Performance of hydrodynamic journal bearing under the combined influence of textured surface and journal misalignment: A numerical survey

A wisely chosen geometry of micro textures with the favorable relative motion of lubricated surfaces in contacts can enhance tribological characteristics. In this paper, a computational investigation related to the combined influence of bearing surface texturing and journal misalignment on the performances of hydrodynamic journal bearings is reported. To this end, a numerical analysis is performed to test three texture shapes: square “SQ”, cylindrical “CY”, and triangular “TR”, and shaft misalignment variation in angle and degree. The Reynolds equation of a thin viscous film is solved using a finite differences scheme and a mass conservation algorithm (JFO boundary conditions), taking into account the presence of textures on both full film and cavitation regions. Preliminary results are compared with benchmark data and are consistent with a positive enhancement in misaligned bearing performances (load carrying capacity and friction). The results suggest that the micro-step bearing mechanism is a key parameter, where the micro-pressure recovery action present in dimples located at the second angular part of the bearing (from 180° to 360°) can compensate for the loss on performances caused by shaft misalignment, while the micro-pressure drop effect at the full film region causes poor performances. Considering the right arrangement of textures on the contact surface, their contours geometries can have a significant impact on the performance of misaligned journal bearings, particularly at high eccentricity ratios, high misalignment degrees and when the misalignment angle α approaches to $0\mathrm{°}$ or $180\mathrm{°}$.     

Preyssler heteropolyacid supported on silica coated NiFe2O4 nanoparticles for the catalytic synthesis of bis(dihydropyrimidinone)benzene and 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-2(1H)-ones

A novel magnetic acidic catalyst comprising Preyssler (H14[NaP5W30O110]) heteropoly acid support‐ed on silica coated nickel ferrite nanoparticles (NiFe2O4@SiO2) was prepared. The catalyst was character...     

Electropolymerization of Mefenamic Acid on Copper and Copper Based Alloy as a New Strategy to Control the Release of Copper Ions from Copper Containing Devices

Poly-2-(2,3-dimethylanilino) benzoic acid (PMF) coatings on copper and brass alloy were synthesized by electrochemical oxidation of 2-(2,3-dimethylanilino) benzoic acid in the presence of oxalic acid as the reaction medium. Electrodeposition was carried out using the cyclic voltammetry technique using a silver/silver-chloride standard electrode, with a scan rate of 600 mV min^–1. Smooth and well adhered PMF coatings were electrosynthesized during sequential scanning of the potential in the range–500 mV to 1400 mV on copper and brass alloy. The electrodeposited coatings were characterized by recording the oxidation peaks at 122 mV for Cu and–0.7 mV for brass, in cyclic voltammetry and using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Corrosion inhibition efficiency of coated copper and brass alloy was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and potentiodynamic polarization techniques. The impedance results showed that the inhibition efficiency of coated copper is 89% and for coated brass 79.4% compared to the uncoated copper and brass in 0.1 M H₂SO₄.

     

Chromatographic analysis of ledipasvir and sofosbuvir: New treatment for chronic hepatitis C infection with application to human plasma

Sofosbuvir (SOF) and ledipasvir (LED) are recently approved and coformulated as directly acting antiviral agents used for treatment of hepatitis C virus (HCV). A reversed phase high performance liquid chromatography - diode array detector (RP-HPLC/DAD) method was developed and validated for the first time for the analysis of newly formulated anti-HCV combination, in pure form, pharmaceutical formulation and in human plasma. In the developed method, separation was performed on Zorbax® Eclipse C18 column using a gradient mixture of acetonitrile–water as a mobile phase and scanning was performed at 260?nm (for SOF) and 330?nm (for LED). The two drugs were completely separated from each other and from plasma, where plasma peak appeared at 2.76?±?0.05?min, SOF at 4.25?±?0.05, and LED at 7.35?±?0.05. The developed method showed high sensitivity, the drugs showed linearity in the range of 1–45?µg/mL for both pure form and spiked human plasma. Three freeze–thaw cycles were performed separately at two different temperatures, ?8 and ?20°C. No significant loss of the studied drugs were observed during repeated thawing and freezing. Validation parameters such as accuracy, precision, robustness, and ruggedness were tested in compliance with USP recommendations, where acceptable results were obtained. Applying to pharmaceutical formulation showed no interference from tablet excipients.     

A new lot sizing and scheduling heuristic for multi-site biopharmaceutical production

Biopharmaceutical manufacturing requires high investments and long-term production planning. For large biopharmaceutical companies, planning typically involves multiple products and several production facilities. Production is usually done in batches with a substantial set-up cost and time for switching between products. The goal is to satisfy demand while minimising manufacturing, set-up and inventory costs. The resulting production planning problem is thus a variant of the capacitated lot-sizing and scheduling problem, and a complex combinatorial optimisation problem. Inspired by genetic algorithm approaches to job shop scheduling, this paper proposes a tailored construction heuristic that schedules demands of multiple products sequentially across several facilities to build a multi-year production plan (solution). The sequence in which the construction heuristic schedules the different demands is optimised by a genetic algorithm. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach on a biopharmaceutical lot sizing problem and compare it with a mathematical programming model from the literature. We show that the genetic algorithm can outperform the mathematical programming model for certain scenarios because the discretisation of time in mathematical programming artificially restricts the solution space.     

