Measurement of Internal Friction for Tungsten by the Curve Vibrating Method with Variation of Voltage and Temperature

Application of a curved vibrating wire method (CVM) to measure gas viscosity has been widely used. A fine Tungsten wire with 50 mm of diameter is bent into a semi-circular shape and arranged symmetrically in a magnetic field of about 0.2 T. The frequency domain is used for calculating the viscosity as a response for forced oscillation of the wire. Internal friction is one of the parameter in the CVM which is has to be measured beforeahead. Internal friction coefficien for the wire material which is the inverse of the quality factor has to be measured in a vacuum condition. The term involving internal friction actually represents the effective resistance of motion due to all non-viscous damping phenomena including internal friction and magnetic damping. The testing of internal friction measurement shows that at different induced voltage and elevated temperature at a vacuum condition, it gives the value of internal friction for Tungsten is around 1 to 4 10-4

The behavior of novel hydrophilic composite bone cements in simulated body fluids

Composite bone cements were formulated with bioactive glass (MgOOSiO2O3CaO ! P2O5) as the filler and hydrophilic matrix. The matrix was composed of a starch/cellulose acetate blend (SCA) as the solid component and a mixture of methylmethacrylate/acrylic acid (MMA/AA) as the liquid component. The curing parameters, mechanical properties, and bioactive behavior of these composite cements were determined. The addition of up to 30 wt % of glass improved both compressive modulus and yield strength and kept the maximum curing temperature at the same value presented by a typical acrylic-based commercial formulation. The lack of a strongly bonded interface (because no coupling agent was used) had important effects on the swelling and mechanical properties of the novel bone cements. However, bone cements containing AA did not show a bioactive behavior, because of the deleterious effect of this monomer on the calcium phosphate precipitation on the polymeric surfaces. Formulations without AA were prepared with MMA or 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) as the liquid component. Only these formulations could form an apatite-like layer on their surface. These systems, therefore, are very promising: They are bioactive, hydrophilic, partially degradable, and present interesting mechanical properties. This combination of properties could facilitate the release of bioactive agents from the cement, allow bone ingrowth in the cement, and induce a press-fitting effect, improving the interfaces with both the prosthesis and the bone

Avaliação da susceptibilidade magnética e teores totais de elementos minerais em amostras de solos antrópicos do Sambaqui da Fazenda Campos Novos - Cabo Frio - RJ.

Os sambaquis, que consistem de depósitos de materiais orgânicos, minerais e principalmente de conchas, são comuns em todo o litoral fluminense, apresentam uma estratigrafia de camadas bastante complexa e, entre estas camadas, apresentam horizontes escuros que são ricos em nutrientes e carbono orgânico. A susceptibilidade magnética (SM) é definida como o grau que uma substância pode ser magnetizada. No solo a SM é determinada pela mineralogia, quantidade e a forma dos minerais, que podem ser classificados, quanto à SM em diamagnéticos, paramagnéticos, ferromagnéticos, ferrimagnéticos e antiferromagnéticos. A determinação da SM é realizada pela aplicação de um campo magnético cujo equilíbrio resultante será dependendo da combinação dos minerais presentes no solo. A SM tem sido utilizada em diversos estudos como método fácil e barato para avaliar propriedades do solo de maior interesse por correlação. A SM apresenta também um grande potencial de uso na agricultura de precisão por ser uma propriedade possível de ser avaliada no campo e de forma rápida. Adicionalmente, estudos com grupos de arqueologia utilizam esta propriedade para caracterizar sítios arqueológicos, e a mesma se mostra bastante promissora para ser utilizada como parâmetro para determinação de horizontes antrópicos no Brasil. A Fazenda Campos Novos é um sítio histórico e arqueológico, cujo local pretende-se transformar num centro cultural e científico da região dos Lagos. Esse trabalho visa a contribuir com o conhecimento das características dos solos antrópicos no local. A avaliação da SM e dos teores totais foi feita no laboratório em amostras coletadas na Fazenda Campos Novos. Os resultados permitiram caracterizar as anomalias magnéticas na área do sambaqui e identificar altos teores de elementos totais em especial P e Ca pelas adições antrópicas

