Long-Term Releasing Kinetics of Chromium from Leather

The release of chromium from leather inevitably results in potential risks and this study is conducted to investigate the long-term releasing behavior. The leaching tests proceed using water at solid to liquid ratio of 1:20 and rotational speed 60 r/min for 240 hours to simulate the release of chrome leather under natural conditions. The experimental data successfully fit with the Pseudo-second-order equation, Elovich equation, and Weber-Morris model, indicating the long-term leaching behavior of chromium in heterogeneous leather is controlled by liquid-solid film, while the interparticle and intraparticle diffusion also play important roles. The leachable chromium accounts for 2.8-4.5% total chromium in leather and increases with temperature. The Three-compartment model depicts the releasing process as rapid, slow, and very slow stages, and temperature mainly affected the very slow stage. The amount of released chromium in rapid and slow stages slightly increases with temperature, which could be used to assess the hazard of chrome leather.

In silico investigation of ligand-regulated palladium-catalysed formic acid dehydrative decomposition under acidic conditions

In silico investigation of ligand-regulated palladium-catalysed formic acid dehydrative decomposition to carbon monoxide under acidic conditions was conducted. Two types of bidentate tertiary phosphine ligands were selected on the basis of previous experimental study. And the promoting effect of para-toluenesulfonic acid (PTSA) was specifically investigated. The pyridyl group implanted in pytbpx ligand is found to mainly contribute on enhancing the activity of palladium catalyst. The PTSA promoter displays specific role for regenerating active species and supressing dehydrogenation during Pd-pytbpx/Pd-dtbpx catalysed dehydration process. CO releasing process catalysed by Pd-dtbpx also facilitated by adding PTSA. According to the mechanism hereby supposed, introducing electron-withdrawing substitution at para-position of pyridyl rings may further improve the dehydrative decomposition activity of Pd-pytbpx.

A MEMS Fabrication Process with Thermal-Oxide Releasing Barriers and Polysilicon Sacrificial Layers for AlN Lamb-Wave Resonators to Achieve fs·Qm > 3.42 × 1012

This paper presents a micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) processing technology for Aluminum Nitride (AlN) Lamb-wave resonators (LWRs). Two LWRs with different frequencies of 402.1 MHz and 2.097 GHz by varying the top interdigitated (IDT) periods were designed and fabricated. To avoid the shortcomings of the uncontrollable etching of inactive areas during the releasing process and to improve the fabrication yield, a thermal oxide layer was employed below the platted polysilicon sacrificial layer, which could define the miniaturized release cavities well. In addition, the bottom Mo electrode that was manufactured had a gentle inclination angle, which could contribute to the growth of the high-quality AlN piezoelectric layer above the Mo layer and effectively prevent the device from breaking. The measured results show that the IDT-floating resonators with 12 μm and 2 μm electrode periods exhibit a motional quality factor (Qm) as high as 4382 and 1633. The series resonant frequency (fs)·Qm values can reach as high as 1.76 × 1012 and 3.42 × 1012, respectively. Furthermore, Al is more suitable as the top IDT material of the AlN LWRs than Au, and can contribute to achieving an excellent electrical performances due to the smaller density, smaller thermo-elastic damping (TED), and larger acoustic impedance difference between Al and AlN.

STRATEGI ON RELEASING NON-PRODUCTIVE OF FOREST CONVERSION AREA FOR TORA PROGRAM IN RIAU PROVINCE

Development process needs lands as natural resources. Unfortunately, availability of land is relatively limited. Therefore, it needs releasing process of forestland to become non forestland. In the process of releasing the forestland, there are some policies which need stakeholders to consider so the minimum required forestland of 30% is fulfilled. Releasing forestland area is possible to undertake on non-productive forest conversion area which is also for the government agrarian reform programs which is called Nawacita. The objective of this research is tooffer answer about the indicative forestland which can be used for development needs, particularly for poor people who live near the forest. The results indicate that non-productive of conversion forest can provide land for development in Riau Province for about 205,847.86 hectares (93.01%) from the total conversion forest area based on agrarian reform program. Permanent forested land which needs to be maintained as forest area is 1,102.42 hectares, because most of the area are still primary forests. For the effectiveness of releasing conversion forest area, socialization programs to inform the community is needed.

Corrosion Behavior of the Nickel/nickel Interface During the Copper Sacrificial Layer Releasing Process in Micro-Electroforming

The corrosion behavior of the Ni/Ni interface during the Cu sacrificial layer releasing process in micro-electroforming has been investigated. The XPS and SEM results reveal that the pre-existing passive layer and interfacial defects exist on the Ni/Ni interface. Compared with Ni base, the interface is prone to be attacked. Pitting corrosion occurs along interface boundary, which contains three main processes, pit initiation, pit growth and pits fusion, leading to a commensurate reduction in interfacial adhesion strength and ultimately structural integrity. The combination of the substrate modification and heat post treatment is an effective solution to avoid the localized corrosion. We believe that both the surface activation and thermally induced diffusion have worked.

