Intermetallic-strengthened nanocrystalline bainitic steel

A new thermally stable, nanocrystalline bainitic steel has been developed, rich in nickel and aluminium. During tempering, it is expected that a significant quantity of intermetallic precipitates will form. This was confirmed by X-ray diffractometry, scanning transmission electron microscopy, Fourier transform analysis of atomic column images, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and selected area electron diffraction. These are the first intermetallics to be produced in a nanocrystalline bainitic steel.This project was funded by Rolls-Royce plc and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council for funding this work [grant number RG64823]

Designing steel to resist hydrogen embrittlement Part 2–precipitate characterisation

A novel, low-alloy steel has been designed for use in the oil and gas industry. Its high strength and hydrogen trapping potential are derived from a martensitic microstructure containing a dispersion of fine vanadium–molybdenum alloy carbides that evolve during tempering. In this second paper, the effect of quench rate from austenitisation and tempering conditions are investigated with respect to the microstructure. The alloy loses its tempering resistance following slow-cooling from austenitisation as a result of MC precipitation, leading to vanadium depletion and significant M(Formula presented.)C coarsening. This is predicted using computer simulation and confirmed by high energy X-ray diffraction, combined with electron microscopy.BP-ICA

Role of stress-assisted martensite in the design of strong ultrafine-grained duplex steels

This work explains the occurrence of transformation-induced plasticity via stress-assisted martensite, when designing ultrafine-grained duplex steels. It is found that, when the austenite is reduced to a fine scale of about 300 nm, the initial deformation-induced microstructure can be dominated by parallel lamellae of epsilon martensite or mechanical twinning, which cannot efficiently provide nucleation sites for strain-induced martensite. Hence, alpha martensite nucleation occurs independently by a stress-assisted process that enhances transformation-induced plasticity in ultrafine-grained austenite. This metallurgical principle was validated experimentally by using a combination of transmission Kikuchi diffraction mapping, transmission electron microscopy, and atom probe microscopy, and demonstrated theoretically by the thermodynamics model of stress-assisted martensite.The authors acknowledge the facilities, and the scientific and technical assistance of the Australian Microscopy & Microanalysis Research Facility (ammrf.org.au) node at Sydney Microscopy & Microanalysis, at the University of Sydney.This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier at http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1359645414006958

Infusion of hydrogen into nanostructured bainitic steel

The trapping of hydrogen in nanostructured bainitic steel has been investigated using thermal desorption analysis, in order to determine the potency of the ferrite-retained austenite (α/γ) interfaces and retained austenite as trapping sites. Thermal desorption data showed that the volume of retained austenite is more effective in trapping hydrogen than the interfaces. There is a close correlation between the quantity of hydrogen and the retained austenite content rather than the density of interfaces. A local equilibrium model was able to reproduce the hydrogen desorption behaviour of saturated and unsaturated samples considering both retained austenite and α/γ interfaces as the trapping sites. A trap binding energy ranging from 47 to 52 kJ/mol was estimated for retained austenite, suggesting that the observed trapping capacity originates from the austenite lattice sites.The work was supported in part by a grant from Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico, Brazil

A novel ultra-high strength maraging steel with balanced ductility and creep resistance achieved by nanoscale β-NiAl and Laves phase precipitates

A novel ultra-high strength precipitation hardened martensitic steel with balanced ductility and creep resistance has been developed. It utilises a unique combination of nanometre scale intermetallic precipitates of Laves phases and β-NiAl to achieve such properties. The mechanical properties of this steel were assessed by tensile and creep testing. With different heat treatments, this steel showed a remarkable combination of mechanical properties: yield strength of >1800 MPa, ultimate tensile strength of ~ 2000 MPa, tensile ductility up to ~8% at room temperature and creep rupture life > 2,000 hours under 700 MPa stress at 500 °C. The microstructures at different length scales were characterised using scanning / transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography. The austenisation and ageing temperatures were found be the key factors determining the microstructural development and resulting mechanical properties. Large primary Laves phase precipitates formed at lower austenisation temperatures resulted in reduced creep strength; whilst the small difference (20 °C) in ageing temperatures had significant impact on the spatial distribution characteristics of β-NiAl precipitates. Lower ageing temperature produced much smaller but more uniformly distributed β-NiAl precipitates which contributed to the higher observed yield strength. It is clear from this study that whilst this novel alloy system showed great potentials, careful design of heat treatment is still required to achieve balanced mechanical properties to meet the service requirements in aerospace propulsion systems

