O presente trabalho está relacionado a estudos de superligas à base de Ni, cujas microestruturas multifásicas apresentam propriedades satisfatórias para aplicações em altas temperaturas. O Nb e o Ta são componentes importantes nesta classe de materiais, estando normalmente associados às fases endurecedoras ?\' e \'\'. Desta forma, a determinação das relações de fases no sistema Ni-Nb-Ta na região rica em Ni corresponde a uma importante contribuição para a literatura referente, especialmente para os trabalhos ligados à construção de base de dados termodinâmicos. Assim, foi definido como objetivo principal a proposição das relações de fases na região rica em Ni do sistema Ni-Nb-Ta para a temperatura de 1050oC. As ligas foram obtidas por fusão a arco e tradas termicamente a 1050ºC por no mínimo 120 h. Amostras no estado bruto de fusão e tratadas termicamente foram caracterizadas microestruturalmente (MEV e DRX) e por microanálise química (EDS). Na região de estudo, observou-se as fases Niss, Ni8Ta, Ni3(Nb,Ta), Ni2(Nb,Ta), e ? (NiTa; Ni6Nb7), sem a presença de qualquer fase ternária. Observou-se uma solubilidade completa de Nb e Ta nas fases Ni3(Nb,Ta) e ?. A fase Ni2Ta apresentou uma solubilidade de Nb próxima de 13% at. Não foi possível determinar a região de solubilidade de Nb na fase Ni8Ta. / This work is related to studies of Ni-based superalloys, which multiphase microstructures have satisfactory properties for high temperature applications. The Nb and Ta are important components in this class of materials and is typically associated with the hardening phases ? \' and .\'\' Thus, the determination of phase relationships in the system Ni-Nb-Ta in the Ni-rich region represents an important contribution to the literature, especially for determination of related thermodynamic data. Thus, the main objective of this work was to propose the phase relationships in the Ni-rich region of the system Ni-Nb-Ta at 1050oC. The alloys were obtained by arc melting and heat-treated at 1050 º C for at least 120 h. Samples in the a-scast and heat treated states were characterized via (SEM and XRD) and chemical microanalysis (EDS). In the region of study, the observed phases were Niss, Ni8Ta, Ni3(Nb, Ta), Ni2(Nb,Ta), and ? (NiTa; Ni6Nb7) without the presence of any ternary phase. There was a complete solubility of Nb and Ta in the Ni3(Nb,Ta) and ? phases. The Ni2Ta showed a solubility of Nb close to 13% at. It was not possible to determine the region of solubility of Nb in the Ni8Ta phase.

O presente trabalho está relacionado a estudos de superligas à base de Ni, cujas microestruturas multifásicas apresentam propriedades satisfatórias para aplicações em altas temperaturas. O Nb e o Ta são componentes importantes nesta classe de materiais, estando normalmente associados às fases endurecedoras ?\' e \'\'. Desta forma, a determinação das relações de fases no sistema Ni-Nb-Ta na região rica em Ni corresponde a uma importante contribuição para a literatura referente, especialmente para os trabalhos ligados à construção de base de dados termodinâmicos. Assim, foi definido como objetivo principal a proposição das relações de fases na região rica em Ni do sistema Ni-Nb-Ta para a temperatura de 1050oC. As ligas foram obtidas por fusão a arco e tradas termicamente a 1050ºC por no mínimo 120 h. Amostras no estado bruto de fusão e tratadas termicamente foram caracterizadas microestruturalmente (MEV e DRX) e por microanálise química (EDS). Na região de estudo, observou-se as fases Niss, Ni8Ta, Ni3(Nb,Ta), Ni2(Nb,Ta), e ? (NiTa; Ni6Nb7), sem a presença de qualquer fase ternária. Observou-se uma solubilidade completa de Nb e Ta nas fases Ni3(Nb,Ta) e ?. A fase Ni2Ta apresentou uma solubilidade de Nb próxima de 13% at. Não foi possível determinar a região de solubilidade de Nb na fase Ni8Ta. / This work is related to studies of Ni-based superalloys, which multiphase microstructures have satisfactory properties for high temperature applications. The Nb and Ta are important components in this class of materials and is typically associated with the hardening phases ? \' and .\'\' Thus, the determination of phase relationships in the system Ni-Nb-Ta in the Ni-rich region represents an important contribution to the literature, especially for determination of related thermodynamic data. Thus, the main objective of this work was to propose the phase relationships in the Ni-rich region of the system Ni-Nb-Ta at 1050oC. The alloys were obtained by arc melting and heat-treated at 1050 º C for at least 120 h. Samples in the a-scast and heat treated states were characterized via (SEM and XRD) and chemical microanalysis (EDS). In the region of study, the observed phases were Niss, Ni8Ta, Ni3(Nb, Ta), Ni2(Nb,Ta), and ? (NiTa; Ni6Nb7) without the presence of any ternary phase. There was a complete solubility of Nb and Ta in the Ni3(Nb,Ta) and ? phases. The Ni2Ta showed a solubility of Nb close to 13% at. It was not possible to determine the region of solubility of Nb in the Ni8Ta phase.

