A STUDY OF MODE-I DELAMINATION RESISTANCE OF A THERMOPLASTIC COMPOSITE

This paper describes the mode I delamination behaviour of a unidirectional carbon-fibre/poly(phenylene ether ketone)(PEK-C) composite. Tests have been performed on double cantilever beam (DCB) specimens. Several data reduction schemes are used to obtain the critical strain energy release rate, G(IC), and the results are compared. It is shown that when using a DCB test to determine the fracture toughness, corrections must be employed. The experimental methods have been described for ascertaining the correction terms, and the results are consistent after modification. Some of the authors' results are different from those of other authors, particularly the negative correction term for crack length, the larger exponent (n > 3) in the relationship C = Ra(n), and decrements of flexural modulus with the crack growth when using the simple beam theory to predict the bending behaviour of DCB specimens. The possible reasons are discussed.

Molecular determination of oxytetracycline-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes from mariculture environments of China

Aims: To assess the diversity of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes in typical maricultural environments. Methods nand Results: Multidrug-resistant bacteria and resistance genes from a mariculture farm of China were analysed via cultivation and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) methods. Oxytetracycline (OTC)-resistant bacteria were abundant in both abalone and turbot rearing waters, accounting for 3.7% and 9.9% of the culturable microbes. Multidrug resistance was common, with simultaneous resistance to OTC, chloramphenicol and ampicillin the most common resistance phenotype. 16S rDNA sequence analyses indicate that the typical resistant isolates belonged to marine Vibrio, Pseudoalteromonas or Alteromonas species, with resistance most common in Vibrio splendidus isolates. For OTC resistance, tet(A), tet(B) and tet(M) genes were detected in some multidrug-resistant isolates, with tet(D) being the most common molecular determinant. For chloramphenicol resistance, cat II was common, and floR was also detected, especially in marine Pseudoalteromonas strains. Conclusions: There is the risk of multidrug-resistant bacteria contamination in mariculture environments and marine Vibrio and Pseudoalteromonas species serve as reservoirs of specific antibiotic resistance determinants. Significance and Impact of the Study: This paper and similar findings from Korea and Japan indicate the potential for widespread distribution of antibiotic resistance genes in mariculture environments from the East Asian region of the world.

The polymorphism of lysozyme gene in Zhikong scallop (Chlamys farreri) and its association with susceptibility/resistance to Listonella anguillarum

Lysozyme functions as a crucial biodefence effector against the infection of bacterial pathogens in innate immunity. The nucleotide sequence polymorphisms in promoter region of a nuclear goose type lysozyme gene from Zhikong scallop Chlamys farreri (designated as CFLysG) were investigated to explore their association with susceptibility/resistance to Listonella anguillarum infection. Eight sites of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and two sites of insert-deletion (ins-del) polymorphisms were identified in the promoter region of CFLysG. Two of them, -753 TATCTCGATCAGG ins-del polymorphism and -391 A-G SNP were selected to analyze their distribution in the susceptible and resistant stocks, which were identified according to the survival time after L. anguillarum challenge. Using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP), two genotypes were found at each site, which were ins/del and ins/ins at locus -753, and A/A and A/G at locus -391, respectively. The -753 ins/del genotype was more prevalent in the resistant stock than that in the susceptible stock, 30% vs 16.67% in frequency, but there was no significant difference in the frequency distribution between these two stocks (P=0.15). In contrast, the frequency of -391A/G genotype in the resistant stock was significantly higher (30%) than that in the susceptible stock (7.14%) (P=0.007), indicating a significant association with the resistance of Zhikong scallop to L anguillarum. To confirm the presumption, another independent challenge experiment was performed, in which the cumulative mortality of scallops with -391 A/A genotype (96.8%) was significantly higher than those with -391 A/G genotype (64.5%) (P=0.001), which further validate the association between -391 A/G genotype and the resistance of Zhikong scallop to L anguillarum. These results suggested that the -391 A/G could be a potential marker applied in future selection of Zhikong scallop with enhanced resistance to L anguillarum. (C) 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Genetic mechanisms of multi-antimicrobial resistance in a pathogenic Edwardsiella tarda strain