Brief Report: Testing the Psychometric Properties of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED) in Autism Spectrum Disorder

Anxiety is a prevalent and impairing co-morbidity among individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), yet assessment measures, including screening tools, are seldom validated with autism samples. We explored the psychometric properties of the child and parent reports of the Spence Children’s Anxiety Scale (SCAS) and the Screen for Anxiety Related Disorder-71 (SCARED-71) with 49 males with ASD (10–16 years, 63% co-occurring anxiety). Both measures had excellent internal consistency and fair-good parent–child agreement. The SCAS has a higher proportion of items evaluating observable behaviors. Predictive power of the measures did not differ. Higher cut-points in the parent reports (SCARED only) and lower cut-points in the child reports may enhance prediction in this sample. Choice of measure and cut-points should be considered alongside intended purpose

SRA-Domain Proteins Required for DRM2-Mediated De Novo DNA Methylation

De novo DNA methylation and the maintenance of DNA methylation in asymmetrical sequence contexts is catalyzed by homologous proteins in plants (DRM2) and animals (DNMT3a/b). In plants, targeting of DRM2 depends on small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), although the molecular details are still unclear. Here, we show that two SRA-domain proteins (SUVH9 and SUVH2) are also essential for DRM2-mediated de novo and maintenance DNA methylation in Arabidopsis thaliana. At some loci, SUVH9 and SUVH2 act redundantly, while at other loci only SUVH2 is required, and this locus specificity correlates with the differing DNA-binding affinity of the SRA domains within SUVH9 and SUVH2. Specifically, SUVH9 preferentially binds methylated asymmetric sites, while SUVH2 preferentially binds methylated CG sites. The suvh9 and suvh2 mutations do not eliminate siRNAs, suggesting a role for SUVH9 and SUVH2 late in the RNA-directed DNA methylation pathway. With these new results, it is clear that SRA-domain proteins are involved in each of the three pathways leading to DNA methylation in Arabidopsis

The influence of diabetes mellitus on the spectrum of uropathogens and the antimicrobial resistance in elderly adult patients with urinary tract infection

BACKGROUND: The role of Diabetes mellitus (DM) in the etiology and in the antimicrobial resistance of uropathogens in patients with urinary tract infection has not been well clarified. For this reason we have evaluated the spectrum of uropathogens and the profile of antibiotic resistance in both diabetic and non diabetic patients with asymptomatic urinary tract infection (UTI). METHODS: Urinary isolates and their patterns of susceptibility to the antimicrobials were evaluated in 346 diabetics (229 females and 117 males) and 975 non diabetics (679 females and 296 males) who were screened for significant bacteriuria (≥10(5 )CFU/mL urine). The mean age of diabetic and non diabetic patients was respectively 73.7 yrs ± 15 S.D. and 72.7 ± 24 (p = NS). RESULTS: Most of our patients had asymptomatic UTI. The most frequent causative organisms of bacteriuria in females with and without DM were respectively : E. coli 54.1% vs 58.2% (p = NS), Enterococcus spp 8.3% vs 6.5% (p = NS), Pseudomonas spp 3.9 vs 4.7% (p = NS). The most frequent organisms in diabetic and non diabetic males were respectively E. coli 32.5% vs 31.4% (p = NS), Enterococcus spp 9.4% vs 14.5% (p = NS), Pseudomonas spp 8.5% vs 17.2% (p = <0.02). A similar isolation rate of E. coli, Enterococcus spp and Pseudomonas spp was also observed in patients with indwelling bladder catheter with and without DM. No significant differences in resistance rates to ampicillin, nitrofurantoin, cotrimoxazole and ciprofloxacin of E. coli and Enteroccus spp were observed between diabetic and non diabetic patients. CONCLUSION: In our series of patients with asymptomatic UTI (mostly hospital acquired), diabetes mellitus per se does not seem to influence the isolation rate of different uropathogens and their susceptibility patterns to antimicrobials