Erythrocyte membrane coated nanoparticle-based control releasing hydrogen sulfide system protects ischemic myocardium

Aim: To construct a long circulatory and sustained releasing H2S system and explore its protective effects on myocardial ischemia and reperfusion (I/R) injury. Materials & methods: Red blood cell (RBC) membrane-coated, diallyl trisulfide (DATS)-carrying mesoporous iron oxide nanoparticles (MIONs) (RBC-DATS-MIONs) were prepared and characterized. Cytotoxicity and cellular uptake were studied in vitro, followed by in vivo assessment of safety, distribution and effect on cardiac function following I/R injury. Results: RBC-DATS-MIONs exhibited excellent biocompatibility, extended circulatory time and controlled-release of H2S in plasma and myocardium. They exhibited superior therapeutic effects on in vitro hypoxia/reoxygenation models and in vivo myocardial I/R models, which involved various mechanisms, including anti-apoptosis, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Conclusion: This work provides a new potential platform for best utilizing the protective effects of H2S by prolonging its releasing process.

PDMS Soft Skin Device with Deformable Micro-Diaphragm Array Fabricated with Rapid Substrate-Releasing Process

This paper describes the fabrication and characterization of a prototype wettability switching soft skin device that dynamically switches its surface morphology between flat and rough states. The device, which consists of a 1-μm-thick polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) deformable diaphragm on a PDMS substrate with a micro-bump arrays, was successfully formed with a high fabrication yield by a novel method of device releasing from a dummy substrate. In buffered hydrofluoric acid (BHF) solution, a sacrificial layer of a novolak-resin-based resist was able to be rapidly released from the OH-terminated SiO2 surface of the dummy substrate, probably due to the breaking of hydrogen bonds at the interface. The wettability of the fabricated device was reversibly switched using micro-diaphragm deformation by varying the inner pressure. When a droplet was placed on the surface in the rough state, a large contact angle of approximately 140° was obtained, close to the Cassie mode with air in the concave-deformed PDMS micro-diaphragms, which indicated a high surface hydrophobicity. During cyclic switching between the rough and flat states after second switching, the contact angle reversibly changed between 106° and 120°, in good agreement with the Wenzel mode, where the micro-diaphragm surfaces were fully wet. Additionally, we observed that the droplet did not move even on the tilted device.

Consumer Committees in Tensions? A Interpretive Case of Lalitpur Metropolitan City, Nepal

The people of Nepal have witnessed several political/social transformations in the country, which have resulted in the restoration of peace, the promulgation of the new constitution. The restructuring of the country into 753 local units has led to the substantive devolution of the 22 power power/jurisdictions from the center to the local governments. In this scenario, the local governments implement their development plans through consumer committees by mobilizing the local beneficiaries. The purpose of this paper is to explore the difficulties faced by these novice committees in getting development funds from the local governments even in urban cities. The paper is based on a qualitative study with an interpretative case study design. The study has revealed that the chaos of bureaucratic hurdles to receive the development budgets from the Metropolitan office is demoralizing the community volunteers at local levels. Local government should facilitate the fund releasing process to the consumer committees by easing the rules and regulations. There must be a shared governance system between the local government and beneficiaries so that both parties feel a shared responsibility to achieve any development goals. Likewise, the government should have the lead governance towards the banking institutions. Banks are the mediators between the government and the consumer to make the fund-releasing process becomes swifter and less complicated. The findings of this study could be useful in framing appropriate plans/policies for the local governments, to encourage the community people to participate as volunteers in local development projects.

A Method for Determining the Capacity of an Exclusive Left Lane with a Permitted Phase under Nonstrict Priority

A new method has been developed for estimating the capacity of an exclusive left lane with a permitted phase under nonstrict priority. Different from maneuvers under strict priority, these left-turning vehicles were released in the form of a left-turn group. A field survey was first conducted to explore the maximum number of vehicles in a left-turn group, and the releasing process of the permitted left turns. The observations revealed that (1) the maximum number is related to the intersection geometry and (2) the releasing process includes two stages: the first left-turn group crossing at the beginning of a permitted phase and the following left-turn groups crossing using gaps provided by opposing right turns. Next, a method based on probability theory and these observation results were applied to estimate the capacity of an exclusive left lane. The procedure contains two stages and eight steps. Finally, the estimation of the left-turn capacity using the proposed model was validated by comparing the capacity from the strict priority and actual maximum volumes.

Dual control of the nanofriction of graphene

A tunable nanofriction array of graphene on an insulating substrate was achieved via functionalization by introducing an electron releasing process to avoid electron saturation.