Detection of Bisphenol A (BPA) in Plastic Bottles Using Vertical Cultivation at Various Temperatures

Polycarbonate plastics containing bisphenol A (BPA) used to manufacture drinking water bottles. Kurdistan region in northern Iraq is a developed area with increased pollution from plastic bottles. Trace amounts of BPA have been detected in bottled water samples. The absorption of BPA was measured with HPLC using a vertical cultivation system with Bulbs of the Allium Cepa plant planted in these plastic bottles with monitored growth. Vertical cultivation was found to have a low level of BPA in the plant cells, making it a safe cultivation method under specific climate conditions. The mean concentration of BPA in vertical cultivation is 0.19 ug/ml (3.8 ng for a 20 uL injection), and the Limit of Quantification (LOQ) is 0.63 ug/ml (12.7 ng for 20 uL injection). While Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) shows that the concentrations are relatively low in water samples stored at room temperature compared to those exposed to direct sunlight (40°C) and water bottle samples stored at (-4°C), The correlation coefficients were found to be good (0.9992). SEM is used for plastic bottle samples stored at different temperatures. The images identify compound decay and explore the morphology of BPA in manufactured plastic materials.

Investigation of meso-failure behaviors of Jinping marble using SEM with bending loading system

In th is study, th e m eso-failure m ech an ism an d fracture surface o f Jinping m arble w ere investigated bym ean s o f scanning electro n m icroscope （SEM） w ith ben d in g loading system and laser-scanner equipment. The Y antang an d B aishan m arbles specim ens from Jinping II hyd ro p o w er sta tio n w ere used. Testresu lts show th a t th e fracture to u g h n ess and m echanical behaviors o f Y antang m arble w ere basicallyh ig h er th a n th o se o f Baishan m arble. This is m ainly d u e to th e fact th a t Baishan m arble co n tain s a largep ercen tag e o f d o lom ite an d m in o r mica. Crack pro p ag atio n p a th and fracture m orphology in d icated th a tth e d irection o f ten sile stress has a significant effect on th e m echanical behaviors an d fracture toughnesso f B aishan m arble. For Yantang an d B aishan m arbles, a large n u m b e r o f m icrocracks a ro u n d th e m aincrack tip w ere observed w h e n th e directio n o f ten sile stress w as parallel to th e bed d in g plane.C onversely, few m icrocracks o ccurred w h e n th e directio n o f ten sile stress w as p erp en d icu lar to th ebed d in g plane. The presen ce o f a large n u m b e r o f m icrocracks a t th e m ain crack tip d ecreased th e globalfracture to u g h n ess o f m arble. The results o f th re e -p o in t ben d in g te sts show ed th a t th e average bearingcapacity o f intact m arble is 3.4 tim es th e notch ed m arble, b u t th e ductility p ro p e rty o f th e defectivem arble afte r p eak load is b e tte r th a n th a t o f th e intact m arble. H ence, large d efo rm atio n m ay beg en erated before failure o f in tact m arbles a t Jinping II h y d ro p o w er station. The fractal d im en sio n o ffracture surface w as also calculated by th e cube covering m eth o d . O bservational resu lt show ed th a t th elargest fractal dim en sio n o f Y antang m arble is cap tu red w h e n th e directio n o f ten sile stress is parallel toth e bedding plane. H ow ever, th e fractal d im en sio n o f fracture surface o f Yantang an d Baishan m arblesw ith ten sile stress vertical to th e bed d in g plane is relatively sm all. The fractal d im en sio n can also be usedto characterize th e ro ughness o f fracture surface o f rock m aterials.

New and interesting diatoms from the Shimen Wetwalls,Yunnan Province,China.Ⅱ.The diatom genus Nupela Vyverman&Compère(Bacillariophyceae)

We detailed the valve morphology of five new species of diatom genus Nupela from wetwall communities in Yunnan Province,China,with light and scanning electron microscope.The five new species demonstrate great variability within the genus,as three of them are biraphid and two are monoraphid.In addition,variation was noted in the structure of internal proximal raphe ends,with some species having anchor-shaped ends and other species have hooked ends.The genus Nupela has grown considerably in 30years since it was first proposed,going from a monotypic genus to over 85 taxa.Diagnosis of the genus is based on the presence of an external covering over the areolae.We discussed the systematic placement of Nupela within the naviculoid diatoms.Yunnan Province appears to harbor many endemic diatom taxa,and many regions of the province have yet to be studied.

