Evolution of structural and magnetic properties in Ta/Ni_81Fe_(19) multilayer thin films

The interdiffusion kinetics in short period (12.8 nm) Ta/Ni81Fe19 polycrystalline multilayer films has been investigated and related to the evolution of soft magnetic properties upon thermal annealing in the temperature range 300-600-degrees-C. Small angle x-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy were used to estimate the multilayer period. Interdiffusion in the multilayers was directly computed from the decay of the satellites near (000) in a small angle x-ray diffraction spectrum. A kinetic analysis of interdiffusion suggests that grain growth is concurrent with grain boundary diffusion of Ta in Ni81Fe19. The evolution of soft magnetic properties of Ni81Fe19, i.e., lowering of 4piM(s) and increase in coercivity H(c), also lend support to the above analysis

Efficacy of entomopathogenic fungi, paecilomyces fumosoroseus, beauvena bassiana and metarhizium anisopliae var. majus against crocidolomia binotalis (Lepidoptera; Pyralidae)

Laboratory bioassays of three local isolates of entomopathogenic hypomycetes against the cabbage-heart caterpillar, Crocidolomia binotalis Zeller (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae) and[reid efficacy ofseveralformulations ofPaecilomyces fumosoroseus (Wise) Brown and Smith were evaluated. Dosage-mortality bioassays revealed that all the isolates were able to cause mortality to second instar larvae. Majority of the larvae became moribund within two days after treatment. Exposures to doses varying from 2 x 1(jl conidia mLl to 2 x 107 conidia mLl resulted in mean larval mortalities from 10.3 to 100%. At concentrations exceeding 2 x lOS conidia mLl larval mortality was in excess of 80% and 100% mortality was observed at 2 x 107 conidia mLl for all three fungal species. Significant relationships (P<0.05) were obtained between log dosage and probit mortality for all the isolates. The EC5o for P. fumosoroseus was estimated at 1.926 x 1rY conidia mL1 , and was significantly lower than that ofBeauveria bassiana (Bals) Yuill at 5.038 x 103 conidia mL-l. The EC5o for Metarhizium anisopliae var majus (Metsch) Sorokin was significantly the highest, at 2.0 x 104 conidia mL-l. The best isolate was P.fumosoroseus which had LT50 almost half a day lower at a comparable dosage of 2 x107 conidia mLl, with a gradient of 4.656 as compared to 4.356 for B. bassiana and 4.193 for M. anisopliae var majus. In [reid treatments, plants were sprayed with suspensions containing 107 conidia mLl. Mean percent mortality for all the treatments were in excess of 70% and significantly higher (P<O. 05) than the control. Conidia in palm oil Vesawit® gave the most promising result against the cabbage-heart caterpillar

The effects of thickness on biomechanical behavior of articular cartilage: a finite element analysis

It is important to study joint contact mechanics in order to understand the human joint function and degeneration. In previous studies, the cartilage behavior was investigated using computational method assuming the cartilage to be flat and an ideal thickness. But, this assumption may not appropriate because the joint is naturally curved and the cartilage thickness varies across the articular cartilage. In this study, finite element (FE) analysis was performed to investigate the effect of cartilage thickness on contact pressure and pore pressure of cartilage in indentation test. An axisymmetric FE model of cartilage was developed according to the thickness and radius measured in the experiment. The cartilage was modeled as biphasic material to describe the properties of cartilage. Based on the result, the lowest cartilage thickness of 0.3 mm thickness generated 48% higher in contact pressure and 59% higher in pore pressure, compared to the highest thickness cartilage. This could indicate that the cartilage thickness does affect the contact pressure and pore pressure

Principal Component Analysis Of Factors Determining Phosphate Rock Dissolution On Acid Soils

Many of the agricultural soils in Indonesia are acidic and low in both total and available phosphorus which severely limits their potential for crops production. These problems can be corrected by application of chemical fertilizers. However, these fertilizers are expensive, and cheaper alternatives such as phosphate rock (PR) have been considered. Several soil factors may influence the dissolution of PR in soils, including both chemical and physical properties. The study aimed to identify PR dissolution factors and evaluate their relative magnitude. The experiment was conducted in Soil Chemical Laboratory, Universiti Putra Malaysia and Indonesian Center for Agricultural Land Resources Research and Development from January to April 2002. The principal component analysis (PCA) was used to characterize acid soils in an incubation system into a number of factors that may affect PR dissolution. Three major factors selected were soil texture, soil acidity, and fertilization. Using the scores of individual factors as independent variables, stepwise regression analysis was performed to derive a PR dissolution function. The factors influencing PR dissolution in order of importance were soil texture, soil acidity, then fertilization. Soil texture factors including clay content and organic C, and soil acidity factor such as P retention capacity interacted positively with P dissolution and promoted PR dissolution effectively. Soil texture factors, such as sand and silt content, soil acidity factors such as pH, and exchangeable Ca decreased PR dissolution

Numerical investigation on the hydrodynamic characteristics of an autonomous underwater glider with different wing layouts