Submitted by THAIS AZEVEDO BENITES null (thaisbenites41@gmail.com) on 2017-07-13T19:32:44Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Thais Versão Final com ficha.pdf: 2302078 bytes, checksum: 5eac655fca415ba73063a8e7ee7f4537 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Monique Sasaki (sayumi_sasaki@hotmail.com) on 2017-07-14T18:24:02Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 benites_ta_me_araiq.pdf: 2302078 bytes, checksum: 5eac655fca415ba73063a8e7ee7f4537 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-07-14T18:24:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 benites_ta_me_araiq.pdf: 2302078 bytes, checksum: 5eac655fca415ba73063a8e7ee7f4537 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-06-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) / O sistema ParE-ParD é um sistema Toxina-Antitoxina (TA) do tipo II (composto por duas proteínas) encontrado no plasmídeo RK2 de uma gama de bactérias. A antitoxina ParD (9kDa) é capaz de neutralizar a citotoxicidade da toxina ParE, pela formação de um complexo estável, e também é eficaz na auto-repressão do operon parDE. A toxina (12kDa) apresenta atividade citotóxica no processo de replicação do DNA por interferir diretamente na ação da DNA girase. Estudos prévios sugeriram que a região C-terminal da antitoxina é responsável pelo processo de interação com ParE. Embora esta toxina possa ser encontrada em um grande número de microrganismos, ainda apresenta mecanismos de citotoxicidade e funções celulares a serem elucidadas. Neste contexto, este trabalho teve como objetivo a tentativa de expressão das duas proteínas ParE e ParD, bem como o design e a síntese de peptídeos análogos da antitoxina, para a realização de estudos de interação molecular, a fim de encontrar uma estrutura mínima de ParD capaz de inativar a função toxica de ParE. Com base nas informações estruturais, obtidas por modelagem e dinâmica molecular, quatro sequências peptídicas análogas de ParD foram projetadas e sintetizadas pela metodologia da fase sólida. As sequências foram analisadas e purificadas por cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência e caracterizadas por espectrometria de massas. Os estudos de interação foram realizados através de ensaios de cromatografia de afinidade e supressão de fluorescência. A fluorescência intrínseca de ParEAC2 foi suprimida pelos análogos de ParD (ParDTB1, ParDTB3, ParDTB5 e ParDTB6), evidenciando a formação de complexos estáveis entre as espécies, resultados confirmados pelos ensaios de cromatografia de afinidade. Resultados semelhantes foram obtidos empregando a proteína ParD obtida por expressão heteróloga. Com base nos resultados obtidos, foi possível concluir que o análogo ParDTB1 representa uma estrutura peptídica mínima com potencial para neutralizar o efeito da toxina ParE. / The ParE-ParD system is a toxin-antitoxin (TA) type II module (composed of two proteins) of the plasmid RK2 of a range of bacteria. The ParD antitoxin (9 kDa) is able to neutralize the cytotoxicity of the ParE toxin by forming a stable complex and is effective in the auto repression of the parDE operon. The toxin (12 kDa) exhibits cytotoxic activity by blocking DNA replication, acting directly in the DNA gyrase action. Previous studies have been suggest that the C-terminal region of the antitoxin is responsible for the interaction process with ParE. Although this toxin can be find in a large number of microorganisms, still have cytotoxicity mechanisms and cellular functions to be elucidate. In this context, this work aimed at the expression of ParE and ParD proteins, as well as the design and synthesis of antitoxin analog peptides, to perform molecular interaction studies in order to find a minimum ParD structure able to inactivate the toxic function of ParE. Based on the structural information obtained by modeling and molecular dynamics, four analogous peptide sequences of ParD were designed and synthesized by the solid phase methodology. The peptide sequences were analyzed and purified by high performance liquid chromatography and characterized by mass spectrometry. Interaction studies were performed by affinity chromatography and fluorescence suppression assays. The intrinsic fluorescence of ParEAC2 was suppressed by ParD analogs (ParDTB1, ParDTB3, ParDTB5 and ParDTB6) addition, evidencing the formation of stable complexes between the species, results confirmed by the affinity chromatography assays. Similar results were obtained using ParD protein obtained by heterologous expression. Based on the results obtained, it was possible to conclude that the ParDTB1 analog represents a minimal peptide structure with potential to neutralize the effect of the ParE toxin.

