Thermal Stability of Austempered Ductile Iron Evaluated in a Temperature Range of 20-300K

The aim of this article was to determine through changes in magnetic properties the stability of the austempered ductile iron (ADI) microstructure during temperature changes in a range of 20 – 300 K. The measurements were taken in a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) using Fe27Ni2TiMoAlNb austenitic stainless steel and four types of austempered ductile iron obtained under various heat treatment conditions. The plotted curves showing changes in the magnetisation degree as a function of temperature had a number of characteristic points illustrating changes taking place in the microstructure. For each of the materials examined, the martensite start temperature Ms and the temperature range within which the martensitic transformation takes place were identified

Hybrid energy storage system for electric vehicles

The paper presents a model of hybrid energy storage, which allows to connect any number of modules to the system. Due to significant differences in the performance of various types of modules, such as power, and energy density, price, operating temperature, etc., combining them into a single system allows to extend their lifetime or reduce weight. The main objective of the authors was to provide a method for power distribution among devices making up the system, which ultimately will enable an optimisation of the power management strategy. An important parameter of the system is the possibility of its adjustment and upgrades. The summary identi- fies further directions of research

PERSONAL DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF A CORPORATE SUCCESS

The aim of the paper is to asses if/how the concept of dynamic capabilities (DC) can be applied to personal level, specifically to people oriented at dynamic career in corporations in Europe. The paper is conceptual in nature, and it is based on, on the one hand, a literature review in relation to dynamic capabilities, and, on the other, results of unstructured interviews conducted with young people enrolled in postgraduate studies in the area of Business English. Our study suggests that personal dynamic capabilities are very important for career in nowadays corporations and they are based on such people attributes as: ability to work hard and learn, strong intrinsic motivation, good knowledge of English, ability to work in teams, flexibility, change and ambiguity tolerance

Piezoelectric field in strained GaAs.

This report describes an investigation of the piezoelectric field in strained bulk GaAs. The bound charge distribution is calculated and suitable electrode configurations are proposed for (1) uniaxial and (2) biaxial strain. The screening of the piezoelectric field is studied for different impurity concentrations and sample lengths. Electric current due to the piezoelectric field is calculated for the cases of (1) fixed strain and (2) strain varying in time at a constant rate

IL16 and IL18 gene polymorphisms in women with gestational diabetes

Objectives: Gestational diabetes mellitus is a carbohydrate intolerance that occurs during pregnancy. Various inflammatory mediators are considered to be risk factors leading to GDM development. Among them are pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as IL16 and IL18. The aim of this study was to examine the association between IL16 and IL18 polymorphisms and GDM. Material and methods: This study included 204 pregnant women with GDM and 207 pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance (NGT). All samples were genotyped in duplicate using allelic discrimination assays with TaqMan® probes. Results: We observed that there was a decreased frequency of IL16 rs4778889 CC genotype carriers among women with GDM (CC vs. CT + TT: OR = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.02–1.15; p = 0.034). However, there was no significant difference in the distri­bution of alleles (C vs. T: OR = 0.81; 95% CI = 0.54–1.21; p = 0.30). There was a decreased frequency of the IL18 rs187238 G allele among GDM women (G vs. C: OR = 0.71; 95% CI = 0.53–0.96; p = 0.027). We also observed a decreased frequency of the IL18 rs1946518 T allele among women with GDM; however, this difference had only borderline statistical significance. We observed an association between IL18 rs187238, rs1946518 and BMI in pregnant women. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that IL18 rs187238 and rs1946518 polymorphisms may be associated with an increased risk of GDM as well as with BMI in pregnant women