Composite repairs to bridge steels demystified

This paper examines crack growth associated with carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) repairs to cracked bridge steels and boron epoxy composite and fibre metal patch repairs to cracked aluminium alloy structures. It is first shown that the da/dN versus ΔK curves associated with bridge steels is very similar to that seen in the high strength aerospace steel D6ac. The importance of 1st ply failure, which was first observed on a boron epoxy repair to the F-111 D6ac steel wing pivot fitting, and how to alleviate this failure mechanism is then discussed as is the common design approach whereby after patching the repair is designed to have a ΔK beneath the ASTM long crack threshold ΔKth. It is shown that crack growth in bridge steels repaired with CFRP patches and in aluminium alloy structures repaired with either boron epoxy or glare patches exhibit a near linear relationship between the log of the crack length and the number of cycles. We then show that crack growth in these repairs can be represented by the same simple master curve relationship that has been found to hold for cracks growing in both operational aircraft and full scale fatigue tests. These findings are important since they suggest that the methodology used by the Royal Australian Air Force to certify structural modifications to operational aircraft may also be applicable to composite repairs/modifications to steel bridges, which are generally experience significantly lower stresses

The Analysis of SKP1 Gene Expression in Physiological Male Sterility Induced by Chemical Hybridizing Agent SQ-1 in Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)

Physiological male sterility induced by the chemical hybridizing agent (CHA) overcomes problems of maintenance of sterile lines and restorers. However, the mechanism of sterility is unclear. The process of tapetum of CHA-treated ‘Xi’nong 2611’ at uninucleate, binucleate and trinucleate were compared with control to determine if tapetum varying differently during developmental stages. Tapetal degradation in CHA-treated ‘Xi’nong 2611’ began at late uninucleate stage, somewhat earlier than control plants. Cytological observations indicated that the gradual degradation of the tapetum in CHA-treated ‘Xi’nong 2611’ was initiated and terminated earlier than in the control. These findings implied that CHA-induced male sterility was related to abnormally early tapetal degradation. In order to indicate the role of the SKP1 gene in fertility/sterility in wheat, its expression was assessed in anthers at uninucleate, binucleate and trinucleate stages. SKP1 expression was reduced in the later developmental stages, and there was an obvious decrease from the uninucleate to trinucleate stages. Higher expression of the SKP1 gene occurred in ‘Xi’nong 2611’ compared to CHA-treated ‘Xi’nong 2611’. This implied that SKP1 gene expression was inhibited during the fertility transformation process and was related to transformation from fertility to sterility. Moreover, the results from this study suggest that SKP1 plays an essential role of conducting fertility in physiological male sterility

Effect of Chinese herbal medicines on rumen fermentation, methanogenesis and microbial flora in vitro

This study was carried out to evaluate the effects of three Chinese herbal medicines (CHMs) on rumen fermentation, methane emission and population of ruminal microbes using an in vitro gas production technique. Three healthy wethers of Dazu Black goats with similar bodyweights and permanent rumen fistulae were utilized as donors of ruminal fluid. The three botanical medicines were cablin patchouli herb (CPH), atractylodes rhizome (AR) and Amur cork tree (AC). Each CHM was added at a level of 25 g/kg to the substrate dry matter. In vitro gas production was recorded, and methane concentration was determined at 12 and 24 hours of incubation. After 24 hours, the incubation was stopped, and the inoculants were measured for pH, ammonia nitrogen and volatile fatty acids (VFAs) concentrations. Total deoxyribonucleic acid of ruminal microbes was extracted from the inocula, and populations were determined by a real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Populations of total rumen methanogens, protozoa, total fungi, Ruminococcus albus, Fibrobacter succinogenes and Ruminococcus flavefaciens were expressed as a proportion of total rumen bacterial 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid. Compared to the control, CPH decreased gas production and methane production at 12 and 24 hours of incubation, and inhibited methanogens and total fungi growth. AR decreased acetate to propionate ratio, and methanogens and total fungi populations, but increased propionate molar proportion. AC decreased total VFA concentration, acetate to propionate ratio, gas production at 12 and 24 hours of incubation, methane production at 12 and 24 hours of incubation, and methanogens and total fungi growth, but increased the propionate molar proportion. In conclusion, CPH and AC both suppressed methanogenesis significantly, and the suppression was mediated primarily via the direct action against the rumen microbes involved in methane formation. AC also indirectly abates methane release by occupying the hydrogen (H2) normally utilized for methanogenesis.Keywords: In vitro gas production, methane, rumen fermentation parameter, rumen microbe