Surface Microtextures of Slipping Zone Soil of Some Landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir District and Their Significance

The mineral assemblage and content and surface microtextures of slipping zone soil of several landslides in the Three Gorges Reservoir District have been analyzed using the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and X-ray diffractometer (XRD). All the mineral assemblages are similar in these landslides. The main minerals are montmorillonite, illite, kaolinite, chlorite, quartz and feldspar. There are two kinds of surface microtexture in the slipping zone soil, i.e., linear scratches and arcuate scratches. Based on analyses of the changes of the microtextures, one can obtain information about the number, directions and stages of landslide movements. The authors have also studied the mechanism of landslide formation, evaluated the stability of landslides and revival possibility of ancient landslides and forecasted the activity of similar landslides in different districts. The surface microtexture features of stable landslides and mobile landslides are summarized and it is concluded that the existence of filamentous bacteria may result in or increase movements of landslides.

Electrochemical characterization of Ni-Co and Ni-Co-Fe for oxidation of methyl alcohol fuel with high energetic catalytic surface

Non Pt based metals and alloys as electrode materials for methyl alcohol fuel cells have been investigated w ith an aim of finding high electrocatalytic surface property for the faster electrode reactions.Electrodes w ere fabricated by electrodeposition on pure Al foil,from an electrolyte of Ni,Co,Fe salts.The optimum condition of electrodeposition w ere found out by a series of experiments,varying the chemistry of the electrolyte,pH valve,temperature,current and cell potential.Polarization study of the coated Ni-Co or Ni-CoFe alloy on pure Al w as found to exhibit high exchange current density,indicating an improved electro catalytic surface w ith faster charge-discharge reactions at anode and cathode and low overvoltage.Electrochemical impedance studies on coated and uncoated surface clearly show ed that the polarization resistance and impedance w ere decreased by Ni-Co or Ni-Co-Fe coating.X-ray diffraction(XRD),energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy(EDX)and atomic absorption spectroscopy(AAS)studies confirmed the presence of alloying elements and constituents of the alloy.The morphology of the deposits from scanning electron microscope(SEM)images indicated that the electrode surface w as a three dimensional space w hich increased the effective surface area for the electrode reactions to take place.

Thermal effects on fracture toughness of cracked straight-through Brazilian disk green sandstone and granite

Cracked straight-through Brazilian disc(CSTBD) samples prepared using two rock materials were used for thermal treatment from room temperature to 700℃. Uniaxial splitting experiments were performed using an automatic electro-hydraulic servo press to study the evolution laws of physical and fracture properties of different deep rock materials under high-temperature geological conditions. The fracture characteristics were measured using an industrial camera and digital image correlation technology to analyze the effect of high temperature on fracture properties and failure modes of the CSTBD samples after different thermal treatments. The micro-damage properties of green sandstone and granite materials were obtained using a scanning electron microscope(SEM). The following conclusions were drawn from the test results:(1) With the increasing temperature, the fracture characteristics of green sandstone and granite change from brittle fracture to plasticity fracture, the longitudinal wave velocity of granite decreases sharply at 600℃, and the damage factor reaches 0.8748 at 700℃.(2) The fracture toughness of green sandstone and granite decreases with increasing temperature;however, the decreasing range of granite is larger than that of green sandstone.(3) As the temperature increases, the fracture morphologies of green sandstone and granite materials become rougher, whereas thermal damage cracks of granite and intergranular fractures inside sandstone as well as pores of sandstone increase.(4) The crack tip opening displacement and peak strain corresponding to peak load increase with the temperature.

Research on the intermediate phase of 40CrMnSiB steel shell under different heat treatments

In this study, 40 Cr Mn Si B steel cylindrical shells were tempered at 350, 500 and 600 ℃ to study the effect of tempering temperature on the dynamic process of expansion and fracture of the metal shell. A midexplosion recovery experiment for the metal cylinder under internal explosive loading was designed, and the wreckage of the casings at the intermediate phase was obtained. The effects of different tempering temperatures on the macroscopic and microscopic fracture characteristics of 40 Cr Mn Si B steel were studied. The influence of tempering temperatures on the fracture characteristic parameters of the recovered wreckage were measured and analyzed, including the circumferential divide size, the thickness and the number of the circumferential divisions. The results show that as the tempering temperature was increased from 350 to 600 ℃, at first, the degree of fragmentation and the fracture characteristic parameters of the recovered wreckage changed significantly and then became essentially consistent. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed flow-like structure characteristics caused by adiabatic shear on different fracture surfaces. At the detonation initiation end of the casing, fracturing was formed by tearing along the crack, which existed a distance from the initiation end and propagated along the axis direction. In contrast, the fracturing near the middle position consists of a plurality of radial shear fracture units. The amount of alloy carbide that was precipitated during the tempering process increased continuously with tempering temperature, leading to an increasing number of spherical carbide particles scattered around the fracture surface.

