Characterization of the globular oxide inclusion ratings in steel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Grade assessment of steel is generally performed via the metallographic method, which is timeconsuming and is not able to provide the elemental distribution information. In this paper, we present a method to measure the globular oxide inclusion ratings in steel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS). The measurement is performed in two basic steps: steel samples are polished using metallographic sand paper and the Al₂O₃ inclusion number and size distribution in a marked area are observed using scanning electron microscope/energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) for further LIBS scanning analysis. The threshold intensity that distinguishes soluble aluminum and insoluble aluminum inclusions is determined using LIBS combined with the SEM/EDS statistical data. Carbon steel (the sample number is S9256) and bearing steel (the sample number is GCr15) are analyzed in scanning mode, and the number of Al₂O₃ inclusions in different size ranges is obtained from the statistical information derived from the Al₂O₃ size calibration curve. According to heavy and thin series for globular oxide inclusions grade assessment, the method we propose is comparable to the traditional metallographic method in terms of accuracy; however, the process is simplified and the measurement speed is significantly improved.     

Long-Term Antibacterial Film Nanocomposite Incorporated with Patchouli Essential Oil Prepared by Supercritical CO2 Cyclic Impregnation for Wound Dressing

Biocompatible skin wound dressing materials with long-term therapeutic windows and anti-infection properties have attracted great attention all over the world. The cooperation between essential oil and non-toxic or bio-based polymers was a promising strategy. However, the inherent volatility and chemical instability of most ingredients in essential oils make the sustained pharmacological activity of essential oil-based biomaterials a challenge. In this study, a kind of film nanocomposite loaded with patchouli essential oil (PEO-FNC) was fabricated. PEO-loaded mesoporous silica nanoparticles (PEO-MSNs) with drug load higher than 40 wt% were firstly prepared using supercritical CO₂ cyclic impregnation (SCCI), and then combined with the film matrix consisting of polyvinyl alcohol and chitosan. The morphology of PEO-MSNs and PEO-FNC was observed by transmission and scanning electron microscope. The mechanical properties, including hygroscopicity, tensile strength and elongation at break (%), were tested. The release behavior of PEO from the film nanocomposite showed that PEO could keep releasing for more than five days. PEO-FNC exhibited good long-term (>48 h) antibacterial effect on Staphylococcus aureus and non-toxicity on mouse fibroblast (L929 cells), making it a promising wound dressing material.     

Phase Estimation and Compensation for Continuous-Variable Quantum Key Distribution

Phase estimation and compensation is one of the enabling functionalities in continous-variable quantum key distribution (CVQKD). Recently, a novel CVQKD scheme has been independently proposed to combat the local oscillator (LO) side channel attacks. Furthermore, we have carried out a proof-of-principle experimental study on the feasibility of the CVQKD without sending a LO. However, this scheme contains a serious weakness: The phase noise caused by the two different lasers between the sender and the receiver would severely destroy the quantum signal and finally reduce the secure distance. In this paper, we investigate the optical phase noise and explore the optimal approach to estimate and compensate such kind of noise with appropriate data overhead. Numerical simulations show that our scheme can successfully reconstruct the phase drifts even at low signal-to-noise ratio conditions. We also suggest that a higher accuracy of phase estimation could be achieved by using the frequency division multiplexing scheme. This opens an opportunity to employ advanced pilot-aided phase estimation techniques in quantum communication system.

     

Material point method applied to multiphase flows

The particle-in-cell method (PIC), especially the latest version of it, the material point method (MPM), has shown significant advantage over the pure Lagrangian method or the pure Eulerian method in numerical simulations of problems involving large deformations. It avoids the mesh distortion and tangling issues associated with Lagrangian methods and the advection errors associated with Eulerian methods. Its application to multiphase flows or multi-material deformations, however, encounters a numerical difficulty of satisfying continuity requirement due to the inconsistence of the interpolation schemes used for different phases. It is shown in Section 3 that current methods of enforcing this requirement either leads to erroneous results or can cause significant accumulation of errors. In the present paper, a different numerical method is introduced to ensure that the continuity requirement is satisfied with an error consistent with the discretization error and will not grow beyond that during the time advancement in the calculation. This method is independent of physical models. Its numerical implementation is quite similar to the common method used in Eulerian calculations of multiphase flows. Examples calculated using this method are presented.     

