Vanadium microalloyed steel for thin slab casting and direct rolling

Vanadium microalloyed steels with high yield strength (»600 MPa), good toughness and ductility have been successfully produced in commercial thin slab casting plants employing direct rolling after casting. Because of the high solubility of VN and VC, most of the vanadium is likely to remain in solution during casting, equalisation and rolling. While some vanadium is precipitated in austenite as cuboids and pins the grain boundaries, a major fraction is available for dispersion strengthening of ferrite. Despite a coarse as-cast grain size, significant grain refinement can be achieved by repeated recrystallisation during hot rolling. Consequently, a fine and uniform ferrite grain structure is produced in the final strip. Increasing the V and N levels increases dispersion strengthening which occurs together with a finer ferrite grain size. The addition of titanium to a vanadium containing steel, decreases the yield strength due to the formation of V-Ti(N) particles in austenite during both casting and equalisation These large particles reduced the amount of V and N available for subsequent precipitation of fine (~5nm) V rich dispersion strengthening particles in ferrite

Dispersion strengthening in vanadium microalloyed steels processed by simulated thin slab casting and direct charging: Part I - Processing parameters, mechanical properties and microstructure

A study simulating thin slab continuous casting followed by direct charging into an equalisation furnace has been undertaken based on six low carbon (0.06wt-%) vanadium microalloyed steels. Mechanical and impact test data showed properties were similar or better than those obtained from similar microalloyed conventional thick cast as rolled slabs. The dispersion plus dislocation strengthening was estimated to be in the range 80-250MPa.A detailed TEM/EELS analysis of the dispersion sized sub-15nm particles showed that in all the steels, they were essentially nitrides with little crystalline carbon detected. In the Steels V-Nb, V-Ti and V-Nb-Ti, mixed transition metal nitrides were present. Modelling of equilibrium precipitates in these steels, based on a modified version of ChemSage, predicted that only vanadium rich nitrides would precipitate in austenite but that the C/N ratio would increase through the two phase field and in ferrite. The experimental analytical data clearly points to the thin slab direct charging process, which has substantially higher cooling rates than conventional casting, nucleating non-equilibrium particles in ferrite which are close to stoichiometric nitrides. These did not coarsen during the final stages of processing, but retained their highly stable average size of ~7nm resulting in substantial dispersion strengthening. The results are considered in conjunction with pertinent published literature

Operation of a DNA-Based Autocatalytic Network in Serum

The potential for inferring the presence of cancer by the detection of miRNA in human blood has motivated research into the design and operation of DNA-based chemical amplifiers that can operate in bodily fluids. As a first step toward this goal, we have tested the operation of a DNA-based autocatalytic network in human serum and mouse serum. With the addition of sodium dodecyl sulfate to prevent degradation by nuclease activity, the network was found to operate successfully with both DNA and RNA catalysts

Ballistic electron transport in stubbed quantum waveguides: experiment and theory

We present results of experimental and theoretical investigations of electron transport through stub-shaped waveguides or electron stub tuners (ESTs) in the ballistic regime. Measurements of the conductance G as a function of voltages, applied to different gates V_i (i=bottom, top, and side) of the device, show oscillations in the region of the first quantized plateau which we attribute to reflection resonances. The oscillations are rather regular and almost periodic when the height h of the EST cavity is small compared to its width. When h is increased, the oscillations become less regular and broad depressions in G appear. A theoretical analysis, which accounts for the electrostatic potential formed by the gates in the cavity region, and a numerical computation of the transmission probabilities successfully explains the experimental observations. An important finding for real devices, defined by surface Schottky gates, is that the resonance nima result from size quantization along the transport direction of the EST.Comment: Text 20 pages in Latex/Revtex format, 11 Postscript figures. Phys. Rev. B,in pres

Differential metabolism of deoxyribonucleosides by leukaemic T cells of immature and mature phenotype

Experimental evidence has indicated that T lymphoblasts are more sensitive to deoxynucleoside toxicity than are B lymphoblasts. These data have led to the use of purine enzyme inhibitors as selective chemotherapeutic drugs in the treatment of T cell malignancies ranging from T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia to cutaneous T cell lymphomas. We have compared the toxicities of 2′-deoxyadenosine, 2′-deoxyguanosine, and thymidine for T cell lines derived from patients with T cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia with those for mature T cell lines derived from patients with cutaneous T cell leukaemia/lymphoma. We have found that both deoxynucleosides are far less toxic to the mature T cell lies than to T lymphoblasts and that the mature cells accumulate much lower amounts of dATP and dGTP when exposed to deoxyadenosine and deoxyguanosine, respectively. Similar studies performed on peripheral blood cells from patients with T cell leukaemias of mature phenotype and on peripheral blood T cells demonstrate similar low amounts of deoxynucleotide accumulation. Measurements of the activities of several purine metabolizing enzymes that participate in deoxynucleoside phosphorylation or degradation do not reveal differences which would explain the toxicity of deoxynucleosides for immature, as compared to mature, T cells. We conclude that deoxynucleoside metabolism in leukaemic T cells varies with their degree of differentiation. These observations may be relevant to the design of chemotherapeutic regimes for T cell malignancies.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/72479/1/j.1365-2141.1985.tb04067.x.pd