Fatigue Behavior of a Dissimilar Aluminum Alloy Welding Joint With and Without Natural Defect

In order to investigate the influence of natural defect on the fatigue behavior of 5A06/7A05 dissimilar aluminum alloys welding joint,fatigue tests of two types of specimens with and without defects were carried out systematically under stress amplitude control conditions (stress ratio R=0.1) at normal temperature in laboratory air condition.Furthermore,a new parameter,i e,fatigue defect effect factor (FDEF) was introduced to assess the effect of defect on fatigue strength.The fatigue failure analysis was conducted as well to compare the fatigue and fracture behavior of the two types of specimens.The results show that:(1) natural defects have a strong effect on the fatigue lives of welding joint,and the differences between the specimens with and without defects can reach 80 times under a same theoretical net sectional stress;(2) the FDEF parameter introduced is effective to deal with the defect effect,and the FDEF decreases along with the increase of fatigue life.The mean relative error between the experimental data and predicted fatigue strength based on the FDEF is 10.2%;(3) the macro fracture of both types of specimens have three typical zones,i e,fatigue source zone,crack propagation zone and final fracture zone,while there are more than one fatigue sources for specimens with natural defects.The overall pattern of crack propagation zone and fracture zone are quite similar,but the morphologies are different in details.

Characterization of polyhydroxyalkanoates synthesized in activated sludge using three carbon sources

Polyhydroxyalkanoates（PHAs）were synthesized in activated sludge using three types of carbon sources（sodium acetate,sodium propionate and sodium butyrate）,and their characterization were studied.It was shown that the content of PHA synthesized by microorganisms in activated sludge were different.The biggest synthetic amount up to 36.7% of VSS was obtained when sodium acetate was used as carbon source.The polymer yield was lower when using sodium propionate as the carbon source than when using others,with25.1% of VSS,while resulted in an increase of hydroxyvalerate（HV）units produced.The structure and thermal properties of extracted biopolymers were analyzed by scanning electron microscope（SEM）,Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy（FTIR）and themogravimetry（TG）.

Repair and Restoration of the Historical Wellesley Bridge at Sriran­gapatna:A Case Study

The Historical Wellesley Bridge,built by the Krishnaraja Wadiyar under the supervision of Dewan Purnaih across river Cauvery at Srirangapatna.Situation of bridge is got when heavy rainfall followed by heavy inflow from Cauvery Catchment area in Kodagu District.At present,the Government of Karnataka has taken measures to do the restoration works using the same previously used materials with slight changes.Hence,in the present investigation the authors are doing a case study on the above structure by testing the ingredients of the materials used for it and also by conducting Non-Destructive Test on the structure to know its strength before and after restoration.Based on the test results obtained,the authors will give a conclusion with respect to durability aspects.In addition to the above,the authors will test for few alternative materials i.e.,lime mortar with Cement(i.e.MM2 Grade Masonary mortar).Finally,from the obtained test results here the authors can suggest suitable material for the structures.

Comparison of Antioxidant Activities of Silver Nanoparticles and Methanol Extracts of Three Indigenous Nigeria Herbal Seeds

The antioxidant of seeds was carried out using extracts from methanol and Silver Nanoparticles from the spice. The SEM shows the shapes, dispersion and agglomeration of the sample, while the EDX confirms the SEM and the presence of some compounds. The FT-IR reveals the AgNPs capping and reducing the particular biomolecule from the functional group for identification. Compounds found in the FT-IR seeds of Capsicum annum are Ag L (Silver iodide), C K (Cyanogen chloride), P K (Phenol). Monodora myristica are Mo L (Molybdenum), Ag L (Silver iodide), C K (Cyanogen chloride), P K (Phenol), Mg K (Magnesium). Piper guineense are Ag L (Silver iodide), Ci K (Potassium chloride), C K (Cyanogen chloride), P K (Phenol). The seeds show that the AgNPS of CA and MM has a better antioxidant activity than the methanol of CA and MM, while the PG methanol has a better activity than the AgNPS PG. The control (Catechin and Galic acid) has a slight overall better DPPH activity than the AgNPS. It is important to note that there is a concentration dependency in CA, MM AgNPS, PG methanol respectively. Notably, at CA methanol, the conc. at 125 was higher than the conc. at 250. Hence, there is need to create a great part in using plant samples for making tabulated or capsulated drugs for treatment of diseases and using plant silver nanoparticles to develop a healthy food/drug preservative package material “smart packaging” that will enhance shelf-life.

