Electrochemical noise Analysis of the Corrosion Behaviors of Al-Zn- In based Alloy in NaCl Solution

AbstractThe corrosion behaviors of Al–5Zn–0.02In–1Mg–0.05Ti (wt. %) alloy immersion in 3.5% NaCl solution were analyzed using electrochemical noise. At the initial immersion, the potential noise due to the pitting shows small fluctuation of less than 1mV about 5 s intervals. After 10h immersion, the potential noise due to the dissolution/precipitation shows larger fluctuation about 5mV at 10 s intervals. In the later corrosion, the potential noise caused by the uniform corrosion shows the fluctuation about 10mV at 60 s intervals

Response of Freshwater Biofilm to pollution and ecosystem in Baiyangdian Lake of China

AbstractAn experimental study was undertaken to highlight the potential applicability of biofilms as biomonitors forming simultaneously on natural and artificial substrata in Baiyngdian Lake(China).We investigated the responses of freshwater biofilm in 8 site of Baiyngdian Lake and compared with control site (a reservoir) to assess the relative health of water. Exposure to pollution and its impact on biofilms were assessed by measuring the biomass production, Chlorophyll concentration, the algal composition, extracellular enzyme activity of bacterial communities and Polysaccharide content. This relation between the biological characters of biofilms and water quality were discussed, and the relative health of regions were demonstrated by the degree of deviation based on bioflim indicator in the following order: Fu river (S4) < Duan cun (S8) < Nan Liuzhuang (S5) < Wang jiazai (S1) < Cai putai (S7) < Zao lingzhuang (S2)< Shao Chedian (S3).. The result indicated that biofilm can provide information for pollution detection and ecological health assessment of water, and biofilm on aritificial substrata was recommended for biomonitoring in the Baiyangdian Lake

Regulation of Irregular Neuronal Firing by Autaptic Transmission

The importance of self-feedback autaptic transmission in modulating spike-time irregularity is still poorly understood. By using a biophysical model that incorporates autaptic coupling, we here show that self-innervation of neurons participates in the modulation of irregular neuronal firing, primarily by regulating the occurrence frequency of burst firing. In particular, we find that both excitatory and electrical autapses increase the occurrence of burst firing, thus reducing neuronal firing regularity. In contrast, inhibitory autapses suppress burst firing and therefore tend to improve the regularity of neuronal firing. Importantly, we show that these findings are independent of the firing properties of individual neurons, and as such can be observed for neurons operating in different modes. Our results provide an insightful mechanistic understanding of how different types of autapses shape irregular firing at the single-neuron level, and they highlight the functional importance of autaptic self-innervation in taming and modulating neurodynamics.Comment: 27 pages, 8 figure

Enhancement in Interfacial Adhesion of Ti/Polyetheretherketone by Electrophoretic Deposition of Graphene Oxide

This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Pan, L., Lv, Y., Nipon, R., Wang, Y., Duan, L., Hu, J., ... & Shi, Y. (2019). Enhancement in Interfacial Adhesion of Ti/Polyetheretherketone by Electrophoretic Deposition of Graphene Oxide. Polymer Composites, 40(S2), E1243-E1251, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1002/pc.24955. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions.This article discusses about the significance of graphene oxide (GO) deposition on the surface of a titanium plate by electrophoretic deposition (EPD) method to improve the adhesive strength of Ti/polyetheretherketone (PEEK) interfacial adhesive. Firstly, the anodic EPD method was applied to a water dispersion solution of GO, and then the morphology and the properties of titanium plate surface were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and contact angle measurements before and after GO deposition. Furthermore, the changes in the properties of GO after heating at 390°C were characterized by Raman and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopies. According to the results of single lap tensile shear test, the adhesion strength of Ti/PEEK interface after the anodization and deposition of GO was 34.94 MPa, an increase of 29.2% compared with 27.04 MPa of sample with only anodization. Also, the adhesion strengths were 58.1 and 76.5% higher compared with the samples of only GO deposited (22.1 MPa) and pure titanium (19.8 MPa), respectively

Poly[[diaqua­bis­[μ4-5-nitro­isophthalato-κ4 O 1:O 1:O 3:O 3′]bis­[μ3-pyridine-4-carboxyl­ato-κ3 O:O′:N]tricobalt(II)] tetra­hydrate]

The title compound, {[Co3(C6H4NO2)2(C8H3NO6)2(H2O)2]·4H2O}n, exhibits a two-dimensional layer-like structure in which the CoII ions exhibit two kinds of coordination geometries. One nearly octa­hedral CoII ion with crystallographic inversion symmetry is coordinated to six carboxyl­ate O atoms from four bridging 5-nitro­isophthalate (NIPH) ligands and two isonicotinate (IN) anions, while the other type of CoII ion binds with one N atom and one carboxyl­ate O atom from two IN anions, two carboxyl­ate O atoms from two different NIPH anions and one ligated water mol­ecule, displaying a distorted square-pyramidal coordination geometry. Three adjacent CoII ions are bridged by six carboxyl­ate groups from four NIPH ligands and two IN anions to form a linear trinuclear secondary building unit (SBU). Every trinuclear SBU is linked to its nearest neighbours in the ab plane, resulting in a two-dimensional layer-like structure perpendicular to the c axis. Along the a-axis direction neighbouring mol­ecules are connected through carboxyl­ate and pyridyl units of the IN anions, along the b axis through carboxyl­ate groups of the NIPH ligands. The H atoms of one free water mol­ecule are disordered in the crystal in a 1:1 ratio. Typical O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds are observed in the lattice, which include the following contacts: (a) between coordinated water mol­ecules and carboxyl­ate O atoms of the NIPH anions, (b) between lattice water mol­ecules and carboxyl­ate O atoms of the NIPH anions, and (c) between coordinated and lattice water mol­ecules. These inter­molecular hydrogen bonds connect the two-dimensional layers to form a three-dimensional supra­molecular structure