Real-time focus control in broad flat field laser material processing

Broad flat field laser scanning is critical to the success of laser material processing, used in techniques such as rapid prototyping & manufacturing (RP&M) and micro-machining. For these techniques it is necessary to produce high-performance optical systems that can fulfill the need for a smaller focused spot size over broad, flat field scanning areas. This paper concentrates on the issues of defocus error compensation. A dynamic focusing system is designed, intended primarily for broad flat field galvanometric laser scanning applications. Key technologies are described in detail; corresponding solutions have been used to design and produce a CO₂ infrared optical focusing system, which is capable of scanning a focused spot size of 120 μm or less over areas up to 500 mm².     

Mesoporous silica nanorods toward efficient loading and intracellular delivery of siRNA

The technology of RNA interference (RNAi) that uses small interfering RNA (siRNA) to silence the gene expression with complementary messenger RNA (mRNA) sequence has great potential for the treatment of cancer in which certain genes were usually found overexpressed. However, the carry and delivery of siRNA to the target site in the human body can be challenging for this technology to be used clinically to silence the cancer-related gene expression. In this work, rod shaped mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNs) were developed as siRNA delivery system for specific intracellular delivery. The rod MSNs with an aspect ratio of 1.5 had a high surface area of 934.28 m²/g and achieved a siRNA loading of more than 80 mg/g. With the epidermal growth factor (EGF) grafted on the surface of the MSNs, siRNA can be delivered to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) overexpressed colorectal cancer cells with high intracellular concentration compared to MSNs without EGF and lead to survivin gene knocking down to less than 30%.     

Interesting Magnetic and Optical Properties of ZnO Co-doped with Transition Metal and Carbon

Magnetic and optical properties of ZnO co-doped with transition metal and carbon have been investigated using density functional theory based on first-principles ultrasoft pseudopoten-tial method. Upon co-doping with transition metal (TM) and carbon, the calculated results show a shift in the Fermi level and a remarkable change in the covalency of ZnO. Such cases energetically favor ferromagnetic semiconductor with high Curie temperature due to p-d exchange interaction between TM ions and holes induced by C doping. The total en-ergy difference between the ferromagnetic and the antiferromagnetic configurations, spatial charge and spin density, which determine the magnetic ordering, were calculated in co-doped systems for further analysis of magnetic properties. It was also discovered that optical prop-erties in the higher energy region remain relatively unchanged while those at the low energyregion are changed after the co-doping. These changes of optical properties are qualitatively explained based on the calculated electronic structure. The validity of our calculation in comparison with other theoretical predictions will further motivate the experimental inves-tigation of (TM, C) co-doped ZnO diluted magnetic semiconductors.     

Solubility and crystallization of BaHPO4 crystals

A study of growth of barium hydrogen phosphate (BaHPO₄) crystal from solution is reported. The raw materials of barium hydrogen phosphate were successfully synthesized through chemical reaction in water. The solubility in HCl and H₃PO₄ solution were studied. It increased when acid concentration and temperature become higher, and the fitted curve of solubility is nearly a line. The acid concentration affects crystalline morphology of BaHPO₄ crystal. The crystallization is well when the acid solution ranges from 0.5 to 0.8M. © 2006 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim     

Biological evaluation and SPECT imaging of tumor hypoxia using a novel technetium-99m labeled tracer with 2-nitroimidazole moiety

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - To develop novel 99mTc labeled nitroimidazole imaging agents for imaging tumor hypoxia, 99mTc labeled ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid derivative...