TX01, a pathogenic Edwardsiella tarda strain isolated from diseased fish at an epidemic-inflicted fish farm in China, exhibits resistance to multiple classes of antimicrobial agents. The genes (kn(R). catA3, and tet(A), respectively) encoding resistance to kanamycin, chloramphenicol, and tetracycline were cloned and found to be 99-100% identical to the corresponding genes carried by known plasmids and transposons of human, animal, and environmental isolates. Further study demonstrated that TX01 harbors a plasmid, pETX, which proved to be (i) the carrier of the tet and cut operons; (ii) a mobile genetic element that is capable of transferring between bacteria of different genera. These results, which, to our knowledge, documented for the first time the co-existence of chloramphenicol and tetracycline resistance determinants on a conjugative plasmid in a pathogenic E tarda strain, indicated that gene acquisition via horizontal transferring of pETX-like mobile genetic entities may have played an important part in the dissemination of antimicrobial resistance and that there have existed for some time widespread genetic exchanges between bacteria of human, animal/fish, and environmental origins. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Diverse tetracycline resistant bacteria and resistance genes from coastal waters of Jiaozhou Bay

Environmental microbiology investigation was carried out in Jiaozhou Bay to determine the source and distribution of tetracycline-resistant bacteria and their resistance mechanisms. At least 25 species or the equivalent molecular phylogenetic taxa in 16 genera of resistant bacteria could be identified based on 16S ribosomal deoxyribonucleic acid sequence analysis. Enterobacteriaceae, Pseudomonadaceae, and Vibrionaceae constituted the majority of the typical resistant isolates. Indigenous estuarine and marine Halomonadaceae, Pseudoalteromonadaceae, Rhodobacteraceae, and Shewanellaceae bacteria also harbored tetracycline resistance. All the six resistance determinants screened, tet(A)-(E) and tet(G), could be detected, and the predominant genes were tet(A), tet(B), and tet(G). Both anthropogenic activity-related and indigenous estuarine or coastal bacteria might contribute to the tet gene reservoir, and resistant bacteria and their molecular determinants may serve as bioindicators of coastal environmental quality. Our work probably is the first identification of tet(E) in Proteus, tet(G) in Acinetobacter, tet(C) and tet(D) in Halomonas, tet(D) and tet(G) in Shewanella, and tet(B), tet(C), tet(E), and tet(G) in Roseobacter.

Cultivation of the brown alga Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura: stress resistance of artificially raised young seedlings revealed by chlorophyll fluorescence measurement

Commercial farming of the intertidal brown alga Hizikia fusiformis (Harvey) Okamura in China and South Korea in the sea depends on three sources of seedlings: holdfast-derived regenerated seedlings, young plants from wild population and zygote-derived seedlings. Like many successfully farmed seaweed species, the sustainable development of Hizikia farming will rely on a stable supply of artificial seedlings via sexual reproduction under controlled conditions. However, the high rate of detachment of seedlings after transfer to open sea is one of the main obstacles, and has limited large-scale application of zygote-derived seedlings. To seek the optimal condition for growing seedlings on substratum in land-based tanks for avoidance of detachment in this investigation, young seedlings were grown in both outdoor tanks exposed directly to sunlight and in indoor raceway tanks in reduced, filtered sunlight. Results showed that young seedlings, immediately after fertilization, could withstand a daily fluctuation of direct solar irradiance up to a level of 1800 mu mol photons m(-1)s(-1), and maintained a faster growth rate than seedlings grown in indoor tanks. Detailed experiments by use of chlorophyll fluorescence measurements further demonstrated that the overnight (12 h) recovery of optimal fluorescence quantum yield (F-v/F-m) of seedlings after 1 h treatment at 40 degrees C was 98%, and the 48 h recovery of F-v/F-m of seedlings after 1 h exposure to 1800 mu mol m(-2)s(-1) was 92%. Forty-one-day-old seedlings showed no significant decrease of optimal fluorescence quantum yield at salinity ranging from 30 to 5 ppt for a treatment up to 17 h. Six-hour desiccation treatment did not have any influence on the optimal fluorescence quantum yield. Exposure to 18 mmol L-1 sodium hypochlorite for 10 min did not damage the PSII efficiency, and thus could be used to remove epiphytic algae. The strong tolerance of young seedlings to high temperature, high irradiance, low salinity and desiccation found in this investigation supports the view that mass production of Hizikia seedlings should be performed in ambient light and temperature instead of in shaded greenhouse tanks.