Marknaden för IT-system har växt kraftigt under de senaste årtiondena vilket även har lett till att olika system för transportadministration har utvecklats. Allt fler företag väljer att investera i TA-system för att underlätta den dagliga verksamheten och förenkla transportrelaterade affärsprocesser. En stor aktör på den svenska marknaden för TA-system är LogTrade, som även varit undersökningsobjektet i denna studie. Syftet med arbetet har varit att undersöka hur LogTrades kunder utvärderar sina investeringar i TA-system. Den teoretiska referensramen som ligger till grund för undersökningen berör tidigare forskning om Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), IT-investeringar samt finansiella och icke-finansiella värderingsmetoder. En kvalitativ studie har genomförts, vilken huvudsakligen bygger på en enkätundersökning som har tolkats likt en strukturerad intervju. Enkäten skickades ut till totalt 156 företag, varav 31 svar erhölls. Merparten av respondenterna angav att anledningen till investeringen i TA- systemet främst har varit för att möjliggöra tids- och kostnadsbesparingar samt för integrationsmöjlighet med ett ERP-system. Den största delen av respondenterna har gjort någon form av utvärdering för investeringen och främst har icke-finansiella mätetal använts för att beräkna investeringens nytta. Undersökningens resultat visade dock att majoriteten av LogTrades kunder inte har använt sig av någon konkret värderingsmodell för att utvärdera sin investering och häften av respondenterna upplever att de inte har kunnat beräkna investeringens totala nytta. Studien visar även att det råder en avsaknad på uppföljningar av investeringens nytta, en värdering av nyttan har främst skett innan implementeringen av TA- systemet. Trots delvis bristande värderingsmetoder och uppföljningar av investeringens nytta, upplever ändå LogTrades kunder att investeringen levt upp till deras förväntningar. / The market for IT systems has grown rapidly in recent decades, leading to the development of transportation administration systems. An increasing amount of companies choose to invest in TA-systems facilitating their day-to-day operations and transport administration. A major actor on the Swedish market for TA-systems is LogTrade, and this company has also been the investigation object for this study. The purpose of the study has been to examine how LogTrade's customers evaluate their investments in TA-systems. The theoretical framework that has built the basis for our research, concerns previous research on Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), IT investments and different financial and non-financial valuation methods. A qualitative study has been conducted which is mainly based on a survey that has been interpreted similarly to a structured interview. The survey was sent out to a total of 156 customers, resulting in 31 replies. A majority of the respondents stated that the reasons for the implementation of the TA-system has mainly been for time- and cost savings, but also for integration opportunities with their ERP-system. Most of the respondents have made some type of evaluation regarding the investment, and non-financial metrics has been most commonly used to evaluate the benefits of the investment. However, the result of the survey showed that the majority of LogTrade's customers did not use any specific valuation model for their investments and half of the respondents’ experience that they have not been able to calculate the full benefits of the investment. The study also shows that there is a lack of follow-up regarding the benefits of the investment. Despite partly inadequate evaluation methods and follow-up of the investment's benefit, LogTrade's customers felt that the investment in the TA-system lived up to their expectations.

Four type II toxin-antitoxin (TA) systems were previously identified in Burkholderia pseudomallei K96243. Type II TA toxins are able to induce cell growth arrest or death by interfering with key processes within the organism. BPSS0390-0391 is one of the TA systems previously identified and has homology to hicBA system in Acinetobacter baumannii. B. pseudomallei HicA is able to cause a reduction in the number of culturable cells after expression in E. coli. This study aimed to characterise B. pseudomallei HicA in three ways: by inducing expression of HicA in bacterial species other than E. coli, by identifying amino acids in HicA involved in toxicity and neutralisation by the antitoxin HicB and by examining the interaction of HicA with other TA antitoxins identified within B. pseudomallei genome. A broad host range plasmid encoding BPSS0390 was transformed into a range of Gram negative bacteria including Yersinia pseudotuberculosis IP32953, Vibrio vulnificus E64MW, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium SL1344 and Burkholderia thailandensis E264. Expression of BPSS0390 was toxic in all bacterial species tested, despite the presence of antitoxin BPSS0391 homologues in some species. Unregulated expression in E. coli resulted in the appearance of escape mutants encoding non-toxic variants of HicA. An alanine scanning mutagenesis study of HicA identified 20 mutants where toxicity was abolished despite high levels of expression, but identified no mutants that affected TA complex formation. Finally an existing co-expression assay was modified to examine interactions between HicA and other type II TA antitoxins in B. pseudomallei. The assay revealed no interaction between HicA and non-cognate antitoxins and clarified the role of IPTG as an inhibitor of PBAD promoter on the arabinose operon.