Efeitos da densidade de população de plantas na cultura de couve-flor (Brassica oleracea L. var. botrytis)

An experiment was carried out to study the effects of the following population densities cauliflowers (plants per ha): 20,833 (0.60 m x 0.80 m), 25,641 (0.60 m x 0.65 m), ....37.037 (0.60 m x 0.45 m) , 55.555 (.0.60 m x 0.30 m), and 111,111 (0,60 m x 0,15 m) ; variety Snow ball. It was concluded that the effects of plant population density are greater on curd quality (weight and size) than on production per ha. The best plant population density to produce cauliflowers curd for Brazil market is from 20,000 to 25,000 plants/ha while for mini-curd is above 55,000 plants/ha.O experimento foi instalado na área experimental do Setor de Horticultura da ESALQ. (Piracicaba, SP), em um Latossol Roxo série "Luiz de Queiroz", em março de 1977, considerando as seguintes densidades de população: 20.833 plantas/ha (0,60 m x 0,80m), .. 25.641 plantas/ha (0,60 m x 0,65 m), 37.037 plantas/ha (..0.,60 m x 0,45 ml, 55.550 plantas/ha (,06Q m x 0,30 ,) e 111.111 plantas/ ha (0,60 m x 0,15 m). A partir dos resultados obtidos e para as condições do experimento concluiu-se que a densidade de população sobre a produção de couve-flor afeta mais a qualidade da cabeça (peso e tamanho), enquanto que o rendimento por área é pouco afetado. Para as condições do nosso mercado, a densidade ótima deve estar entre 20.000 a 25.000 plantas por ha e para a produção de mini-couve-flor mais de 55.000 plantas por ha, paraocultivar Bola de Neve

Cowries in the archaeology of West Africa: the present picture

Despite the perceived importance of cowrie shells as indicators of long-distance connections in the West African past, their distribution and consumption patterns in archaeological contexts remain surprisingly underexplored, a gap that is only partly explicable by the sparse distribution of archaeological sites within the sub-continent. General writings on the timeline of importation of cowries into West Africa often fail to take into account the latest archaeological evidence and rely instead on accounts drawn from historical or ethnographic documents. This paper is based on a first-hand assessment of over 4500 shells from 78 sites across West Africa, examining chronology, shell species and processes of modification to assess what distribution patterns can tell us about the history of importation and usage of cowries. These first-hand analyses are paralleled by a consideration of published materials. We re-examine the default assumption that two distinct routes of entry existed — one overland from North Africa before the fifteenth century, another coming into use from the time sea links were established with the East African coast and becoming predominant by the middle of the nineteenth century. We focus on the eastern part of West Africa, where the importance of imported cowries to local communities in relatively recent periods is well known and from where we have a good archaeological sample. The conclusion is that on suitably large assemblages shell size can be an indication of provenance and that, while the present archaeological picture seems largely to confirm historical sources, much of this may be due to the discrepancy in archaeological data available from the Sahara/Sahel zone compared to the more forested regions of the sub-continent. Future archaeological work will clarify this matter

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations in p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions at 200 GeV

We present the first measurement of directed flow ($v_1$) at RHIC. $v_1$ is found to be consistent with zero at pseudorapidities $\eta$ from -1.2 to 1.2, then rises to the level of a couple of percent over the range $2.4 < |\eta| < 4$. The latter observation is similar to data from NA49 if the SPS rapidities are shifted by the difference in beam rapidity between RHIC and SPS. Back-to-back jets emitted out-of-plane are found to be suppressed more if compared to those emitted in-plane, which is consistent with {\it jet quenching}. Using the scalar product method, we systematically compared azimuthal correlations from p+p, d+Au and Au+Au collisions. Flow and non-flow from these three different collision systems are discussed.Comment: Quark Matter 2004 proceeding, 4 pages, 3 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy: the higher harmonics

We report the first observations of the fourth harmonic (v_4) in the azimuthal distribution of particles at RHIC. The measurement was done taking advantage of the large elliptic flow generated at RHIC. The integrated v_4 is about a factor of 10 smaller than v_2. For the sixth (v_6) and eighth (v_8) harmonics upper limits on the magnitudes are reported.Comment: 4 pages, 6 figures, contribution to the Quark Matter 2004 proceeding