Molecular characterizations of oxytetracycline resistant bacteria and their resistance genes from mariculture waters of China

Oxytetracycline-resistant bacteria were isolated from a mariculture farm in China, and accounted for 32.23% and 5.63% of the total culturable microbes of the sea cucumber and the sea urchin rearing waters respectively. Marine vibrios, especially strains related to Vibrio splendidus or V. tasmaniensis, were the most abundant resistant isolates. For oxytetracycline resistance, tet(A), tet(B) and tet(D) genes were detected in both sea cucumber and sea urchin rearing ponds. The dominant resistance type for V. tasmaniensis-like strains was the combination of both tet(A) and tet(B) genes, while the major resistance type for V. splendidus-like strains was a single tet(D) gene. Most of the sea cucumber tet-positive isolates harbored a chloramphenicol-resistance gene, either cat IV or cat II, while only a few sea urchin tet-positive isolates harbored a cat gene, actually cat IV. The coexistence of tet and cat genes in the strains isolated from the mariculture farm studied was helpful in explaining some of the multi-resistance mechanisms. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Molecular characterizations of chloramphenicol- and oxytetracycline-resistant bacteria and resistance genes in mariculture waters of China

In order to gain an understanding of the diversity and distribution of antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes in maricultural environments, multidrug-resistant bacteria were screened for the rearing waters from a mariculture farm of China. Both abalone Haliotis discus hannai and turbot Scophthalmus maximus rearing waters were populated with abundant chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria. These bacteria were also multidrug resistant, with Vibrio splendidus and Vibrio tasmaniensis being the most predominant species. The chloramphenicol-resistance gene cat II, cat IV or floR could be detected in most of the multidrug-resistant isolates, and the oxytetracycline-resistance gene tet(B), tet(D), tet(E) or tet(M) could also be detected for most of the isolates. Coexistence of chloramphenicol- and oxytetracycline-resistance genes partially explains the molecular mechanism of multidrug resistance in the studied maricultural environments. Comparative studies with different antimicrobial agents as the starting isolation reagents may help detect a wider diversity of the antimicrobial-resistant bacteria and their resistance genes. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Dominant chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria and resistance genes in coastal marine waters of Jiaozhou Bay, China

Studies of abundance, diversity and distribution of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and their resistance determinants are necessary for effective prevention and control of antibiotic resistance and its dissemination, critically important for public health and environment management. In order to gain an understanding of the persistence of resistance in the absence of a specific antibiotic selective pressure, microbiological surveys were carried out to investigate chloramphenicol-resistant bacteria and the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase resistance genes in Jiaozhou Bay after chloramphenicol was banned since 1999 in China. About 0.15-6.70% cultivable bacteria were chloramphenicol resistant, and the highest abundances occurred mainly in the areas near river mouths or sewage processing plants. For the dominant resistant isolates, 14 genera and 25 species were identified, mostly being indigenous estuarine or marine bacteria. Antibiotic-resistant potential human or marine animal pathogens, such as Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus mirabilis and Shewanella algae, were also identified. For the molecular resistance determinants, the cat I and cat III genes could be detected in some of the resistant strains, and they might have the same origins as those from clinical strains as determined via gene sequence analysis. Further investigation about the biological, environmental and anthropogenic mechanisms and their interactions that may contribute to the persistence of antibiotic-resistance in coastal marine waters in the absence of specific antibiotic selective pressure is necessary for tackling this complicated environmental issue.

Thermal conductivity of graded spherical composites with contact resistance

The effective thermal conductivity of graded composites with contact resistance on the inclusion surface is investigated. As an example, we have considered the graded composite media with a spherical particle embedded in a homogeneous matrix, where the thermal conductivity of spherical inclusion is an exponential function k(i) = c exp(betar) (where r is the inside distance of a point in particle from the center of the spherical particle in a spherical coordinate). For both heat contact resistance and perfect contact cases, we have given a reasonable effective medium approximation to calculate the effective conductivity. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Effective thermal conductivity of graded nonlinear composites with heat contact resistance

The perturbation expansion method is used to find the effective thermal conductivity of graded nonlinear composites having thermal contact resistance on the inclusion surface. As an example, we have studied the graded composites with cylindrical inclusions immersed in a homogeneous matrix. The thermal conductivity of the cylindrical inclusion is assumed to have a power-law profile of the radial distance r measured from its origin. For weakly nonlinear constitutive relations between the heat flow density q and the temperature field T, namely, q = -mu del T - chi vertical bar del T vertical bar(2) del T, in both the inclusion and the matrix regions, we have derived the temperature distributions using the perturbation expansion method. A nonlinear effective medium approximation of graded composites is proposed to estimate the effective linear and nonlinear thermal conductivities. by considering the temperature singularity on the inclusion surface due to the heat contact resistance. (c) 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Necessity of dietary lecithin and eicosapentaenoic acid for growth, survival, stress resistance and lipoprotein formation in gilthead sea bream Sparus aurata

