, was dependent on the deformation rate. Increasing the deformation rate is not conducive to TRIP and thus hinders the hardening capacity

Improving Water Use Efficiency of Lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) Using Phosphorous Fertilizers

A greenhouse pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of phosphorous (P) fertilizers application to an alkaline calcareous soil on the water use efficiency (WUE) of lettuce cultivar “robinson” of iceberg type. Head fresh and dry weights, total water applied and WUE were affected significantly by the P fertilizer type and rate. P fertilizers addition induced a significant enhancement in the WUE and fresh and dry weights of the crop. A local phosphate rock (PR) applied directly was found to be inferior to the other types of P fertilizers (Mono ammonium phosphate (MAP), Single superphosphate (SSP), and Di ammonium phosphate ((DAP)). MAP fertilizer at 375 and 500 kg P(2)O(5)/ha application rates recorded the highest significant values of head fresh weight and WUE, respectively