A convenient purification and preconcentration of peptides with α‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid matrix crystals in a pipette tip for matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry

Peptide samples derived from enzymatic in‐gel digestion of proteins resolved by gel electrophoresis often contain high amount of salts originating from reaction and separation buffers. Different methods are used for desalting prior to matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometry (MS), e.g. reversed‐phase pipette tip purification, on‐target washing, adding co‐matrices, etc. As a suitable matrix for MALDI MS of peptides, α‐cyano‐4‐hydroxycinnamic acid (CHCA) is frequently used. Crystalline CHCA shows the ability to bind peptides on its surface and because it is almost insoluble in acidic water solutions, the on‐target washing of peptide samples can significantly improve MALDI MS signals. Although the common on‐target washing represents a simple, cheap and fast procedure, only a small portion of the available peptide solution is efficiently used for the subsequent MS analysis. The present approach is a combination of the on‐target washing principle carried out in a narrow‐end pipette tip (e.g. GELoader tip) and preconcentration of peptides from acidified solution by passing it through small CHCA crystals captured inside the tip on a glass microfiber frit. The results of MALDI MS analysis using CHCA‐tip peptide preconcentration are comparable with the use of homemade POROS R2 pipette tip microcolumns. Advantages and limitations of this approach are discussed. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

超重力场电沉积NiW合金及其耐碱腐蚀性能

在超重力条件下电沉积NiW合金镀层,考察了超重力对NiW合金电沉积过程(各元素分电流、W含量和槽电压等)的影响规律;并利用扫描电子显微镜(SEM)、Tafel技术和电化学阻抗谱(EIS)技术研究了电沉积NiW合金镀层的表面形貌和在NaOH溶液中的抗腐蚀性能,同时通过浸泡实验考察了镀层的稳定性.结果发现,与常重力条件电沉积的NiW合金相比,超重力场电沉积的NiW合金中W含量增加,镀层表面无微裂纹产生;在10%(w)NaOH溶液中镀层自腐蚀电位正移,自腐蚀电流密度减小,腐蚀电阻也由常重力(重力系数G=1)时的865Ω·cm2增大至超重力(G=256)时的2305Ω·cm2;在10%NaOH溶液中浸泡144h后,超重力场电沉积的NiW合金表面无破碎和起皮现象发生.超重力技术在NiW合金电沉积过程中的应用,使镀层的耐碱腐蚀性能得到改善.     

Mechanical characterization of polytetrafluoroethylene polymer using full-field displacement method

The aim of this work is to estimate two important material properties of the polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) polymer by means of a single experimental test. The displacement fields around a crack tip are used for estimating the modulus of elasticity (or, Young's modulus) and Poisson's ratio. These parameters are evaluated by fitting linear fracture mechanic expression of displacement fields in the vicinity of the crack, for mode I, to the experimental data. Measurements of these displacements are carried out using digital image correlation (DIC) method. In this way, the experimental procedure is conducted by loading a double-edge-cracked plate specimen. In order to validate the results, two available experimental tests have been performed. The modulus of elasticity is determined by means of the tensile test, using a standard test machine. Moreover, the Poisson's ratio is obtained by measuring lateral compressive and longitudinal extensional strain using DIC method.     

Acoustic field radiated into a transversely isotropic solid from a small aperture spherical surface

The acoustic field modelling reported in this paper finds application in the design of a scanning probe tip for measuring the near-surface elastic properties of solids and surface structures at high frequencies and with high spatial resolution. The underlying concept is for a longitudinally polarized pulse to be launched from a spherically-shaped portion of the upper surface of the pyramidal or conical shaped tip, and focused towards the narrow lower end. The change in the reflectivity when the narrow end is brought into contact with a solid will provide a measure of the local frequency dependent compliance of that solid. The calculations assume the material from which the tip is fabricated to be transversely isotropic, with symmetry axis coinciding with the axis of the tip. The main issue addressed in this paper is the role of the curvature of the radiating surface and anisotropy of the medium in determining the focal length and focal spread of the radiated field. Two complementary approaches are taken, firstly the discretization of the equations of motion on an irregular mesh of around 3 × 10⁵ triangular elements and solution using the commercial FE package ABAQUS/Explicit, and secondly an analytical approach based on ray tracing and a Green’s function method exploiting the angular spectrum method and stationary phase approximation in its evaluation. Consistency is achieved between these approaches regarding the characteristics of the focal region. With the combination of the two approaches it is thus possible to model the wave field from low frequencies, where the FE method is computationally economical and able to handle complex geometries, to high frequencies, where advantage increasingly lies with ray tracing and the Green’s function method.     