Responses of chemical composition, amino acid and fatty acid profiles of breast muscle to dietary crude fibre levels in China Micro-Ducks

The effects of dietary crude fibre (CF) levels on the chemical composition, amino acid (AA) and fatty acid (FA) profiles of breast muscle in male China Micro-ducks (21 - 56 d) were investigated in this study. The birds were randomly allocated to four treatments, of which dietary CF levels were 16.7, 42.6, 77.9 and 101.6 g/kg of dry matter (DM), respectively. No influences on the proportions of crude ash, crude protein, lysine, methionine, threonine, phenylalanine, histidine, arginine, aspartic acid, glutamic acid, glycine, alanine, serine, cysteine, tyrosine, proline, C12:0, C18:0, C18:1n9, C20:0 and C22:1n9 in muscle were observed across the treatments. Consequently, the concentrations of semi-essential AA, non-essential AA, total AA, aromatic AA and delicious AA in muscle, along with the Δ-9-desaturase (18) index, were not affected by the treatments. Significant lower concentrations of valine, leucine, isoleucine, essential AA, branched-chain AA, C16:1n7 and monounsaturated FA in muscle, along with a lower ratio of branched-chain to aromatic AA, were noted in a dietary treatment with a CF level of 16.7 g/kg DM compared to other dietary treatments. The rise of the dietary CF level significantly increased the proportions of DM, ether extract, gross energy, C18:2n6, C18:3n3, C20:4n6, unsaturated FA, total FA, polyunsaturated FA, n-3 polyunsaturated FA, n-6 polyunsaturated FA, essential FA, and the Δ-9-desaturase (16) index. Furthermore, the rise of the dietary CF level increased the ratios of unsaturated to saturated FA, polyunsaturated to saturated FA, and n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated FA in muscle. However, it decreased the atherogenic index and the proportions of C14:0, C16:0, and saturated FA significantly. In conclusion, depending largely on dietary levels, CF profoundly and positively influenced the nutritional quality of breast muscle, especially the FA profile.Keywords: China Micro-duck, dietary fibre, fatty acid, nutritional quality of meat, fatty aci

Ideal stoichiometric technetium nitrides under pressure: a first-principles study

Technetium nitrides with various ideal stoichiometries have been investigated with the first-principle method at the pressures between 0–60 GPa. It have been found that there could be many stable technetium nitrides including Tc₃N, Tc₂N, TcN, Tc₂N₃, TcN₂, TcN₃, and TcN₄, among which Tc₃N and Tc₂N sub-nitrides are synthesizable at zero pressure and could be applied to nuclear waste management, such as separate radioactive 99Tc from nuclear fuel cycle. Moreover, N-rich TcN₃ and TcN₄ exhibit remarkable bulk properties and can be potential ultrastiff and hard materials.Нітриди технеція з різною ідеальної стехіометрією досліджені із застосуванням методу перших принципів при тисках від 0 до 60 ГПа. Встановлено, що може бути багато стабільних нітридів технеція, включаючи Tc₃N, Tc₂N, ТКС, Tc₂N₃, TcN₂, TcN₃ і TcN₄, серед яких субнітриди Tc₃N і Tc₂N синтезуються при нульовому тиску і можуть бути використані для обробки ядерних відходів, таких як виділений при ядерному паливному циклі радіоактивний 99Tc. Більш того, TcN₃ і TcN₄, збагачені N, демонструють чудові об’ємні властивості і можуть бути потенційними ультражорсткими і твердими матеріалами.Нитриды технеция с различной идеальной стехиометрией исследованы с применением метода первых принципов при давлениях от 0 до 60 ГПа. Установлено, что может быть много стабильных нитридов технеция, включая Tc₃N, Tc₂N, ТКС, Tc₂N₃, TcN₂, TcN₃ и TcN₄, среди которых субнитриды Tc₃N и Tc₂N синтезируются при нулевом давлении и могут быть использованы для обработки ядерных отходов, таких как выделенный при ядерном топливном цикле радиоактивный 99Tc. Более того, TcN₃ и TcN₄, обогащенные N, демонстрируют замечательные объемные свойства и могут быть потенциальными ультражесткими и твердыми материалами

