Surface modification, strengthening effect and electrochemical comparative study of Zn-Al2O3-CeO3 and Zn-TiO2-CeO3 coating on mild steel

Surface enhancement of engineering materials is necessary for preventing service failure and corrosion attacks industrially. The surface modification, strengthening effect and electrochemical comparative study of Zn-Al2O3-CeO3 and Zn-TiO2-CeO3 coating on mild steel was investigated. Deposition was performed to obtain a better surface adherent coating using the electrodeposition technique. Co-deposition of mild steel resulted into surface modification attributes to the complex alloys that were developed. Films of mild steel were electrodeposited on zinc electrodes using the chloride bath solutions. The effect of deposition potentials was systematically studied using a focus ion beam scanning electron microscope (FIB-SEM) and an atomic force microscope (AFM) to observe the surface morphology, topography and the surface adherent properties of the coatings. The elemental composition and the phases evolved in composite coatings were measured by means of the energy dispersed spectrometer (EDS). The microhardness measurements and corrosion behaviours of the deposits were investigated. Weight loss measurement was conducted on the plated samples to observe the rate of corrosion and it was observed that there was severe corrosion on the controlled sample in comparison to the plated samples and that Zn-TiO2-CeO3 resisted more corrosion attacks

A Comparison of Assays for Accurate Copy Number Measurement of the Low-Affinity Fc Gamma Receptor Genes FCGR3A and FCGR3B

The FCGR3 locus encoding the low affinity activating receptor FcγRIII, plays a vital role in immunity triggered by cellular effector and regulatory functions. Copy number of the genes FCGR3A and FCGR3B has previously been reported to affect susceptibility to several autoimmune diseases and chronic inflammatory conditions. However, such genetic association studies often yield inconsistent results; hence require assays that are robust with low error rate. We investigated the accuracy and efficiency in estimating FCGR3 CNV by comparing Sequenom MassARRAY and paralogue ratio test-restriction enzyme digest variant ratio (RT-REDVR). In addition, since many genetic association studies of FCGR3B CNV were carried out using real-time quantitative PCR, we have also included the evaluation of that method’s performance in estimating the multi-allelic CNV of FCGR3B. The qPCR assay exhibited a considerably broader distribution of signal intensity, potentially introducing error in estimation of copy number and higher false positive rates. Both Sequenom and PRT-REDVR showed lesser systematic bias, but Sequenom skewed towards copy number normal (CN = 2). The discrepancy between Sequenom and PRT-REDVR might be attributed either to batch effects noise in individual measurements. Our study suggests that PRT-REDVR is more robust and accurate in genotyping the CNV of FCGR3, but highlights the needs of multiple independent assays for extensive validation when performing a genetic association study with multi-allelic CNVs

Treated Rhizophora mucronata tannin as a corrosion inhibitor in chloride solution

Treated Rhizopora mucronata tannin (RMT) as a corrosion inhibitor for carbon steel and copper in oil and gas facilities was investigated. Corrosion rate of carbon-steel and copper in 3wt% NaCl solution by RMT was studied using chemical (weight loss method) and spectroscopic (FTIR) techniques at various temperatures in the ranges of 26–90C. The weight loss data was compared to the electrochemical by the application of Faraday’s law for the conversion of corrosion rate data from one system to another. The inhibitive efficiency of RMT was compared with commercial inhibitor sodium benzotriazole (BTA-S). The best concentration of RMT was 20% (w/v), increase in concentration of RMT decreased the corrosion rate and increased the inhibitive efficiency. Increase in temperature increased the corrosion rate and decreased the inhibitive efficiency but, the rate of corrosion was mild with RMT. The FTIR result shows the presence of hydroxyl group, aromatic group, esters and the substituted benzene group indicating the purity of the tannin. The trend of RMT was similar to that of BTA-S, but its inhibitive efficiency for carbon-steel was poor (6%) compared to RMT (59%). BTA-S was efficient for copper (76%) compared to RMT (74%) at 40% (w/v) and 20% (w/v) concentration respectively. RMT was efficient even at low concentration therefore, the use of RMT as a cost effective and environmentally friendly corrosion inhibiting agent for carbon steel and copper is herein proposed

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

HYDRAULIC FIELD TEST RIG AND EVALUATING PLANT OIL PERFORMANCE

environmental friendly hydraulic fluid has a major influence in ecologically benign environment. This future type of oil should be non-toxic, biodegradable and ecological benign. Subsequently, it becomes crucial to recognize the sustainability of such oil in maintaining a high system performance which resulting in tremendous contribution towards machinery technology. Furthermore, the development of methods to evaluate the actual performance of hydraulic fluid has been of great interest. In this project a hydraulic test rig which incorporates LabView data acquisition system (DAQ) was built to conduct endurance test where it can be operated for up to 280 bar, running continuously with several safety features. The rig was used to test the oil and other stringent parameters, running for nearly 10000 hours at the temperature of 70 ºC under constant pressure of 70 bar and pump speed of 40 Hz. Major factors in the decrease of mechanical efficiency are thermal heat, friction, aging behaviour and contamination of the plant oil. Explained in this paper are the features of the hydraulic system built to evaluate the performance of plant oils, accompanied by some results for evaluating the suitability of the usage of plant oil as hydraulic fluid

Kinetic modeling of peroxydisulfate pre-treatment of algae slurry (Pasir Gudang, Malaysia) for increasing methane generation from anaerobic digestion : Fertilizer recovery

This study looked into the possibility of using peroxydisulfate pretreatment to enhance biogas production from anaerobic fermentation of algal slurry. The results demonstrate that a peroxydisulfate added system with a dose of 0.02 g peroxydisulfate/g algal sludge TSS produces the most accumulative methane after 61 days of fermentation. At 0.02, 0.03, 0.06, 0.2, 0.3, 0.6, and 1.2 g peroxydisulfate/g algal sludge TSS cumulative methane generation was 1.16, 1.09, 1.15, 1.14, 1.09, 0.77, and 0.16 times higher than control. After 120 minutes of pre-treatment, the SCOD in the system continued to rise when the peroxydisulfate dosage was enhanced. To simulate the methane yield, a one-substrate model might be utilized. After dosing with peroxydisulfate, the hydrolysis rate reduced, and the maximum resultant and anticipated cumulative methane output was achieved with 0.02 g peroxydisulfate/g algal sludge TSS. After digestion, microcystin-LR in algae slurry was mostly eliminated. Heavy metals could be released from algae cells into the effluent as a result of the greater peroxydisulfate dosage. From the fermented effluent, sludge recapture was 0.09 m3 sludge/m3. The supplementation of peroxydisulfate to algae slurry may boost cumulative methane generation while also lowering microcystin-LR levels