SEM imaging of insulating specimen through a transparent conducting veil of carbon nanotube

Observing the morphology of insulating specimen in scanning electron microscope(SEM)is of great significance for the nanoscale semiconductor devices and biological tissues.However,the charging effect will cause image distortion and abnormal contrast when observing insulating specimen in SEM.A typical solution to this problem is using metal coating or water-removable conductive coating.Unfortunately,in both cases the surface of the specimen is covered by a thin layer of conductive material which hides the real surface morphology and is very difficult to be completely removed after imaging.Here we show a convenient,residue-free,and versatile method to observe real surface morphology of insulating specimen without charging effect in SEM with the help of a nanometer-thick film of super-aligned carbon nanotube(SACNT).This thin layer of SACNT film,like metal,can conduct the surface charge on insulating specimen through the sample stage to the ground,thus eliminating the charging effect.SACNT film can also be used as the conductive tape to carry and immobilize insulating powder or particles during SEM imaging.Different from the metal coating,SACNT film is transparent,so that the real microstructure of the insulating specimen surface can be observed.In addition,SACNT film can be easily attached to and peeled off from the surface of specimen without any residue.This convenient,residue-free,and versatile method can open up new possibilities in nondestructive SEM imaging of a wide variety of insulating materials,semiconductor devices,and biological tissues.

Deep Learning,Feature Learning,and Clustering Analysis for SEM Image Classification

In this paper,we report upon our recent work aimed at improving and adapting machine learning algorithms to automatically classify nanoscience images acquired by the Scanning Electron Microscope(SEM).This is done by coupling supervised and unsupervised learning approaches.We first investigate supervised learning on a ten-category data set of images and compare the performance of the different models in terms of training accuracy.Then,we reduce the dimensionality of the features through autoencoders to perform unsupervised learning on a subset of images in a selected range of scales(from 1μm to 2μm).Finally,we compare different clustering methods to uncover intrinsic structures in the images.

Microorganism population in two-phase anaerobic fermentation of separated liquid of dairy manure

In order to reduce incomplete fermentation caused by high substrate viscosity and low mass transfer efficiency during fermentation process,batch and two-phase anaerobic fermentation experiments were conducted in this study.Dairy manure was separated by using solid-liquid separator firstly.Separated liquid(SL)and diluted dairy manure(DDM)as raw materials were evaluated in terms of gas production performance for both batch and two-phase anaerobic fermentation.The microorganism population was characterized by scanning electron microscope(SEM)and Denaturing Gradient Gel Electrophoresis(DGGE).The results showed that Volatile Solid(VS)methane yield of SL was 124.51 L/kg VS,which was 2.09 times higher than that of DDM(59.50 L/kg VS)in batch anaerobic fermentation.The Bacteroides and Veillonella with higher activity were the majority microorganism population in acidogenic phase,whereas the Firmicutes and Corynebacterium with methanogenic properties became the predominant microorganism population in methanogenic phase.This study achieved the phase separation and improved the gas production performance.

The correlation between friction coefficient and areal topography parameters for AISI 304 steel sliding against AISI 52100 steel

Dry wear experiments provide an insight detail on how severely contacting surfaces change under unlubricated sliding condition. The theory of dry sliding wear is used for understanding mixed-lubrication regime in which asperity interactions play a significant role in controlling of the friction coefficient(f). The purpose of this work is to study the tribological behavior of AISI 304 steel in contact with AISI 52100 steel during wear. Both materials are used in rolling element bearings commanly. Experiments are carried out using a pin-on-disc tribometer under dry friction condition. The areal(three dimensional, 3D) topography parameters are measured using a 3D white light interferometer(WLI) with a 10× objective. After wear tests, wear mechanisms are analyzed utilizing scanning electron microscope(SEM). Factorial design with custom response surface design(C-RSD) is used to study the mutual effect of load and speed on response variables such as f and topography parameters. It is observed that the root mean square roughness(S_(q)) decreases with an increase in sliding time. Within the range of sliding time, S_(q) decreases with an increase in the normal load. Within the range of sliding speed and normal load, it is found that S_(q), mean summit curvature(S_(sc)), and root mean square slope(S_(dq)) are positively correlated with f. Whereas, negative correlation is found between f and correlation length(Sal), mean summit radius(R), and core roughness depth(S_(k)).