Remote effects (occurring without physical contact) of two plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB) Azospirillum brasilense Cd and Bacilus pumilus ES4 on growth of the green microalga Chlorella sorokiniana UTEX 2714 were studied. The two PGPB remotely enhanced the growth of the microalga, up to six-fold, and its cell volume by about three-fold. In addition to phenotypic changes, both bacteria remotely induced increases in the amounts of total lipids, total carbohydrates, and chlorophyll a in the cells of the microalga, indicating an alteration of the microalga's physiology. The two bacteria produced large amounts of volatile compounds, including CO, and the known plant growth-promoting volatile 2,3-butanediol and acetoin. Several other volatiles having biological functions in other organisms, as well as numerous volatile compounds with undefined biological roles, were detected. Together, these bacteria-derived volatiles can positively affect growth and metabolic parameters in green microalgae without physical attachment of the bacteria to the microalgae. This is a new paradigm on how PGPB promote growth of microalgae which may serve to improve performance of Chlorella spp. for biotechnological applications.

Marine environment is a complex corrosive system and presence of red algae is one of the factors that influence corrosion processes. Biofouling is one of the major impediments in the use of titanium in sea-water cooled condensers of power plants, which is otherwise an excellent material with respect to corrosion resistance. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments were carried out in 3.5% NaCl to study the corrosion inhibition effect of red algal extracts on Ti-6Al-4V surfaces. The results indicated that the type of extract, the extract concentration and the immersion time affect the inhibition efficiency (IE%). In general, corrosion rate for J1, J2 and J3 [Successive extractions by hexane (J1), ethyl acetate (J2) and methanol (J3)] decreases with increasing its concentration or immersion time. The order of IE% was found to be J3 ? J1 ? J2. Langmuir adsorption isotherm was found to fit well the experimental data. Values were calculated for the adsorption process and it is seemed to be in the order of: J3 (365.66 ppm-1) ? J1 (150.42 ppm-1) ? J2 (58.35 ppm-1).

A Fully integrated 4-element symmetrical TX/RX RF integrated circuit for 26-30 GHz 5G beam-forming system is implemented in 65-nm CMOS technology. Each array element is digitally controlled with 5.625° step and 2 dB gain step. The system employs a heterodyne architecture with 6 GHz intermediate frequency (IF). The up-conversion and down-conversion mixers are integrated on the same chip with a shared LO driver chain. The phased-array power combining/splitting is done using Wilkinson combiner/divider. The RFIC features 3.4 to 3.9 dB noise figure and -5 to -3.5 dBm IIP3 in RX mode, 18 dB maximum power gain and OP1dB of 14.7 dBm per chain in TX mode. The maximum root mean square amplitude and phase error of each array element is 0.25 dB and 1.5°, respectively. The RFIC area is 18 mm2 including pads and it consumes 240 mW per TX chain, 120 mW per RX chain and 174 mW for the LO amplifier with total power of 1.58 W from a 1.2 V supply.

Mode I fracture toughness is an important rock property in fracture mechanics. Due to its challenging test procedures, empirical formulas, in terms of different rock properties, have been suggested for its rapid prediction. Due to similarities between KIC and rock Tensile Strength tests in their failure’s nature and morphology, many KIC–TS relationships have been proposed in literature. Recently the topic of rock fracture toughness has become more popular. So, it is vital to revisit existing KIC–TS relationships such that the influence of other parameters related to rock type and test method can be studied. In this paper, the effects of rock type, i.e. Igneous, Sedimentary and Metamorphic, and test method on KIC–TS relationship were investigated. KIC–TS relationships were deduced based on regression analysis of literature data using linear, power, exponential, and logarithmic mathematical models. It was found that rock type has a more significant effect on KIC–TS relationship than test method. Moreover, power model was found to be the best to represent KIC–TS relationship. Eight power relationships were proposed for the prediction of KIC under level I and static testing conditions. When compared with previously suggested relationships in literature, the proposed relationships showed similar trends and comparable KIC values particularly at tensile strength values lower than 10 MPa. It was concluded that the proposed relationships can be used to predict KIC considering test method and rock type with reasonable accuracy.