No description available.

The electro–mechanical connection between under bump metallization (UBM) and solder in flip–chip bonding is achieved by the formation of brittle intermetallic compounds (IMCs) during the soldering process. These IMCs continue to grow in the solid–state during storage at room temperature and service at an elevated temperature leading to degradation of the contacts. In this thesis, the diffusion–controlled growth mechanism of the phases and the formation of the Kirkendall voids at the interface of UBM (Cu, Ni, Au, Pd, Pt) and Sn (bulk/electroplated) are studied extensively. Based on the microstructural analysis in SEM and TEM, the presence of bifurcation of the Kirkendall marker plane, a very special phenomenon discovered recently, is found in the Cu–Sn system. The estimated diffusion coefficients at these marker planes indicate one of the reasons for the growth of the Kirkendall voids, which is one of the major reliability concerns in a microelectronic component. Systematic experiments using different purity of Cu are conducted to understand the effect of impurities on the growth of the Kirkendall voids. It is conclusively shown that increase in impurity enhances the growth of voids. The growth rates of the interdiffusion zone are found to be comparable in the Cu–Sn and the Ni–Sn systems. EPMA and TEM analyses indicate the growth of a metastable phase in the Ni–Sn system in the low temperature range. Following, the role of Ni addition in Cu on the growth of IMCs in the Cu–Sn system is studied based on the quantitative diffusion analysis. The analysis of thermodynamic driving forces, microstructure and crystal structure of Cu6Sn5 shed light on the atomic mechanism of diffusion. It does not change the crystal structure of phases; however, the microstructural evolution, the diffusion rates of components and the growth of the Kirkendall voids are strongly influenced in the presence of Ni. Considering microstructure of the product phases in various Cu/Sn and Cu(Ni)/Sn diffusion couples, it has been observed that (i) phases have smaller grains and nucleate repeatedly, when they grow from Cu or Cu(Ni) alloy, and (ii) the same phases have elongated grains, when they grow from another phase. A difference in growth rate of the phases is found in bulk and electroplated diffusion couples in the Au–Sn system. The is explained in AuSn4 based on the estimated tracer diffusion coefficients, homologous temperature of the experiments, grain size distribution and crystal structure of the phase. The growth rates of the phases in the Au–Sn system are compared with the Pd–Sn and the Pt–Sn systems. Similar to the Au–Sn system, the growth rate of the interdiffusion zone is found to be parabolic in the Pd–Sn system; however, it is linear in the Pt–Sn system. Following, the effect of addition of Au, Pd and Pt in Cu is studied on growth rate of the phases. An analysis on the formation of the Kirkendall voids indicates that the addition of Pd or Pt is deleterious to the structure compared to the addition of Au. This study indicates that formation of voids is equally influenced by the presence of inorganic as well as organic impurities.