Perceptron capacity revisited: classification ability for correlated patterns

In this paper, we address the problem of how many randomly labeled patterns can be correctly classified by a single-layer perceptron when the patterns are correlated with each other. In order to solve this problem, two analytical schemes are developed based on the replica method and Thouless-Anderson-Palmer (TAP) approach by utilizing an integral formula concerning random rectangular matrices. The validity and relevance of the developed methodologies are shown for one known result and two example problems. A message-passing algorithm to perform the TAP scheme is also presented

Metal Hydrides and Related Materials - Energy Carriers for Novel Hydrogen and Electrochemical Storage

The seventh edition of the International Renewable and Sustainable Energy Conference (IRSEC) was held in Agadir (Sofitel Royal Bay, November 27–30, Morocco) under the Program Chair of Prof. Ahmed Ennaoui (IRESEN). IRSEC, as one of the biggest conferences in north Africa, aims at creating an international forum to facilitate discussions and exchanges in all aspects of renewable and sustainable energy. This Viewpoint will summarize the scientific presentations and stimulated discussions during the Special Session (November 28–29) on Metal Hydrides’ Energy covering topics of metal hydrides and energy related issues for innovative processes and technologies, with a focus on magnesium-based hydrides, intermetallic hydrides, complex and melt hydrides, porous materials, and thin films

Heterotrophic feeding as a newly identified survival strategy of the dinoflagellate Symbiodinium

Survival of free-living and symbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodinium spp.) in coral reefs is critical to the maintenance of a healthy coral community. Most coral reefs exist in oligotrophic waters, and their survival strategy in such nutrient-depleted waters remains largely unknown. In this study, we found that two strains of Symbiodinium spp. cultured from the environment and acquired from the tissues of the coral Alveopora japonica had the ability to feed heterotrophically. Symbiodinium spp. fed on heterotrophic bacteria, cyanobacteria (Synechococcus spp.), and small microalgae in both nutrient-replete and nutrient-depleted conditions. Cultured free-living Symbiodinium spp. displayed no autotrophic growth under nitrogen-depleted conditions, but grew when provided with prey. Our results indicate that Symbiodinium spp.’s mixotrophic activity greatly increases their chance of survival and their population growth under nitrogen-depleted conditions, which tend to prevail in coral habitats. In particular, free-living Symbiodinium cells acquired considerable nitrogen from algal prey, comparable to or greater than the direct uptake of ammonium, nitrate, nitrite, or urea. In addition, free-living Symbiodinium spp. can be a sink for planktonic cyanobacteria (Synechococcus spp.) and remove substantial portions of Synechococcus populations from coral reef waters. Our discovery of Symbiodinium’s feeding alters our conventional views of the survival strategies of photosynthetic Symbiodinium and corals

Draft Genome of the Pearl Oyster Pinctada fucata: A Platform for Understanding Bivalve Biology

The study of the pearl oyster Pinctada fucata is key to increasing our understanding of the molecular mechanisms involved in pearl biosynthesis and biology of bivalve molluscs. We sequenced ∼1150-Mb genome at ∼40-fold coverage using the Roche 454 GS-FLX and Illumina GAIIx sequencers. The sequences were assembled into contigs with N50 = 1.6 kb (total contig assembly reached to 1024 Mb) and scaffolds with N50 = 14.5 kb. The pearl oyster genome is AT-rich, with a GC content of 34%. DNA transposons, retrotransposons, and tandem repeat elements occupied 0.4, 1.5, and 7.9% of the genome, respectively (a total of 9.8%). Version 1.0 of the P. fucata draft genome contains 23 257 complete gene models, 70% of which are supported by the corresponding expressed sequence tags. The genes include those reported to have an association with bio-mineralization. Genes encoding transcription factors and signal transduction molecules are present in numbers comparable with genomes of other metazoans. Genome-wide molecular phylogeny suggests that the lophotrochozoan represents a distinct clade from ecdysozoans. Our draft genome of the pearl oyster thus provides a platform for the identification of selection markers and genes for calcification, knowledge of which will be important in the pearl industry