Microstructure and Mechanical Properties of Mg–RE–TM Cast Alloys Containing Long Period Stacking Ordered Phases: A Review

Casting magnesium alloys hold the greatest share of magnesium application products due to their short processing period, low cost and near net shape forming. Compared with conventional commercial magnesium alloys or other Mg–RE-based alloys, the novel Mg–RE–TM cast alloys with long period stacking ordered(LPSO) phases usually possess a higher strength and are promising candidates for aluminum alloy applications. Up to now, two ways: alloying design and casting process control(including subsequent heat treatments), have been predominantly employed to further improve the mechanical properties of these alloys. Alloying with other elements or ceramic particles could alter the solidifi cation pattern of alloys, change the morphology of LPSO phases and refi ne the microstructures. Diff erent casting techniques(conventional casting, rapidly solidifi cation, directional solidifi cation, etc.) introduce various microstructure characteristics, such as dendritic structure, nanocrystalline, metastable phase, anisotropy. Further heat treatments could activate the transformation of various LPSO structures and precipitation of diverse precipitates. All these evolutions exert great impacts on the mechanical properties of the LPSO-containing alloys. However, the underlying mechanisms still remain a subject of debate. Therefore, this review mainly provides the state of the art of the casting magnesium alloys research and the accompanying challenges and summarizes some topics that merit future investigation for developing high-performance Mg–RE–TM cast alloys.     

Hydrolysis-resistant polyurethane elastomers synthesized from hydrophobic bio-based polyfarnesene diol

Hydrolytic stability is an essential requirement for polyurethanes (PUs) that are used in highly humid and aqueous environments. In this study, hydrolysis-resistant PU elastomers (PUEs) are synthesized based on hydrophobic bio-based polyfarnesene diol (PFD), which contains unique “bottle brushes” structure (with long branched hydrocarbon side chains). The effect of hard segment (HS) content, ranging from 30 to 50%, on the morphology and properties of PUEs is investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, tensile, water absorption, and contact angle measurements. The results show that there are prominent phase separations in the synthesized PUEs. The PUEs show a three-stage degradation process and two T_g, one is at about −66 °C and the other 61 °C, which are related to the soft segment and HS, respectively. Water contact angles of PUEs increase from 98.6 to 105.2° with the increasing of PFD structural unit fraction. After being immersed in deionized water for 30 days, PUEs show no significant degradation of both tensile strength and elongation at break, and mass changes of all samples are less than 0.5%. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47673.     

Regional-scale rice-yield estimation using stacked auto-encoder with climatic and MODIS data: a case study of South Korea

In South Korea, rice is the most important grain crop that it is crucial to develop yield estimation model for supporting sustainable agriculture and national food security. The main objectives of this paper are (1) to propose a Deep Learning (DL) algorithm, the Stacked Sparse Auto-encoder (SSAE), for rice-yield estimation using climatic and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data; (2) to choose scenarios showing the best combined performance in terms of length of crop season (before and after harvest) and aggregation periods (7, 10, 15, and 30 days) of climatic data; and (3) to analyse the results in both the temporal and spatial perspectives. In this procedure, the SSAE model was built around the study objectives and compared with the artificial neural network (ANN) model for evaluation of its performance. According to the results, the combined 15-day-aggregated climatic data (between June and August) and MODIS data were selected as the optimal feature set for rice-yield estimation in the study area, Jeolla-do; the SSAE model outperformed ANN, showing root mean square error (RMSE) and RMSE% of 33.09 kg(10a)^?1 (5.21 kg(10a)^?1lower than ANN) and 6.89% (1.14% lower than ANN). Throughout the experiments, the rice-yield-estimation potentiality of a DL algorithm, namely the SSAE, was substantiated.     