An autonomous underwater glider is a self-propelled underwater vehicle which is designed primarily for oceanography. It moves with low speed in saw-tooth pattern and has long endurance. The vertical motion of the glider is controlled by changing its buoyancy and its wings convert this vertical motion into horizontal motion. The hydrodynamic coefficients of glider will dictate its performance and possible applications. In this paper, the impact of rectangular and tapered wings on the hydrodynamics coefficient of a glider and the corresponding glide velocity was investigated using ANSYS Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) turbulence model and FLUENT flow solver. The lift force of a rectangular wing is higher with less drag force compared to tapered wings. A glider with tapered wings glider will have a larger glide angle and is therefore suitable of deep ocean applications

The relationship between psychological distress with salivary á-amylase and physical symptoms among breast cancer survivors

Background and Aims: This study examined the stress levels, the stressors and biomarker such as Alpha (α)-Amylase enzyme which is secreted under distress conditions. The aim was to determine the relationship between these three variables. Methods: The study respondents were made up of cancer outpatients from 3 hospitals namely the Hospital Kuala Lumpur, Seberang Jaya and Johor Baru, Pantai Ipoh and Putrajaya. The Personal Stress Inventory (PSI) questionnaire was used to identify stressors, while the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) were used to determine the psychological distress levels. The Salimentary Oral Swab (SOS) Technique was used to collect the saliva and then the Salivary α-Amylase Assay Kit was used to analyse for α amylase. Results: The majority of respondents were stressed due to their sensitive emotion and nervousness in their daily lives (68.7%), they had poor memory and short attention spans of carrying out job tasks (67.3%) as well as they were emotionally depressed (65.3%). Their poor memory and short attention span (p = 0.037), heavy work load and poor task delivery (p = 0.008) were predictors for distress using HADS. The salivary α-amylase concentration was significantly related to the stress levels (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Breast cancer respondents with musculoskeletal system related symptoms, with heavy work load and poor task delivery, as well as had poor memory and short attention span were at higher risk of experiencing psychological distress. The salivary α-amylase which had significant relationships with psychological distress was therefore, a potential biological indicator for distress, while the musculoskeletal system related symptoms from the PSI questionnaire were predictors for distress

Preliminary investigation of myo-inositol phosphates produced by ASUIA279 phytase on MCF-7 cancer cells.

Phytate or myo-inositol hexakisphosphates (IP6) is widely distributed in plants like rice brans. The production of myo-inositol phosphate intermediates has received much attention due to the remarkable potential health benefits offered by the compounds. In this study, the cytotoxicity of the partially purified myo-inositol phosphate fractions and commercial IP1 and IP6 were investigated against MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines. The study showed that the commercial standard IP1 and IP6 showed good inhibition towards the MCF-7 cell line. The MCF-7 cells growth was inhibited in minimum concentration of myo-inositol phosphates (<1000 µg/ml). However, no inhibition observed on the MCF-7 cell line by the myo-inositol phosphates fractions partially purified from rice bran at concentration <1000 ?g/ml. The inhibition of MCF-7 was only observed at concentration more than 30 mg/ml with more than 40% cells were inhibited. This indicates that the partially purified rice bran myo-inositol phosphates degraded by ASUIA279 phytase on MCF-7 breast cancer cells exhibit positive results towards the inhibition of cancer cells growth at relatively high concentration

In vitro assessment of anti-proliferative effect induced by α-mangostin from Cratoxylum arborescens on HeLa cells

Natural medicinal products possess diverse chemical structures and have been an essential source for drug discovery. Therefore, in this study, α-mangostin (AM) is a plant-derived compound was investigated for the apoptotic effect on human cervical cancer cells (HeLa). The cytotoxic effects of AM on the viability of HeLa and human normal ovarian cell line (SV40) were evaluated by using MTT assay. Results showed that AM inhibited HeLa cells viability at concentration- and time-dependent manner with IC50 value of 24.53 ± 1.48 µM at 24 h. The apoptogenic effects of AM on HeLa were assessed using fluorescence microscopy analysis. The effect of AM on cell proliferation was also studied through clonogenic assay. ROS production evaluation, flow cytometry (cell cycle) analysis, caspases 3/7, 8, and 9 assessment and multiple cytotoxicity assays were conducted to determine the mechanism of cell apoptosis. This was associated with G2/M phase cell cycle arrest and elevation in ROS production. AM induced mitochondrial apoptosis which was confirmed based on the significant increase in the levels of caspases 3/7 and 9 in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the MMP disruption and increased cell permeability, concurrent with cytochrome c release from the mitochondria to the cytosol provided evidence that AM can induce apoptosis via mitochondrial-dependent pathway. AM exerted a remarkable antitumor effect and induced characteristic apoptogenic morphological changes on HeLa cells, which indicates the occurrence of cell death. This study reveals that AM could be a potential antitumor compound on cervical cancer in vitro and can be considered for further cervical cancer preclinical and in vivo testing