Recent progresses on solution-processed silver nanowire based transparent conducting electrodes for organic solar cells

Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) are considered as a future alternative for conventional silicon based solar cells, owing to their low cost, ease of production and high-throughput. The transparent conducting electrode (TCE) is a fundamental component of OPVs. Traditionally, indium tin oxide (ITO) has been mainly utilized as a TCE in OPV applications due to its relatively high transparency and low sheet resistance. However, increasing demand for the optoelectronic devices has led to large fluctuations in ITO prices in the past decade and ITO is known to account more than 50% of the total cost of OPV devices. Thus, it is believed that development of solution-processable alternative materials is of great importance in reducing the cost of OPVs. Numerous materials, including silver nanowires, carbon nanotubes, graphene and conducting polymers, have been offered as replacements for ITO. This article reviews recent progress on fabrication of TCE via solution based coating techniques of silver nanowires (Ag NWs). In addition, performance of the Ag NWs based TCE in OPVs is summarized. Finally, we explore the future outlook for Ag NWs based TCE at the end of the review.     

New Cytotoxic Laurene‐, Cuparene‐, and Laurokamurene‐Type Sesquiterpenes from the Red Alga Laurencia obtusa

Three new sesquiterpene alcohols, laur‐2‐ene‐3,12‐diol ( 1 ), cuparene‐3,12‐diol ( 2 ), and 8,11‐dihydro‐1‐methoxylaurokamuren‐12‐ol ( 3 ), along with one known diterpene, kahukuen‐10‐ol ( 4 ) have been isolated from the organic extract of the red alga Laurencia obtusa. The chemical structures were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic analysis. The cytotoxicity of the isolated compounds were evaluated against three cancer cell lines, i.e., KB, HepG2, and MCF‐7. Compound 4 exhibited a wide range of cytotoxic activity against KB, HepG2, and MCF‐7 cell lines with IC₅₀ of 0.100, 0.057, and 0.054 μm, respectively. In addition, 1 showed moderate activities towards KB and MCF‐7 cell lines with IC₅₀ values of 0.171 and 0.184 μM , respectively and 2 exhibited a moderate activity against KB cell line at a concentration of 0.213 μg/ml. On the other hand, compound 3 exhibited no cytotoxic activity against any of the three cell lines.     

Characterization of carboxylated nanolatexes by capillary electrophoresis

Poly(styrene-co-acrylic acid) (St/AA) and poly(styrene-co-methacrylic acid) (St/MA) nanolatexes with different acid contents were prepared by emulsion copolymerization and were analyzed by capillary electrophoresis (CE) and by laser doppler velocimetry (LDV). Due to the intrinsic differences in the methodologies, CE (separative technique) and LDV (zetametry, nonseparative technique) lead to very different electrophoretic mobility distributions. Beyond these differences, the variation of the electrophoretic mobility is a complex and nonlinear function of the hydrodynamic radius, the ionic strength, and the zeta potential. To gain better insight on the influence of the ionic strength and the acid content on the electrophoretic behavior of the nanolatexes, the electrophoretic mobility data were changed into surface charge densities using the O'Brien, White, and Ohshima modeling. This approach leads to the conclusion that the surface charge density is mainly controlled at high ionic strength (～50 mM) by the adsorption of anionic surfactants coming from the sample. On the contrary, at low ionic strength, and/or in the presence of neutral surfactant in the electrolyte, the acid content was the main parameter controlling the surface charge density of the nanolatexes.     

Building custom polysaccharides in vitro with an efficient, broad-specificity xyloglucan glycosynthase and a fucosyltransferase

The current drive for applications of biomass-derived compounds, for energy and advanced materials, has led to a resurgence of interest in the manipulation of plant polymers. The xyloglucans, a family of structurally complex plant polysaccharides, have attracted significant interest due to their intrinsic high affinity for cellulose, both in muro and in technical applications. Moreover, current cell wall models are limited by the lack of detailed structure-property relationships of xyloglucans, due to a lack of molecules with well-defined branching patterns. Here, we have developed a new, broad-specificity "xyloglucan glycosynthase", selected from active-site mutants of a bacterial endoxyloglucanase, which catalyzed the synthesis of high molar mass polysaccharides, with complex side-chain structures, from suitable glycosyl fluoride donor substrates. The product range was further extended by combination with an Arabidopsis thaliana α(1→2)-fucosyltransferase to achieve the in vitro synthesis of fucosylated xyloglucans typical of dicot primary cell walls. These enzymes thus comprise a toolkit for the controlled enzymatic synthesis of xyloglucans that are otherwise impossible to obtain from native sources. Moreover, this study demonstrates the validity of a chemo-enzymatic approach to polysaccharide synthesis, in which the simplicity and economy of glycosynthase technology is harnessed together with the exquisite specificity of glycosyltransferases to control molecular complexity.     

PPA-SiO_2 catalyzed efficient synthesis of polyhydroquinoline derivatives through Hantzsch multicomponent condensation under solvent-free conditions

Silica gel-supported polyphosphoric acid（PPA-SiO₂） was found to be an efficient catalyst for the one-pot four-component Hantzsch condensation reaction of aryl aldehydes,dimedone,ethyl acetoacetate and ammonium acetate to afford the corresponding polyhydroquinoline derivatives in high yields.The main advantages of the present approach are short reaction times,clean reaction profiles,simple experimental and workup procedures.