The knowledge of diffusion parameters provides important understanding of many physical and mechanical properties of materials. In most of the applications silicides are grown by a diffusion controlled process mainly in thin film condition. Because of this reason, most of the studies till date are available in thin film condition. Although more than one phase is present in all these systems, mainly disilicides were found at the interface. In this thesis bulk interdiffusion studies are conducted by coupling pure refractory metals (group IVB, VB and VIB elements) with single crystal Si. Several phase layers grow between binary refractory metal and Si systems. The layer thicknesses of the phases are measured from the microstructures. Composition profiles were measured in electron probe microanalyzer. Different diffusion parameters are estimated such as parabolic growth constants, integrated diffusion coefficients, activation energy for diffusion and ratio of tracer diffusivities of the components are estimated. Growth mechanisms of the phases are discussed with the help of diffusion parameters. The atomic mechanism of the diffusion is discussed considering crystal structure of the phases along with possible defects present. Solid diffusion couple experiments are conducted to analyse the growth mechanism of the phases and the diffusion mechanism of the components in the Ti-Si system. The calculation of the parabolic growth constant and of the integrated diffusion coefficients substantiates that the analysis is intrinsically prone to erroneous conclusions if it is based just on the parabolic growth constants determined for a multiphase interdiffusion zone. The location of the marker plane is detected based on the uniform grain morphology in the TiSi2 phase, which indicates that this phase grows mainly because of Si diffusion. The growth mechanism of the phases and morphological evolution in the interdiffusion zone are explained with the help of imaginary diffusion couples. The activation enthalpies for the integrated diffusion coefficient of TiSi2 and the Si tracer diffusion are calculated as 190±9 and 170±12 kJ/mol, respectively. The crystal structure, details on the nearest neighbours of the elements and the relative mobilities of the components indicate that the vacancies are mainly present on the Si sublattice. Diffusion controlled growth of the phases in the Hf-Si and Zr-Si are studied by bulk diffusion couple technique. Only two phases grow in the interdiffusion zone, although several phases are present in both the systems. The location of the Kirkendall marker plane detected based on the grain morphology indicates that the disilicides grow by the diffusion of Si. Diffusion of the metal species in these phases is negligible. This indicates that vacancies are present mainly on the Si sublattice. The activation energies for integrated diffusion coefficients in the HfSi2 and ZrSi2 are estimated as 394 ± 37 and 346 ± 34 kJ/mol, respectively. The same is calculated for the HfSi phase as 485±42 kJ/mol. The activation energies for Si tracer diffusion in the HfSi2 and ZrSi2 phases are estimated as 430 ± 36 and 348 ± 34 kJ/mol, respectively. We conducted interdiffusion studies to understand the atomic mechanism of the diffusing species and the growth mechanism of the phases. Integrated diffusion coefficients and the ratio of tracer diffusion coefficients were estimated for these analyses. The activation energies for the integrated diffusion coefficients were calculated as 550 ± 70 and 410 ± 39 kJ/mol in the TaSi2 and the Ta5Si3 phases, respectively. In the TaSi2 phase, Ta has a slightly lower but comparable diffusion rate with respect to Si, although no TaTa bonds are present in the crystal. In the Ta5Si3 phase, Si has higher diffusion rate, which is rather unusual, if we consider the atoms in the nearest-neighbor positions for both the elements. The ratio of Si to Ta tracer diffusion coefficients is found to be lower in the Si-rich phase, TaSi2, compared to the Si-lean phase, Ta5Si3, which is also unusual. This indicates the type of structural defects present. An analysis on the growth mechanism of the phases indicates that duplex morphology and the Kirkendall marker plane should only be present in the TaSi2 phase. This is not present in the Ta5Si3 phase because of the very high growth rate of the TaSi2 phase, which consumes most of the Ta5Si3 phase layer. The problems in the calculation method used previously by others in this system are also explained. Experiments are conducted in the W-Si system to understand the diffusion mechanism of the species. The activation energies for integrated diffusion are found to be 152±7 and 301±40 kJ/mol in the WSi2 and W5Si3 phases, respectively. In both the phases, Si has a much higher diffusion rate compared to W. The result found in the WSi2 phase is not surprising, if we consider the nearest neighbors in the crystal. However, it is rather unusual to find that Si has higher diffusion rate in the W5Si3 phase, indicating the presence of high concentration of Si antisites in this phase. In the group IVB, VB and VIB M-Si systems are considered to show an interesting pattern in diffusion of components with the change in atomic number in a particular group. MSi2 and M5Si3 are considered for this discussion. Except in the Ta-Si system, activation energy for integrated diffusion of MSi2 is always lower than M5Si3. Interestingly, in both the phases, the relative mobilities measured by the ratio of tracer D* diffusion coefficients, S i decreases with the increase in atomic number in both the DM* groups. Both the phases have similar crystal structures in a particular group in which these parameters are calculated. In both the phases Si has higher diffusion rate compared to M. Absence of any M-M bonds in MSi2 and increase in the diffusivities of M with the increase in atomic number substantiates the increasing concentration of M anti-sites and higher interactions of M with vacancies. Only one or two Si-Si bonds are present in M5Si3, however, the higher diffusion rate of Si indicates the presence of vacancies mainly D* on its sublattice. On the other hand, increase in S i with increasing atomic number in DM* Both the groups substantiates increasing interactions of M and vacancies.