Magnetic reversal processes and critical thickness in FePt/{\alpha}-Fe/FePt trilayers

Magnetic reversal processes of a FePt/{\alpha}-Fe/FePt trilayer system with in-plane easy axes have been investigated within a micromagnetic approach. It is found that the magnetic reversal process consists of three steps: nucleation of a prototype of domain wall in the soft phase, the evolution as well as the motion of the domain wall from the soft to the hard phase and finally, the magnetic reversal of the hard phase. For small soft layer thickness Ls, the three steps are reduced to one single step, where the magnetizations in the two phases reverse simultaneously and the hysteresis loops are square with nucleation as the coercivity mechanism. As Ls increases, both nucleation and pinning fields decrease. In the meantime, the single-step reversal expands to a standard three-step one and the coercivity mechanism changes from nucleation to pinning. The critical thickness where the coercivity mechanism alters, could be derived analytically, which is found to be inversely proportional to the square root of the crystalline anisotropy of the hard phase. Further increase of Ls leads to the change of the coercivity mechanism from pinning to nucleation.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, pdf file, figures include

A new technology for preventing fouling and energy conservation

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.Fouling in heat exchange equipment is a common problem unsolved in many industries, and is also an important bottleneck that restricts the production. Among the existing technologies of solving the problem of preventing fouling and heat-transfer enhancement, the fluidized bed preventing - fouling and heat-transfer enhancement technology is an effective method with broad application prospects, which can online prevent fouling and enhance heat transfer in heat exchange equipment such as evaporator, preheater, condenser, cooler, reboiler, industrial boiler, gravity heat pipe, and so on. In this paper, the principle and characteristics of this technology are briefly introduced, and some industrial application achievements of the technology are also presented.cf201

Aerosol particles at a high-altitude site on the Southeast Tibetan Plateau, China: Implications for pollution transport from South Asia

      Bulk aerosol samples were collected from 16 July 2008 to 26 July 2009 at Lulang, a high-altitude (>3300m above sea level) site on the southeast Tibetan Plateau (TP); objectives were to determine chemical characteristics of the aerosol and identify its major sources. We report aerosol (total suspended particulate, TSP) mass levels and the concentrations of selected elements, carbonaceous species, and water-soluble inorganic ions. Significant buildup of aerosol mass and chemical species (organic carbon, element carbon, nitrate, and sulfate) occurred during the premonsoon, while lower concentrations were observed during the monsoon. Seasonal variations in aerosol and chemical species were driven by precipitation scavenging and atmospheric circulation. Two kinds of high-aerosol episodes were observed: one was enriched with dust indicators (Fe and Ca2+), and the other was enhanced with organic and elemental carbon (OC and EC), SO42−, NO3−, and Fe. The TSP loadings during the latter were 3 to 6 times those on normal days. The greatest aerosol optical depths (National Centers for Environmental Protection/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis) occurred upwind, in eastern India and Bangladesh, and trajectory analysis indicates that air pollutants were transported from the southwest. Northwesterly winds brought high levels of natural emissions (Fe, Ca2+) and low levels of pollutants (SO42−, NO3−, K+, and EC); this was consistent with high aerosol optical depths over the western deserts and Gobi. Our work provides evidence that both geological and pollution aerosols from surrounding regions impact the aerosol population of the TP

Role of Neuroepithelial Sonic hedgehog in Hypothalamic Patterning

The hypothalamus is a region of the diencephalon with particularly complex patterning. Sonic hedgehog (Shh), encoding a protein with key developmental roles, shows a peculiar and dynamic diencephalic expression pattern. Here, we use transgenic strategies and in vitro experiments to test the hypothesis that Shh expressed in the diencephalic neuroepithelium (neural Shh) coordinates tissue growth and patterning in the hypothalamus. Our results show that neural Shh coordinates anteroposterior and dorsoventral patterning in the hypothalamus and in the diencephalon-telencephalon junction. Neural Shh also coordinates mediolateral hypothalamic patterning, since it is necessary for the lateral hypothalamus to attain proper size and is required for the specification of hypocretin/orexin cells. Finally, neural Shh is necessary to maintain expression of differentiation markers including survival factor Foxb1