Hydrogen enhanced thermal fatigue of y-titanium aluminide

A study of hydrogen enhanced thermal fatigue cracking was carried out for a gamma-based Ti-48Al-2Cr alloy by cycling between room temperature and 750 or 900 °C. The results showed that hydrogen can severely attack the gamma alloy, with resulting lifetimes as low as three cycles, while no failures were observed in helium for test durations of over 4000 cycles. The severity of hydrogen attack strongly depends on the upper limit of the temperature cycled and the cleanliness of the hydrogen. Specifically, the large scatter of life times at 750 °C (ranging from 36 to more than 3000 cycles) have resulted from the competition between surface oxidation and hydrogen attack. The results suggest that an understanding of the combined actions of thermal cycling and hydrogen degradation is needed for assessing materials for high temperature applications in hydrogen

Social Contracts and Marketing Ethics

In this article, the authors describe the need and the search to date for a normative moral foundation for marketing. Social contract theory appears promising because of its clear correspondence to the exchange relationships central to marketing thought and practice. The authors introduce it in a specific formulation known as Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT). This theory provides a coherent framework for resolving ethical issues that arise among different communities and is therefore particularly appropriate because marketers frequently engage in boundary-spanning relationships and cross-cultural activities. The authors explore the application of ISCT to ethical decision making in marketing through the use of bribery as a major illustrative example. They discuss implications for managers and researchers

CD4-binding site alterations in CCR5-using HIV-1 envelopes influencing gp120-CD4 interactions and fusogenicity

CD4-binding site (CD4bs) alterations in gp120 contribute to different pathophysiological phenotypes of CCR5-using (R5) HIV-1 strains, but the potential structural basis is unknown. Here, we characterized functionally diverse R5 envelope (Env) clones (n = 16) to elucidate potential structural alterations within the gp120 CD4bs that influence Env function. Initially, we showed that the magnitude of gp120-CD4-binding correlates with increased fusogenicity and reduced CD4 dependence. Analysis of three-dimensional gp120 structural models revealed two CD4bs variants, D279 and N362, that were associated with reduced CD4 dependence. Further structural analysis showed that a wider aperture of the predicted CD4bs cavity, as constrained by the inner-most atoms at the gp120 V1V2 stem and the V5 loop, was associated with amino acid alterations within V5 and correlated with increased gp120-CD4 binding and increased fusogenicity. Our results provide evidence that the gp120 V5 loop may alter CD4bs conformation and contribute to increased gp120-CD4 interactions and Env fusogenicity