Structure, function and evolution of antifreeze proteins

Antifreeze proteins bind to ice crystals and modify their growth. These proteins show great diversity in structure, and they have been found in a variety of organisms. The ice-binding mechanisms of antifreeze proteins are not completely understood. Recent findings on the evolution of antifreeze proteins and on their structures and mechanisms of action have provided new understanding of these proteins in different contexts. The purpose of this review is to present the developments in contrasting research areas and unite them in order to gain further insight into the structure and function of the antifreeze proteins. Received 2 September 1998; received after revision 21 October 1998; accepted 2 November 1998     

Effects of Nb on the microstructure and mechanical properties of 38MnB5 steel

The effects of the microalloying element niobium (Nb) on the microstructure and mechanical properties of the hot stamped steel 38MnB5 were investigated. The impact of Nb addition on the microstructure was studied through scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The experimental results indicated that the microstructures of the steel containing Nb were finer than those of the steel without Nb. Moreover, Nb mainly presented as a second-phase particle in 38MnB5 steel, and the particles included Nb carbonitrides. In addition, the tensile strength and elongation of the hot rolled and hot stamped steels were also measured, and they demonstrated that the appropriate addition of Nb was beneficial to the mechanical properties of 38MnB5. Under the same conditions, the tensile strength of 38MnB5Nb was higher than that of 38MnB5, which increased from 2011 to 2179 MPa. The yield strength also increased from 1316 to 1476 MPa, and the elongation increased from 5.92% to 6.64%. Overall, Nb had a positive effect on the performance of the hot stamped steel.     

Investigation on microstructural, mechanical and electrochemical properties of aluminum composites reinforced with graphene nanoplatelets

In present study, the microstructure, mechanical and electrochemical properties of aluminum–graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) composites were investigated before and after extrusion. The contents of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) were varied from 0.25 to 1.0 wt.% in aluminum matrix. The composites were fabricated thorough powder metallurgy method, and the experimental results revealed that Al-0.25%GNPs composite showed better mechanical properties compared with pure Al, Al-0.50%GNPs and Al-0.1.0%GNPs composites. Before extrusion, the Al-0.25%GNPs composite showed ~13.5% improvement in ultimate tensile strength (UTS) and ~50% enhancement in failure strain over monolithic matrix. On the other hand, Al-0.50%GNPs and Al-0.1.0%GNPs composites showed the tensile strength lower than monolithic matrix. No significant change was observed in 0.2% yield strength (YS) of the composites. However, the extruded materials showed different trends. The 0.2%YS of composites increased with increase in GNPs filler weight fractions. Surprisingly, UTS of composites with 0.25 and 0.50% GNPs was lower than monolithic matrix. The failure strain of the baseline matrix was enhanced by ~46% with 0.25% graphene nanoplatelets. The superior mechanical properties (in terms of failure strain) of the Al-0.25%GNPs composite maybe attributed to 2-D structure, high surface area and curled nature of graphene. In addition, the corrosion resistance of pure Al and its composites reinforced with 0.5 and 1.0 wt% GNPs was also investigated. It was found that the corrosion rate increased considerably by the presence of GNPs.     

A comparison study of two Tricept units for reconfigurable parallel kinematic machines

This paper presents a comparison study of workspace and dexterity of two Tricept units for Reconfigurable Parallel Kinematic Machines （RPKMs）. The modular leg of RPKMs is designed and the RPKMs can be built by changing tile setting of modules. A compositive kinematic model is developed accordingly. The inverse kinematics and Jacobian of these two Trieept units are analyzed. Considering workspaee volume and dexterity, the effeets of geometric size of some modules on the two Trieept units are discussed. In the end, comparison results of these two Tricept units are. given. The eomparison of two kinds of Parallel Kinematic Machines （PKMs） can be of help in the design and configuration planning of the RPKMs.     

Metabonomics analysis of the urine of rats with Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome based on NMR techniques

Metabonomics analysis of the urine of rats with Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome has been performed by comparison with those of normal rats based on NMR techniques. The relative contents of formate,creatinine,2-oxoglutarate(2-OG) ,citrate,taurine,trimethylamine-N-oxide(TMAO) ,succinate and hippurate in the urine of the rats with Qi deficiency and blood stasis syndrome have been changed. These results have provided evidence for understanding the mechanism and the therapy of Qi defi-ciency and blood stasis syndrome.     

In situ detection of collisionless reconnection in the Earth's magnetotail

Magnetic reconnection is the process by which magnetic field lines of opposite polarity reconfigure to a lower-energy state, with the release of magnetic energy to the surroundings. Reconnection at the Earth's dayside magnetopause and in the magnetotail allows the solar wind into the magnetosphere. It begins in a small 'diffusion region', where a kink in the newly reconnected lines produces jets of plasma away from the region. Although plasma jets from reconnection have previously been reported, the physical processes that underlie jet formation have remained poorly understood because of the scarcity of in situ observations of the minuscule diffusion region. Theoretically, both resistive and collisionless processes can initiate reconnection, but which process dominates in the magnetosphere is still debated. Here we report the serendipitous encounter of the Wind spacecraft with an active reconnection diffusion region, in which are detected key processes predicted by models of collisionless reconnection. The data therefore demonstrate that collisionless reconnection occurs in the magnetotail.     