The effect of moderate pulsed electric fields on autolysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and the amino acid content in autolysates

The effect of moderate pulsed electric fields (MPEF) strength on autolysis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae was evaluated in this study. After exposure to MPEF with intensity of 7 kV cm⁻¹ for 4 ms, the integrity of the cell wall was obviously destroyed and the inactivation of S. cerevisiae reached 99.43%. During the subsequent 42-h autolysis process, the release of free α-amino nitrogen of MPEF-treated cells, as well as extracellular protease activity, was significantly (P < 0.05) higher than that of untreated cells. Moreover, exposure to 7 kV cm⁻¹ led to an increase of the total amino acid of 149.36%. In particular, the content of aspartic acid and glutamic acid which are important umami flavour precursors increased by 232.55% and 209.40%, respectively. These results indicate that MPEF will be an effective method to accelerate autolysis of S. cerevisiae for obtaining high-quality yeast extract as flavour enhancers and nutrition supplements.     

基于BS值的钢中多相组织分相技术

为了对钢中双相或多相组织进行分相定量表征，利用场发射扫描电镜(FE SEM)与电子背散射衍射技术(EBSD)中的BS值对其进行了详细的研究与讨论。结果表明，对于单相的铁素体、贝氏体或马氏体，其BS灰度分布图呈近似的正态分布，BS图可以呈现出类似于组织的图像。利用BS值可以很好地对结构相近的双相或多相组织进行分相定量。在分相定量时，需选择适合的拟合函数，定量结果才更为准确。     

New environmental-friendly yellow pigments Y_(4-x)A_xMoO_(9+δ)(A =Ta,Tb)

A series of inorganic yellow pigments with general formula Y_(4-x)A_xMoO_(9+δ)(A = Ta, Tb), where x = 0,0.05,0.1,0.2, 0.4 for Ta and χ = 0, 0.005, 0.01.0.03, 0.05 for Tb,were synthesized by a conventional ceramic method at 1400 ℃ for 6 h in air. The samples were characterized by XRD,EDS,XPS,SEM,TG-DSC,UV-vis-NIR reflectance spectroscopy and CIE L*a*b* color scales. It is found that the substitution of A(A = Ta, Tb) for Y~(3+) in Y_4 MoO_9 decreases the NIR reflectance of the pigment samples, but the developed pigments Y_(4-x)A_xMoO_(9+δ)(A = Ta, Tb) still exhibit impressive NIR solar reflectance. The brighter yellow color of inorganic pigments Y_(4-x)A_xMoO_(9+δ)(A = Ta, Tb) is available when x is about 0.1 for Ta and 0.01 for Tb. The results make them a series of potential candidates as ecological yellow pigments because of their high reflectance, lightness, intense coloration and excellent thermal and chemical stability.     

Azaaurones as Potent Antimycobacterial Agents Active against MDR- and XDR-TB

Herein we report the screening of a small library of aurones and their isosteric counterparts, azaaurones and N-acetylazaaurones, against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Aurones were found to be inactive at 20 μm , whereas azaaurones and N-acetylazaaurones emerged as the most potent compounds, with nine derivatives displaying MIC₉₉ values ranging from 0.4 to 2.0 μm . In addition, several N-acetylazaaurones were found to be active against multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) clinical M. tuberculosis isolates. The antimycobacterial mechanism of action of these compounds remains to be determined; however, a preliminary mechanistic study confirmed that they do not inhibit the mycobacterial cytochrome bc1 complex. Additionally, microsomal metabolic stability and metabolite identification studies revealed that N-acetylazaaurones are deacetylated to their azaaurone counterparts. Overall, these results demonstrate that azaaurones and their N-acetyl counterparts represent a new entry in the toolbox of chemotypes capable of inhibiting M. tuberculosis growth.     

基于随机振动仿真分析的阵列天线结构改进

某型阵列天线属于机载设备,在做完随机振动试验后,第2个天线单元的一个辐射板被振裂.为了快速找到断裂原因,改进天线结构,利用有限元仿真软件ANSYS Workbench进行随机振动仿真分析.分析结果表明:原天线单元辐射板根部圆角太小,产生较大应力集中,最大3σ应力为102.74 MPa,超过材料疲劳极限应力87 MPa;改进后的天线结构,最大3σ应力降低24.2％,其数值为77.85 MPa,小于疲劳极限应力,满足设计要求.最终,改进后的天线结构顺利通过振动试验,有效验证了仿真分析与结构改进的合理性.