Waterborne crackle decorative coatings and crack patterns

A preparation method of waterborne crackle decorative coatings was reported in this paper and the factors that influence crack patterns were investigated. The crackle coating consisted of a waterborne basecoat and a waterborne topcoat. The basecoat was made from two-component epoxy emulsion and the topcoat was made from fluorine-containing acrylic emulsion, silicone-acrylic emulsion or styrene-acrylic emulsion. Three junction types of crack patterns were prepared by the three top coatings, which were T-junction, Y-junction and mixed junction. T-junction type with long and straight cracks was prepared from styrene-acrylic emulsion 296DS. Y-junction type with curve and short cracks was prepared from fluorine-containing acrylic emulsion A603C and mixed junctions type was made from silicone-acrylic emulsion. Crack patterns with different spacing were prepared by controlling the thickness of topcoat, dryness of basecoat or conditions of film forming. The characterize methods of type and spacing for crack pattern were developed and properties of coating film including adhesion, water resistance, scrub resistance and so on were tested. The results showed that the crackle coatings possessed satisfactory properties for practical application.     

跨音轴流压气机转子叶尖喷气扩稳机理分析

对跨音压气机Rotor35进行了多通道全三维定常/非定常叶顶喷气数值模拟。数值计算所获得实壁机匣总性能与试验结果符合良好。计算表明使用3.6%转子堵塞流量的叶顶喷气量可以获得21.4%的扩稳效果。定常计算结果显示叶顶喷气重点影响0.9叶展以上区域,使得该区域进气攻角和扩散因子减小,从而降低叶顶载荷,减小了由激波和泄漏涡相互作用形成的通道堵塞。非定常计算结果显示,叶尖喷气的扩稳效果来自两方面:一是对某一叶片叶顶的卸载作用;二是对激波/泄漏涡干扰形成的低能区重新注入轴向动量。后者对通道流通的改善作用大于前者。非常高的喷射频率使得叶顶喷气能够抑制每个通道中低速区的进一步增长,从而实现了对压气机的扩稳。     

Vibration of nanobeams of different boundary conditions with multiple cracks based on nonlocal elasticity theory

The aim of this paper is to study the free vibration of nanobeams with multiple cracks. The analysis procedure is based on nonlocal elasticity theory. This theory states that stress at a point is a function of strains at all points in the continuum. The nonlocal elasticity theory becomes significant for small length scale in micro and nanostructures. The effects of nonlocality, crack location and crack parameter are investigated on the natural frequencies of the cracked nanobeam. In this study, analytical solutions are given for cracked Euler–Bernoulli nanobeams of different boundary conditions.     

Geometrical disorder of the fronts of a tunnel-crack propagating in shear in some heterogeneous medium

A statistical analysis of the deformation of the fronts of a tensile tunnel-crack propagating in fatigue in some medium with spatially varying Paris constant was recently performed, with special emphasis on the evolution of the power spectra and correlation functions of the fluctuations of the fronts around reference straight lines. This study is extended here to coplanar propagation (along a weak plane) of a tunnel-crack loaded in mode 2+3. The results are rather similar to those previously obtained for mode 1. In particular, just like for tensile loadings, there is an effect of gradual selection in time of Fourier components of the fluctuations of the fronts of large wavelength. One novelty, however, is that for shear loadings, the fronts no longer tend to become symmetrical in time, so that correlations between crack front fluctuations at two points are higher for points located on the same front than for points located on distinct ones.     

Cracking in D6ac steel

This paper examines the results of an extensive test program undertaken to study crack growth in D6ac steel and shows that in each case the increment in the crack length per cycle (da/dN) conforms to the Generalised Frost-Dugdale crack growth law. This is found to be true for both constant K_max, constant R ratio load increasing, and compression-compression pre-cracking tests in the L-T, T-L and the S-T directions.     

Morphology and fracture behaviour of polyethylene/Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) nanocomposites

Fracture behaviour of polyethylene (PE)/Mg-Al layered double hydroxide (LDH) based nanocomposites has been studied by essential work of fracture (EWF) approach. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis have been used to investigate the morphological features of these nanocomposites. A maximum in the non-essential work of fracture was observed at 5 wt.% LDH demonstrating enhanced resistance to crack propagation compared to pure PE. Morphological analyses of the nanocomposites show that the dispersed LDH platelets are partially exfoliated and also forms clusters with polymer chains remaining entrapped within. Rheological analyses show that the typical low-frequency Newtonian flow behaviour, as observed in unfilled polymer, shifts to shear-thinning behaviour with increasing LDH concentration. At 5 wt.% LDH a ductile-to-brittle transition has been observed. Fracture surface investigation by SEM reveals the arresting of the plastic crack growth by the LDH particle clusters, which is more significant at 5 wt.% LDH content. At higher LDH concentrations, the number of such particle clusters increases causing decrease in the average distance between them. As a result large-scale plastic deformation of the matrix at higher LDH concentration is effectively arrested favouring small strain failure and this in turn reaffirms the possible existence of a ductile-to-brittle transition. The study in general reveals that the resistance against crack initiation (essential work of fracture: EWF) and crack propagation (non-essential work of fracture: βw_p) in these nanocomposites are structurally correlated with the matrix behaviour and the morphology (state of LDH particle dispersion) respectively.