Synthesis,characterization, and property test of crystalline polyferric sulfate adsorbent used in treatment of contaminated water with a high As(III) content

A crystalline polyferric sulfate (PFS) adsorbent was synthesized by oxidizing and precipitating ferrous ions in air atmospheric conditions. The morphology, structure, specific surface area (SSA), and adsorptive efficacy of the adsorbent to As(Ⅲ) were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns, Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, BET SSA analyses, and adsorption experiments. The adsorbent showed a near-spherical aggregate structure and had good crystallinity. A significant amount of α-goethite co-precipitated with PFS in the case of the initial ferrous concentration of 1 mol/L and increased SSA of the adsorbent. The stability region of ferric compounds in the process was drawn and applied to analyze the iron behavior during the synthesis. The adsorption of As(Ⅲ) in high As(Ⅲ)-containing solutions fitted the Langmuir isotherm model adequately. The absorbent with co-precipitation of α-goethite showed good adsorbability for As(Ⅲ) and good filtering performance in the high As(Ⅲ)-containing solution of 10-100 mg/L under acidic, neutral, and alkaline conditions (pH 2.09-9.01). After the adsorption process, the stability of the residues bearing As(Ⅲ) was evaluated by toxic characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) tests. The results indicated that the residues were extremely stable, and the concentrations of arsenic in the leaching solutions were less than 0.01 mg/L.     

Kinetics of the hydrogen absorption and desorption processes of hydrogen storage alloys: A review

High hydrogen absorption and desorption rates are two significant index parameters for the applications of hydrogen storage tanks.The analysis of the hydrogen absorption and desorption behavior using the isothermal kinetic models is an efficient way to investigate the kinetic mechanism.Multitudinous kinetic models have been developed to describe the kinetic process.However,these kinetic models were de-duced based on some assumptions and only appropriate for specific kinetic measurement methods and rate-controlling steps(RCSs),which sometimes lead to confusion during application.The kinetic analysis procedures using these kinetic models,as well as the key kinetic parameters,are unclear for many researchers who are unfamiliar with this field.These problems will prevent the kinetic models and their analysis methods from revealing the kinetic mechanism of hydrogen storage alloys.Thus,this review mainly focuses on the summarization of kinetic models based on different kinetic measurement methods and RCSs for the chemisorption,surface penetration,diffusion of hydrogen,nucleation and growth,and chemical reaction processes.The analysis procedures of kinetic experimental data are expounded,as well as the effects of temperature,hydrogen pressure,and particle radius.The applications of the kinetic models for different hydrogen storage alloys are also introduced.     

Near-microscopic grain boundary facilitates fatigue crack propagation in a polycrystalline Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy

In present study, grain characteristics with sizes within 10–30 μm were fabricated from a same Al–Zn–Mg–Cu alloy, FCP behaviors of the alloys with small grain(SG alloy), medium grain(MG alloy) and large grain(LG alloy)were investigated and related fatigue fracture morphology was analyzed. With the enhancement of stress intensity factor range(ΔK), the alloy with larger grains possessed faster FCP rate, which were successively arranged as SG alloy > MG alloy > LG alloy at initial stage while...     

两边连接内加劲双钢板剪力墙抗剪承载力研究

为研究两边连接内加劲双钢板剪力墙的抗剪承载力，采用ABAQUS程序进行36个不同宽高比、不同高厚比的两边连接内加劲双钢板剪力墙的有限元分析. 分析结果表明，采用厚板或宽高比较大的钢板均可以使钢材达到较高的平均应力水平；峰值平均剪应力与屈服平均剪应力的比值随高厚比或宽高比变化的规律不明显，强屈比随高厚比变化介于1.17~1.21之间，随宽高比的变化介于1.16~1.21之间，平均值均为1.19；给出了宽高比为0.33~2.00、高厚比为200~750的两边连接内加劲双钢板剪力墙屈服平均剪应力计算公式；采用结构力学位移计算原理推导的理论计算公式可准确计算内加劲双钢板剪力墙的初始刚度和初始等效剪切模量. 建立了两边连接内加劲双钢板剪力墙的等效交叉杆模型，验证了等效交叉杆模型可以精准地模拟不同宽高比、不同高厚比两边连接内加劲双钢板剪力墙的屈服平均剪应力和初始刚度，表明可以采用等效交叉杆模型简化两边连接内加劲双钢板剪力墙的设计与分析.