Herbal formulas for detoxification and dredging collaterals in treating carotid atherosclerosis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: To systematically evaluate the efficacy and safety of the Chinese medicine detoxification and dredging collaterals in treating carotid atherosclerosis (CAS).Methods: A systematic and comprehensive search of nine relevant domestic and international databases were conducted from their inception until June 2022. The methodological quality of the included trials was evaluated, and the efficacy and safety were comprehensively analyzed. After applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria to the randomized controlled trials (RCTs), the research quality evaluation and data extraction were conducted, followed by a meta-analysis of the selected articles. The Cochrane’s Bias risk assessment was utilized to evaluate the quality of the evidence.Results: Of the 2,660 studies initially retrieved, 14 studies were included, involving a total of 1,518 patients. The results of the meta-analysis indicated that the clinical efficacy of the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging method in the treatment of CAS was superior to that of western medicine treatment alone, and the difference was statistically significant [RR = 1.23, 95% CI (1.13, 1.34)] Furthermore, carotid intima-media thickness [Mean Difference (MD) = −0.10, 95% CI (−0.13, −0.08)] and Crouse plaque score [MD = −0.54, 95% CI (−0.75, −0.32)] were significantly lower in the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging group compared to the pure western medicine treatment group. The difference was statistically significant. In addition, serum total cholesterol [MD = −0.70, 95% CI (−0.85, −0.55)] and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [MD = −0.70, 95% CI (−0.85, −0.55)] were lower in the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging group than in the Western medicine group, with all differences being statistically significant. Serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol was higher in the Detoxification and Collateral Dredging group compared to the pure western medicine group, and the difference was statistically significant [MD = 0.17, 95% CI (0.11, 0.23)].Conclusion: The use of Chinese medicine Detoxification and Collateral Dredging approach in the treatment of CAS may offer benefits in improving carotid atherosclerotic plaque and reducing blood lipid levels, with a safety profile superior to that of western medicine treatment alone

Properties of V1 Neurons Tuned to Conjunctions of Visual Features: Application of the V1 Saliency Hypothesis to Visual Search behavior

From a computational theory of V1, we formulate an optimization problem to investigate neural properties in the primary visual cortex (V1) from human reaction times (RTs) in visual search. The theory is the V1 saliency hypothesis that the bottom-up saliency of any visual location is represented by the highest V1 response to it relative to the background responses. The neural properties probed are those associated with the less known V1 neurons tuned simultaneously or conjunctively in two feature dimensions. The visual search is to find a target bar unique in color (C), orientation (O), motion direction (M), or redundantly in combinations of these features (e.g., CO, MO, or CM) among uniform background bars. A feature singleton target is salient because its evoked V1 response largely escapes the iso-feature suppression on responses to the background bars. The responses of the conjunctively tuned cells are manifested in the shortening of the RT for a redundant feature target (e.g., a CO target) from that predicted by a race between the RTs for the two corresponding single feature targets (e.g., C and O targets). Our investigation enables the following testable predictions. Contextual suppression on the response of a CO-tuned or MO-tuned conjunctive cell is weaker when the contextual inputs differ from the direct inputs in both feature dimensions, rather than just one. Additionally, CO-tuned cells and MO-tuned cells are often more active than the single feature tuned cells in response to the redundant feature targets, and this occurs more frequently for the MO-tuned cells such that the MO-tuned cells are no less likely than either the M-tuned or O-tuned neurons to be the most responsive neuron to dictate saliency for an MO target

Can liquidity account for post-earnings-announcement drift?

The apparent predictability of stock return following an earnings announcement is a persistent and well-documented anomaly that seems to be in conflict with the market efficiency hypothesis. It remains uncovered to date. This thesis investigates the relation between the post-earnings-announcement drift anomaly and liquidity over the period 1972-2004. The results show that liquidity is fundamentally associated with the post-earnings-announcement drift.Management and Business StudiesEThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Compositional Changes and Co-Occurrence Patterns of Planktonic Bacteria and Microeukaryotes in a Subtropical Estuarine Ecosystem, the Pearl River Delta

Planktonic microorganisms in aquatic ecosystems form complex assemblages of highly interactive taxa and play key roles in biogeochemical cycles. However, the microbial interactions within bacterial and microeukaryotic communities, and the mechanisms underpinning the responses of abundant and rare microbial taxa to environmental disturbances in the river estuary remain unknown. Here, 16S and 18S rRNA gene sequencing were used to investigate the compositional changes and the co-occurrence patterns of bacterial and microeukaryotic communities. The results showed that the rare taxa in the bacterial communities were more prevalent than those in the microeukaryotic communities and may influence the resilience and resistance of microorganisms to environmental variations in estuarine ecosystems. The environmental variations had strong effects on the microeukaryotic communities and their assembly mechanisms but not on the bacterial communities in our studied area. However, based on co-occurrence network analyses, the bacterial communities had stronger links and more complex interactions than microeukaryotic communities, suggesting that bacterial networks may help improve the buffering capacities of the estuarine ecosystem against environmental change. The keystone taxa of bacteria mainly belonged to rare subcommunities, which further illustrates that rare taxa may play fundamental roles in network persistence. Overall, these results provide insights into the microbial responses of aquatic ecosystems to environmental heterogeneity