S layers

General hydrodynamic theory for liquid penetrant testing (PT) has been worked out in [1], Basic principles of the theory were described in details in [2,3], This theory enables, for example, to calculate the minimum crack s width that can be detected by prescribed product family (penetrant, excess penetrant remover and developer), when dry powder is used as the developer. One needs for that such characteristics as surface tension of penetrant a and some characteristics of developer s layer, thickness h, effective radius of pores and porosity TI. One more characteristic is the residual depth of defect s filling with penetrant before the application of a developer. The methods for experimental determination of these characteristics were worked out in [4]. 

The first phenomenon is sedimentation of developer s particles in a zone impregnated with a penetrant. As a result the thickness of developer s layer h, appearing in formulas, is smaller than the thickness of dry zone. Our experimental results show that in some cases h is 80% smaller than h. The pictures illustrating the sedimentation influence upon the values of thickness for various developers are obtained. The estimation of this influence upon calculated sensitivity is carried out. 

Here a - surface tension pa - atmospheric pressure 9 - contact angle of crack s wall wetting by penetrant n - coefficient, characterizing residual filling of defect s hollow by a penetrant before developer s application IT and h - porosity and thickness of developer s layer respectively W - minimum width of crack s indication, which can be registered visually or with the use of special optical system. The peculiarity of the case Re < H is that the whole penetrant volume is extracted by a developer. As a result the whole penetrant s volume, which was trapped during the stage of penetrant application, imbibes developer s layer and forms an indication of a defect. 

Inequality Re > H corresponds to the other case, when only a part of a penetrant is extracted by a developer and can form crack s indication. Such a situation can take place when one use kaolin powder as the developer. We measured experimentally the values Rj for some kaolin powders. For the developer s layer of kaolin powder, applied on tested surface. Re = 8 - 20 pm depending on powder s quality. 

One can see from the formulas (1) and (2) that PT sensitivity strongly depends on the thickness of a developer s layer. But during liquid s penetration into developer s layer the powder particles are sinking and more tightly packing each other. It results in decrease of layer thickness h Physical meaning of the influence of this process upon defect s detection is obvious as follows. 

The influence of sedimentation process on the value of reduced thickness of various dry powder developers is carried out in our experiments. Fig 1 illustrates the pictures of real developer s layers before (a, c) and after (b, d) penetrant application. The pictures were... 

Now consider some examples of the influence of sedimentation process upon PT sensitivity. Let us consider the application of fine-dispersed magnesia oxide powder as the developer. Using the methods described in [4] we experimentally determined the next characteristics of the developer s layer IT s 0,5, Re s 0,25 pm. We used dye sensitive penetrant Pion , which has been worked out in the Institute of Applied Physics of National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. Its surface tension ct = 2,5 10 N m V It can be shown that minimum width of an indication of magnesia powder zone, imbibed by Pion , which can be registered, is about W s 50 pm. Assume that n = 1. 

The thickness of dry developer s layer is substantially smaller in a zone imbibed by a penetrant due to the process of particles sedimentation. Reduced thickness h of imbibed zone can be 80% smaller than the thickness h of dry one. It must be taken into account in the calculations of PT characteristics in the frame of the theory [1-3]. 

Leokband D et al 1993 Measurements of oonformational ohanges during adhesion of lipid and protein (polylysine and S-layer) surfaoes Biotech. Bloeng. 42 167-77... 

Copper Sulfide—Cadmium Sulfide. This thin-film solar cell was used in early aerospace experiments dating back to 1955. The Cu S band gap is ca 1.2 eV. Various methods of fabricating thin-film solar cells from Cu S/CdS materials exist. The most common method is based on a simple process of serially overcoating a metal substrate, eg, copper (16). The substrate first is coated with zinc which serves as an ohmic contact between the copper and a 30-p.m thick, vapor-deposited layer of polycrystaUine CdS. A layer is then formed on the CdS base by dipping the unit into hot cuprous chloride, followed by heat-treating it in air. A heterojunction then exists between the CdS and Cu S layers. 

From their focal point to the earth s surface seismic w-aves travel through the earth s crust and the soil. The stratification of soil, i.e. the earth s layers above the crust, plays an important role, as the intensity and frequencies of an earthquake, as felt on the earth s surface, will depend upon the type of soil strata. 

A glance at the structure of graphite, illustrated in Fig. 1, reveals the presence of voids between the planar, sp -hybridized, carbon sheets. Intercalation is the insertion of ions, atoms, or molecules into this space without the destruction of the host s layered, bonding network. Stacking order, bond distances, and, possibly, bond direction may be altered, but the characteristic, lamellar identity of the host must in some sense be preserved. 

Molecular Nanotechnology and Nanobiotechnology with Two-Dimensional Protein Crystals (S-Layers)... 

In this chapter we describe the basic principles involved in the controlled production and modification of two-dimensional protein crystals. These are synthesized in nature as the outermost cell surface layer (S-layer) of prokaryotic organisms and have been successfully applied as basic building blocks in a biomolecular construction kit. Most importantly, the constituent subunits of the S-layer lattices have the capability to recrystallize into iso-porous closed monolayers in suspension, at liquid-surface interfaces, on lipid films, on liposomes, and on solid supports (e.g., silicon wafers, metals, and polymers). The self-assembled monomolecular lattices have been utilized for the immobilization of functional biomolecules in an ordered fashion and for their controlled confinement in defined areas of nanometer dimension. Thus, S-layers fulfill key requirements for the development of new supramolecular materials and enable the design of a broad spectrum of nanoscale devices, as required in molecular nanotechnology, nanobiotechnology, and biomimetics [1-3]. 

FIG. 1 Freeze-etching image of a bacterial cell of (a) Desulfotomaculum nigrificans (bar, 100 nm). Atomic force micrographs of the S-layer proteins of (b) Bacillus sphaericus CCM 2177 and (c) Bacillus stearothermophilus PV72/p2 recrystallized in monolayers on silicon wafers. Bars, 50 nm. The insets in (b) and (c) show the corresponding computer-image reconstructions. 

FIG. 2 Schematic drawing of different S-layer lattice types detected on prokaryotes. The regular arrays exhibit either oblique (pi, p2), square (p4), or hexagonal lattice symmetry (p3, p6). The morphological units are composed of one, two, three, four, or six identical subunits. (Modified from Ref. 59.)... 

FIG. 3 Three-dimensional model of the protein mass distribution of the S-layer of Bacillus stearothermophilus NRS 2004/3a [(a) outer, (b) inner face]. The square S-layer is about 8 nm thick and exhibits a center-to-center spacing of the morphological units of 13.5 nm. The protein meshwork composed of a single protein species shows one square-shaped, two elongated, and four small pores per morphological unit. (Modified from Ref. 7.)... 

B. Isolation, Molecular Biology, and Chemical Characterization of S-Layers... 

The S-layer lattices can have oblique (pi, p2), square (p4), or hexagonal (p3, p6) symmetry. 

The S-layer lattices exhibit pores of identical size and morphology. 

In many S-layers, two or even more distinct classes of pores are present. 

In most S-layer proteins, about 20% of the amino acids are organized as a-helices and about 40% occur as P-sheets. 

Posttranslational modifications of S-layer proteins include cleavage of N- or C-terminal fragments, glycosylation, and phosphorylation of amino acid residues. 

Electron micrographs of freeze-etched preparations clearly demonstrated that S-layers completely cover the cell surface during all stages of cell growth and division [5,56,57]. 

TABLE 2 Survey of S-Layer Proteins Whose Amino Acid Sequences Are Known... 

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