The substitution of dietary docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) with eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) reduces larval growth in gilthead sea bream. However, the value of EPA when dietary DHA is able to meet the requirements of the larvae has not been sufficiently studied. Dietary phosphoacylgliceride levels also affect fish growth and it has been suggested that they enhance lipid transport in developing larvae. The present experiment was carried out to further study the effect of dietary lecithin and eicosapentaenoic acid on growth, survival, stress resistance,. larval fatty acid composition and lipid transport, when DHA is present in the microdiets of gilthead:sea bream. Eighteen thousand gilt-head sea bream larvae of 4.99+/-0.53 mm total length were fed three microdiets tested by triplicate: a control diet [2% soybean lecithin (SBL) and 2.89% EPA], a low EPA diet,(2% SBL and 1.63% EPA) and a no SBL diet (0% SBL and 2.71% EPA). Handling, temperature and salinity tests determined larval resistance to stress. The results show that when dietary DHA levels are high, but dietary arachidonic acid (ARA) levels are about 0.2%, EPA is necessary to improve larval growth, and survival. Larval EPA content, but not DHA or ARA, was affected by dietary EPA levels. Increased dietary EPA improved larval stress resistance to handling and temperature tests, which could be related to its possible role as a regulator of cortisol production whereas it did not affect stress resistance after salinity shock. Larvae fed the no SBL diet showed a lower lipid content characterized by a low proportion of saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids, together with a significant reduction in the appearance of lipoprotein particles in the lamina propria and in the size of such particles, denoting a critical reduction in dietary lipid transport and utilization, and lower larval growth and survival rates.

Corrosion behaviour of steel in beach soil along Bohai Bay

Research on corrosion of steel structures in various marine environments is essential to assure the safety of structures and can effectively prolong their service life. In order to provide data for anticorrosion design of oil exploitation structures in the Bohai Bay, the corrosion behaviour and properties of steel in beach soil, using typical steel samples (Q235A carbon steel and API 5Lx52 pipeline steel) buried 0.5, 1.0 and 1.5 m deep under typical beach soils in Tanggu, Yangjiaogou, Xingcheng, Yingkou and Chengdao for 1-2 years were studied. The carbon steel and pipeline steel were both corroded severely in the beach soil, with the form of corrosion being mainly uniform with some localised attack (pitting corrosion). The corrosion rate of the carbon steel was up to 0.16 mm/year with a maximum penetration depth of 0.76 mm and that of the pipeline steel was up to 0.14 mm/year, with a maximum penetration depth of 0.53 mm. Compared with carbon steel, the pipeline steel generally had better corrosion resistance in most test beach soils. The corrosion rates and the maximum corrosion depths of carbon steel and pipeline steel were in the order: Tanggu>Xingcheng>Chengdao>Yingkou>Yangjiaogou with corrosion altering with depth of burial. The corrosion of steel in the beach soil involves a mixed mechanism with different degrees of soil aeration and microbial activity present. It is concluded that long term in situ plate laying experiments must be carried out to obtain data on steel corrosion in this beach soil environment so that the effective protection measures can be implemented.

Effect of Process Conditions on Microstructure and Corrosion Resistance of Cold-Sprayed Ti Coatings

Ti and Ti alloys can be applied to steels as a protective coating in view of its excellent resistance to corrosive environment. Cold spraying, as a new coating technique, has potential advantages in fabrication of Ti coating in comparison with conventional thermal spraying techniques. In this study, Ti coatings were prepared on carbon steel substrates by cold spraying via controlling the process conditions. The microstructure of coatings was observed by SEM. The porosity of coatings was estimated by image analysis and the bond strength was tested for comparison of the process conditions. Potentiodynamic polarization and open-circuit potential (OCP) measurements were performed to understand the corrosion behavior of the coatings. The SEM examination shows that the coatings become more compact with the increases of pressure and temperature of driving gas. The potentiodynamic polarization curves indicate that the coating which has lower porosity has lower corrosion current. The polarization and OCP measurement reveal that cold-sprayed Ti coating can provide favorable protection to carbon steel substrate. The polishing treatment of coating surface polishes the rough outer layer including the small pores as well as decreases the actual surface area of the coating, leading to the considerable improvement of corrosion resistance.

Corrosion resistance of hot-dipped zinc and zinc alloy coated sheet steels under offshore atmospheric environment

The application of hot-dipped zinc and zinc-aluminum alloy coatings were introduced. Exposure tests of the steels with these coatings were conducted in the offshore atmosphere in Qingdao and Xiamen for 12 years separately. Effects of the coating thickness, alloy composition and atmospheric environment on the corrosion performance were studied. Results of the onsite exposure tests were compared with the results of a previous indoor salt spray accelerated corrosion tests. The study supports that zinc-aluminum alloy coatings are useful in providing better corrosion resistance and can be further developed for future applications.